childminders fees

[imamumof3]

I am so confused as to what to charge, I have checked out some nurseries and some are £45 per day and others are £55-£60 per day.

I was wondering if anyone knows the average price of what childminders charge in West London. Can we charge more than some nurseries or will that put me out of business?

Thanks alot.

Not in West London, but I find the best thing to do is have a look at what your competition is like, parents who choose nurserys will usually go for those and not look at costs of CM's. So I reckon your better off looking to see what the CM's local and offering the same service as you are charging.

I did that and was pretty appalled at how cheap some were, so set my own price in the end, parents will still come and visit even if its just to see why you are charging twice the price of some of the others. It's worked for me have a waiting list and very rarely have a space.

Find out what local childminders are charging. There should be some kind of network in your area, or if the directgov website is working in your area, you could check other people's fees there.

Also, it's not just the fees, it's the hours and food and nappies and outings, etc.

cross post. Sorry

I agree that you need to be roughly in line with your other local childminders. You may find you have to be a little bit cheaper to get your first couple of families on board - or take children who might be more difficult to place (I mean whose parents want awkward hours etc - not nasty children!). It is often more difficult to get customers if you are not yet "up and running" as I think parents can be cautious that you may not stick at the job, and are more confident if you have been at it a little while and have other families happy with your service. Having said that, alarm bells ring for me if a prospective parent is apparently only or mainly concerned about fees.

just looked on the direct gov website, can't actually find anything, don't know if i'm looking in the right place lol.

Here in SE London I've paid £40 per day for my 3-year-old during termtime, £20 per day during holiday time for days I didn't need childcare but full price on days I did.

Another local childminder who I was going to use (but opted for a nanny share instead as I liked the idea of both my girls being cared for by the same person) would have charged £45 per day for my baby but that would have been termtime only - she didn't charge a retainer during the holidays.

I used to pay £37.50 for my now 5-year-old to go to nursery but it was one of the early Sure Start children's centres which may have been one reason their fees were lower (I taught at the school next door) but other nurseries local to my home charge between £50 and £60 per day.

Im in a very nice area of west London and am £60 a day. Cms and nurseries are about the same price here.

I used to mind in SW London a year ago and charged £55 per day. It differed quite a bit though - between £45 and £60 per day. When I first started (the previous year) I charged £50 a day (so was in the middle) and didnt have any problem filling my vacancies - the parents and I all "clicked" and it was this which got me the business at the end of the day - I found out later that one of the parents was initially concerned that I didn't have as much experience or training as some of the other childminders did, but she liked me so much that she decided to choose me anyway

i cant get away with some of the prices £45 - £60 a day. i guess no one lives on minimum wage in london as theres no way they could afford childcare. im up in scotland and only charge £30 a day most nurseries are around the same maybe upto £35 a day.

OMG Cheryl, I could never work for as little as £30 a day! Even where I am now here in Surrey the average charge is £5 an hour, so I charge £50 a day, 8am to 6pm. Lucky for me really as having two under 5's of my own I am only registered for one child (I prefer not to do school pick ups) so my earning potential is really not that high.

CM is charging me £30 for 7.5 hours here in Swindon. Thought this was a lot but obviously not! I paid £30 for 2 children at the holiday club, so I guess that was dirt cheap.

I live in North Wales and the usual fee for CMers over here is £2.50 - £4 per hour. I've fallen somewhere inbetween but I charge in 3 hourly blocks which is unique to me and a way of trying to survive on such a low fee! So if a child was with me from 1-3 hours I'd charge £10.50, 4-6 hours I'd charge £21 etc. Saturdays I charge time-and-a-half and sundays double-time.