Overnight childminding requirements?

[JennyPenny22]

Hello. Does anybody know what the requirements are to childminder overnight? I am already a childminder, but as we are looking to move house soon and I was wondering if that was a good time to register for overnight care, if the requirements arn't too high? I do a lot of babysitting in the evenings, and really it would be a lot easier if I could do it from home, and also mean shift workers would have more options and it would be cheaper for them then having me in their house.

I already have trevelcots, and a childs ready bed. Would I have to have a proper single bed for them to use? Their own room?

Glad you asked this Jennnypenny as we are in the same situation.

I was told by a friend who is registered for ON care that you need to have mains wired fire alarms, a fire safety inspection and prove you have adequate fire alarms/ fire doors etc.

This sounds expensive to me....and would love to hear about anyone elses experiences of reg for overnight care?

I am not registered for overnight care but when Ofsted did pre registration inspection she said it would be a good idea to register there and then if I was interested. We looked around and due to my house being small and my DDs room being out of bounds decided it wasn't feasible.

She said they would need their own room but fire alarms etc were not mentioned, just risk assessments and emergency evacuation plan.

You prob only need to ask Ofsted when they do your re-inspection on your move or ring them and ask.

I am registered for overnight care. Had a fun visit from a fireman (not sure if they do that these days). I had a fire plan, normal smoke alarms. Ofsted were happy with the sleeping and checking arrangements. And that was that. Fairly straightforward really. I registered for 2 overnight several years ago and have only ever done 1 over night care for 1 child.

Their was a query on here a while back about wired fire and smoke alarms, the general consensus from minders that are reg ON was that they don't have fire doors or wired in smoke detectors, they have normal smoke alarms as we do anyway, risk assessments, fire plans etc.

The only info I can find relating to overnight care is basically similar to day minding which is children must be within sight or sound at all times, the use of baby monitors is acceptable for this, so you don't have to physically be with them, room temperature should be suitable for the age of the child, own bedding etc. I'm sure some reg'd ONiters will be along if I've got it wrong though.

I am registered for overnight and have been for the last 4 years. I have normal smoke alarms, a fire evacuation plan, stair gate at the top of the stairs, windows that are lockable, child has own bed, cot, towels etc, baby monitors and the like. I also have full length mirrored wardrobes in the overnight room and that was ok with the inspector.

I'm registered for overnight care and my initial visit was in Nov last year so very recent. All that Ofsted wanted to see was the sleeping arrangements and I told them that I'd had a fireman come round and install (for free) two new alarms and give me safety advice. That was it, there's no extra requirements at all, just that you have the space for them to sleep in.

So do they definatly need their own room then? We probably wouldn't be able to do this, as we are renting, and to pay the extra money per month for a bigger house with an extra bedroom, wouldn't pay off unless I actually had a regular overnight mindee, but I know that might well not happen so couldn't really justify it. We are hoping to have a playroom though - would it be acceptable to have a fold up bed (or tavel cot) in a playroom? That would probably mean they would be downstairs though and us upstairs?

And did anybody know the answer to if it needed to be a perminant bed? Or if a readybed or futon or something would be acceptable?

I have no idea about how they judge the sleeping arrangements. I have a spare double bed, a permanent cot and also a travel cot but did also mention that I have blow up mattresses should they be too small for a big bed. I have a spare room but I did say that I'd have any babies under 6m next to my bed as per SIDS guidelines and that if I needed it I could arrange it so that my DD slept in our room thus giving us two spare rooms. I am registered for two overnighters.

I registered for overnight care shortly after moving house 3 years ago. I have smoke alarms, usual evacuation plan, stair gate at top, intercom, locks on windows and an overnight care policy. That's all I needed. I have no 'spare' room but have regular overnight stays (2 different mindees, one is nearly 3 and other has just turned 2). For each overnight stay, ds2 (19m) comes into our room in travel cot and the mindees get his cotbed but with all their own bedding. It works well and ds2 is used to it (even stayed in our room for 3 nights in a row recently). I've actually once had these 2 mindees stay the same night and they both went in ds2's room. Parents knew, it was fine (well, harder for me as they were giggling and bouncing in their beds etc - novelty )

I am so pleased I offer this service as I get quite a lot of extra income from it. But it depends on what needs you have around you. You may not get anyone wanting overnight care but I say it's worth having on your certificate as you never know

By the way, in case any of you thinking of doing this would like help with putting a policy together, here's mine:

Overnight Care

Thank you!