Starting Childminding as Husband and Wife team

[Sandym3g]

Hi there,

I've been looking into Childminding as there are people at my church who desparately want me to look after their children while they work.

I have in the past obtained my nvq childcare and education level 2 and have had 3 of my own children.

The issue I had was that the family's that wanted me to look after their children are all under 5. 5 in total eventually (4 when I start) I realised after researching that I wasn't allowed to care for more that 3 under 5's. This gave me the idea of getting an assistant. My son in law to be is at the moment looking to work and has offered to volunteer if he didn't have work by then. I thought maybe he could become a registered childminder too so I could pay him. Thus being able to meet the demands of the ratio's.

I mentioned this to my husband who suggested that maybe he should become a registered childminder with me instead! This shocked me as I thought that he wanted to work outside the home and away from kids. The problem he has at the moment is having work that doesn't allow him to have much time with the family or being able to visit our parents occasionally. He has erratic shifts so can start very early or finish very late. Also the pay is poor.He wants to be able take an evening course so get back into the i.t. field. He has the experience but no qualifications. At his age it's hard to get a job that he enjoy's.(he was made reduntant from I.T. after being there for 9 years, he loved it) He has always enjoyed kids.

He has had previous experience with accounting, something i was dreading to do myself. He drives which means we can pick up and drop off kids, making it easier for the parents. Also we would be accountable for each other.

We do get on well together and enjoy each others company.

My question is what is the disavantages to being a wife/husband team? I can't see any myself but it's good to get someone else's viewpoint.

I work with my husband. On the whole it does work out well, but we do have our 'moments'. It takes quite a long time to register and get your CRB checks back, so you probably want to contact your Local Authority and Ofsted as soon as possible. Also, you don't mention how old your own children are (unless I missed it). If they are under 5, then they are counted in your 3 children under 5. If you work together with your husband, you may get registered for 6 under 5, but that depends on your floor space.

Hope this is of some help?

My "children" are 21 (moved out) 19 and 12 so won't really come into the mix. I know that my 19 year old will have to have a crb done for when she is on holiday from uni.

My CMs are a husband and wife team and it seems to work really well. I am very happy with their care. She usually looks after the babies more and he plays with the older ones. He also looks after the accounts. I think its great that there are two pairs of hands always and they can support one another.

We are thinking about doing the same thing...if you want to chat you can email me if you like? jennifer _ [email protected] (remove spaces)

Thanks. Have emailed you. Check you spam box if you haven't seen it yet.

I can't find it even in junk mail?

"This shocked me as I thought that he wanted to work outside the home and away from kids "

" He has always enjoyed kids."

Are those your words?

Yes they are but what i ment was that i thought he wanted to work in a differant field. i.e computing. I didn't mean that he doesn't want to work with kids. He used to help at a youth group and enjoyed it. He enjoys playing with his neice too.

Sorry I didn't explain properly. He does like kids. I thought he didn't want to be working from home. He is coming up with some great ideas for looking after the children etc. He's looking forward to it.

Hi, I'm looking at getting into childminding with my wife claire. we are both aiming to be registered by end of May.
I have a few questions that you may already have answers for.
Do you know the calculation for how many children you can have and how much space there is in your house.
I want to have the enhanced crb sent off and returned without any delays.
I have been told that the first aid requirement is essential before you begin childminding, but others have said you at least need to be booked to attend for the first aid.
What kind of film can I get for the cut glass in my vestibule door to make it safe.

scoobiedoobies numbers of mindees allowed depends on floor space, varies dependant on ages for nurseries, for CM's inspectors look at how the space is utalised more than square footage, but if you have limited space then obv you will be registered for a smaller amount of mindees. I work with my DH we are reg'd for 9 mindees under 8, which is broken down into the following 5 under 5 with 2 under 12mths, 4 under 8 and for over 8's, as not regulated by ofsted you can take as many as you are insured for ours is 18. But you need to bear in mind that the care for children over 8 does not adversely affect the care given to the registered mindees, and of course you still need to transport them and have enough space.

I never have more than 15 at any one time which I find we can manage well between us, but I wont take babies atm as we have over 3's (tend to have mindees from a few weeks old and they stay until 11 and go to comp, so wont start any more babies until all the 3yr olds are at school). The ratios of child : carer are at the discretion of the inspector when you work with an assistant, but the general rule for minders working alone is 6 mindees - 3 under 5 and 3 over which includes 1 under 12mths, your own children will be deducted from that number if they are under 8.

CRB checks can take upto 5mths ish atm, anyone in the house over 16 will need one. Full registration can take up to a year in some areas, mine was about 5mths I think, but I already had, CRB, 1st aid, safeguarding etc.

You absolutely cannot mind until you have completed and got cert for the 12hr paediatric 1st aid, it would be a breach of reg, same if it runs out whilst you are minding, you would have to cease until renewed, or I understand in some situations ofsted can allow you to continue, but this is rare and not allowable for 1st registrations.

WRT glass door if its glass on the top half only you will be ok, all my d/stairs doors have been in the last two houses I have minded in and have not been an issue. If its the bottom the inspector will check it has a kitemark on the glass if it has it will be ok if not then you will either have to replace it or make safe, if its a wooden door you could cover it with plyboard and just paint, would be cheap and easy to take off if you need to in the future.

You can send of your application form if you don't have your first aid certificate but you can not start minding until you have completed the course.

That's probably the confusion.

Also take into account that if you have 5 children from one family the words "eggs" and "basket" come into mind. If they change their requirements you could be out of work very quickly.

Thanks. I found this really useful.