new childminder parents help!!

[Hayleycm]

ok im due to have ababy start on monday aged 7 1/2 months

he ws supposed to have settling in sessions last week and this week, last week he was in hospital twice with sickness.

he was due to come round today, his mother said lunch ish time, although vauge i said this was fine

i then got a text saying she was bringing her son who is 7, i asked why is he not at school, she said hes got a virus. i told her that iw ould prefer it if he didnt come as i have to thnk of the other children i care for, including my own

well now shes gettign a bit rude, she saying i dont have any minded children so didnt think i was risking anyones health(only my own child) although i have an after scoolie and anotheron a friday.

she is saying she doesnt want to throw her son in the deep end and have him start all day, seem to be blaming me as i dont want poorly child round here.

i replied saying if she can get a sitter for eldest she is welcome anytime

am i in the right, im already regretting signing this family on,

hayleycm, do you have a settling in policy? Here is mine if it helps.

Settling in
Settling into a new environment can be a difficult time for any child and their parent/carer; for this reason we tailor settling in sessions on an individual basis. If your child is unhappy during this time please don?t worry as it may take a while for your child to settle especially if they are not accustomed to spending time apart from you; don?t panic this is completely natural and you will soon find they settle well.

We have a small booklet for parents/carers to fill in with their child/ren that helps us get to know your child?s likes and dislikes, special words etc and we find this helps with the settling in process.

Each child settles differently and from experience we find that making a swift departure often works best. However we appreciate that this approach may not be suitable for all children and we are happy to work with parents to ensure the settling in approach adopted is best for their child/ren. If a child does become upset during drop off time, please feel free to give us a call and check that they have settled.

We basically have the parent come with the child for a first visit, then depending on how the child reacts during this we draw up a plan. We tell the parents specific times to come as you obviously need to have enough time to do a handover without it interfering with your other mindees. You wouldn't want the mum rocking up in the middle of lunch wanting to know how the first settling in session went would you?

Now that is a great settling-in policy, navyeyelasH. I'd nick it word for word and implement it if I were you, Hayleycm!

thanks skegness, Hayleycm feel free to steal it - either way I hope you get this issue sorted with the parent. Good luck!

My approach to settling in sessions is clearly the cold-turkey way of doing things in that the parents do not stay. I only find that if the parent is still in my house, the child is confused whatever the age. I don't think I am being hard and it certainly makes for a quicker settling child. My settling sessions are normally just two depending on circumstances so if mindee is a full-day child, I will normally suggest the first settling session includes one meal time, the second settling session includes two mealtimes. My contracts are not dated to commence until after the settling in sessions have taken place but I do charge my normal hourly rate for them. I know that everyone will need to handle their approach according to their style of running their setting - I tend to start minding children when their mothers first return to work, so typically the children are about 6-7 months (pretty clingy at that age!) but this approach has served the children, their parents and me well for the last 10-11 years. Good luck.

i have a settlng in policy that sounds very similar to yours and eahc hild gets heir won booklet to be filled out all about tr hem, they also get a bag to take home to bring comfortors or toys that will help them to settle in.

i will take your advic eon board and revieww my communication skills wth parents

Hi, I had a similar incident were by now its with the solicitors and was told because she didnt pay and i didnt do the 4 weeks notice i was in breach of contract aswell, as no matter what should do the 4weeks and then claim any short fall back through solicitors, just watch your back, there are many people trying to get something for nothing, (they were my 3rd family i signed)
go with your instincts and if you dont feel comfy dont take them on board

Good luck

hello and thank you for the advice.

i think we have it sorted now, although boy hasnt started nor,al time today as he was up all night and mum stayed in bed, but shes not at work till thurs so has option to bring him whnever.

only things that concerned me was she said

ill bring him at lunch time, but dont worry we will still pay you?
i have discussed everything fully with her, but still not sure its all understood, i will see how it goes today

:D