Child minders

[Cookiemg]

Hi

I am due on 1st April and am looking for advise re child minders. My husband and I have no family in Edinburgh, all are in Glasgow and Stirling. Our child friendly mates all have their hands full already and so hiring a child minder is the only way to go. We have always been very gregarious and I know that this is what makes me happy. I understand that sacrifices have to be made when you have a baby but I know that I will become down if I don't have regular social contact, it is something that I need rather than desire. Any advice on taking on a child minder for a weekend or longer than an overnight stay?

x

Hi welcome to Mumsnet and congratulations on your pregnancy.

I'm not sure what you are looking for cookiemg. Do you mean that you want a C/M so you can go away at weekends ? If so I would suggest that you might want to wait until your DC is born before you make any plans. If you are breastfeeding for example it may be difficult to be away from your baby overnight, particularly in the early days.

You may well also feel that you don't want to be away from your baby, although sometimes a break is good too !

Babies are a lot more portable than you might think as provided you have a moses basket or travel cot they can sleep (or not as the case may be) pretty much anywhere. Hiring a child minder or more likely nanny for a weekend would be very pricey so for nights out you could set up or join a babysitting circle I'm in one on www.mynightoff.com and it's a lifeline in terms of being able to go out without paying £5.50+ per hour for someone and knowing the person looking after DS.

Also you will probably find that you make a whole new set of local friends through ante-natal classes and coffee groups. I'd recommend joining the NCT if you would like to increase your social circle.

A great book to buy is Edinburgh for the Under 5s. It has a chapter on child care so if you want to research agencies etc, its all in there, but more importantly it has lots of great advice about things to do with your child and places to go.

Good luck.