What do childminders charge when the child starts going to nursery?

[Dahlia]

I was chatting to my childminder today about when dd2 starts nursery (not til Sept '06). I would drop her at nursery at 9am, and then childminder would pick her up at 11.30am and look after her as normal til 3pm when I finish work. She said that some childminders tend to charge a 'pick-up' fee of £5, but she will ask around. So what's the norm? I was hoping to save a bit of money, but I don't know if she will charge me for the time she is at nursery, or just a pickup fee, or what. Has anyone else been in this situation? I know its ages off, but I want to be prepared with some info!!

My CM doesn't charge a pick up fee. DS finishes playgroup at 1200 and she charges me from then. It is only 2 mins from her house though and I tend to pick ds up early at least twice a week. Remember though that in the hols nursery stops so your cm cannot take anyone else in the morning if you are going to need her when nursery shuts. Its almost a holding fee not a pick up fee!!! Do you have an advice service through your council cos I do and I asked them exactly the same question. It also depends who you want the nursery to call if your dd needs picking up early for whatever reason. Hope this makes sense and maybe helps!!!

Yes, thanks for that.

If your dd goes to nursery will it be just for term time only or all year?
If term time only then the childminder is likely to charge you for the whole day as they cannot fill that space due to needing to be available in the holidays for your dd.
If all year then that will depend on whether they can fill your dd's space or whether you want the childminder to be available to pick her up in emergencies. Pick up fees are usually to cover car mileage or the earlier leaving time to collect dd, personally I charge for the whole session as I would be unable to fill a space for 2.5 hours, I also have the child/ren in the holidays, remember that your dd will get nursery funding from term after she's 3 or if she's going into a class attached to a school it will be fully funded.hth

Its the nursery attached to school. I had hoped that I wouldn't have to pay her for the whole time she's at nursery as that seems slightly unfair! She lives less than a mile from the nursery so £5 pickup also seems slightly unfair. But we haven't decided on anything yet, and she is usually quite accommodating. I know that from her point of view she can't fill the 2.5 hours with anyone else. Grrrr! Childcare......

oh, just read your post jura. That sounds encouraging! And her cm is ok with that arrangement presumably?

Many minders I know would charge half the hourly rate for the morning as a minimum, if not the full rate, purely because no-one else is going to want those few hours. If the child was attending a funded nursery session (ie. not costing the parent anything), it was far more likely to be full fee.

I have been in a similar position on many occasions, although the pick-up has been after 12.00, and I was often able to have casual minding arrangements during these times with other families. If I am the person who would collect the child if they became unwell, or if I was expected to have the child during school holidays, then I would be far more likely to charge something.

Some minders will start charging from the time they would leave home to collect (perhaps an extra 15 minutes in your case? as well.

I only know of one childminder who ever charged a "pick-up" fee - when she introduced this new charge, most of her minding parents gave her notice!

The child i look after gos to nursery in september i will drop her off at 8.50 and i will pick her up at 11.20 and continue to have her until 6.00.I will be charging the same rate as i will be on call for the time she is in nursery.And i will not get a job for 2 hrs while at nursery.I also have not put my rates up for nearly 3 yrs so i think this is fair.

sorry forgot to say will pick up if ill and keep her i normally take her when ill as mother has very busy job.