Childcare and grandparents

[kezziethecat]

My friend, who is a sahm, says that you are able to use childcare whenever you like from grandparents if you form a childcare bubble. So she will be sending her children to her in laws, who live close by, for a few hours every other day so she can have a break. I thought that it had to be more of a formal arrangement and necessary because of work commitments. Is she right? Really struggling to understand the childcare rules.

I don't think it's been defined as to who can access childcare and for what reason just that it can be informal

Do you think she's not entitled to a break as a sahm?

The spirit of the rule is so that working parents who normally use grandparents instead of paid for childcare don’t get completely screwed over. The rule clearly isn’t designed for your friend’s situation. However technically she is ‘allowed’ to use the grandparents for formal childcare - it doesn’t specify what the parents have to be doing!

I normally use my parents for childcare a lot, particularly after school when I’m at work but I’ve been managing without since March because they are old and I don’t want to put them at risk.

It has to be an exclusive bubble so we've bubbled with my parents (they provide care 2 days a week) and SIL has bubbled with in-laws. We'd planned to alternate 1 day a week but it keeps everyone safer as me and BIL aren't WFH.

Not saying she's not entitled to it - I'm a sahm too so know it can be very tiring. I just didn't interpret the childcare bubble in that way. I presumed it was helping out those who struggled to work without grandparents providing childcare.

Interpret it how Cummings did

My mum will be coming round to the house every so often so I can sleep while she looks after my 5 week old. My friend’s mum comes round to care for her 3 year old while she does uni work in the attic. It’s child care - not only if you work care!

If you have formed a bubble with one person outside your household who lives alone, that can continue.

Or a child care bubble, not working person bubble or support bubble like taking food to an elderly person.

The rules are detailed here:

A childcare bubble can be created to enable parents to work, or for the purposes of respite care.

The latter in her case.

www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november

I love the way ‘Mumsnet’ posters are not always very ‘mum’ friendly 🤨

@Cupcakegirl13

I love the way ‘Mumsnet’ posters are not always very ‘mum’ friendly 🤨

I’ve seen some posters become very angry that preschoolers are no longer included in permitted one-to-one meetups...

How am I not being mum friendly? I'm trying to clarify the rules so I know what to follow. I thought my children wouldn't be able to see my in laws for 4 weeks and was preparing them for that but now I see that they can.

[quote Redolent]The rules are detailed here:

A childcare bubble can be created to enable parents to work, or for the purposes of respite care.

The latter in her case.

www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november[/quote]
Am I being daft? I can't see 'for the purposes of respite care' in that link?

(In my defence I'm surviving on 4 hours sleep at the moment. )

PP it's at the very bottom of the sentence under point 8

I wasn't sure of the correct interpretation of the rules here either. So i asked my childminder if I could continue because I'm not currently working, she checked the rules and said yes. It falls under the definition of 'respite care' and you do not have to be working in order to use formal or informal childcare.

@MrsMigginsMate
Childminders fall under different rules in any case as they are registered settings that are considered to have an educational value and therefore fall into the rules for educational settings.

I think you can have an "informal" childcare bubble eg grandparents but they can't care for children from multiple households. So my parents will care for my nieces and not my DS as my DB and DSIL need the childcare more than I do.