Childminders help me out - do you think this is possible?

[sleepychunky]

Situation as follows:

I'm currently on mat leave after birth of DS2 (12 weeks). going back to work full time in June. DS1 currently goes to a childminder 2 days a week -he's been with her since he was 6 months old, she is wonderful and he adores her, and she lives directly opposite our house so couldn't be more convenient. She is (sadly) retiring at the end of the summer term.
We're going to be alright for childcare until September but when the new term starts, we will have DS1 going to a pre-school, probably 5 mornings a week, and DS2 who will need full-day care.
I work Mon-Fri but DH does shift work, which although is an irregular pattern (ie. not so straightforward as 4 on, 4 off or anything like that) is set a year in advance, so we know when he'll be working (or sleeping if he's been on nights) right up until summer 2011.
Do you think a childminder would be willing to do part-time care if we can tell her a year in advance exactly what we need? It wouldn't be as simple as every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and she would need to do the pre-school drop-off and pick-up for DS1 as well as having DS2 all day. So she might be needed 4 days a week one week and then not at all the next week if DH is on one of his 7 rostered days off. Until my mat leave we paid for DS1 to go to the childminder even if DH was off, but we can't afford to do that with 2 children.
Does this make sense? Any tips on how to go about finding a new childminder - I've already asked our current one to ask around but she hasn't come up with anybody yet, and I'm conscious that I need to get something sorted before too long or we'll be having a complete panic. I definitely want both boys to go to the same place for care.
Any thoughts most welcome - I know I can look on the local childcare link website but wanted to ask all of you who are CMs if it is something you would consider doing so I can see if this is at all feasible.
Thanks for getting this far and any help you can offer!

I think all you can do is have a ring around and ask.

I would be happy to do that is I had the space, but all CM's are different.

You could also look into to getting a nanny, as she/he may be more flexible. We have a nanny that comes to our CM group and she is just fabulous (looking after 2 children who are in the same scenario as your DC), she also helps the family with bit and bobs around the house also.

Good luck

i think that if you can give a childminder the times you require then a year in advance for irregular times then they will love you forever lol!

Give a few minders a call and discuss with them - hope all goes well

You are going to be looking for a childminder with two of her three pre-school places available, who does not mind having quite a lot of days unpaid. The childminder would be losing a substantial amount of her potential income. Most childminders would still charge full time when your DS1 is at the pre school as well, as they could not take another child to use those hours.

I could not afford to offer two full time pre school places on the basis that a lot of the time would be unpaid, but I suppose there may be some childminders who could/would.

Could you afford to pay half fee for the days you don't use each week? That may make it more worthwhile for a childminder.

Also, have you thought about school holidays for your DS1? Would you need care for them both during those weeks? If so then if you are not paying for unused days the childminder would be losing out even more.

Don't forget that you can claim the childcare element of working tax credit, which will pay a large percentage of the fees.

the way I was thinking was that if a minder whos those dates so far in advance then there is a possibly of filling certain spaces at certain times.
some childminders are happy to work irregular hours

its always worth asking around

maybe if she worked your fees out for the whole year and divided it by 12 months then she would get the same money every week regardless of whether the children attended 1 or 5 days dont no how much this would be but if it was enough money for the childminder to get by then they may do it as its a guaranteed income every week

Thanks for all your replies. I was hoping that being able to give so much notice about what we need would make it a bit more attractive. I realise it's not ideal but hope there might be someone who would do it. Will have to start ringing round!

Most of my families are in same situation I have 5 who work shifts I add up total hours required for shift pattern x cost per hour and divide by number of weeks that way both myself and parents can budget with regular amount of money

Meant to add if a childminder can offer most hours but would have a problem occassionally ofsted are very good at agreeing variations for extra children occassionally but they may take up to 12 weeks so start looking now