Does anyone have a childcare success story??

[TheLifeOfRiley]

I'm starting to dream of going back to work

However I'm sure DS (asd) would have other ideas! Am I dreaming the impossible dream? I think my family information service have a disability co-ordinator who can recommend childcare but have yet to call them....

Yes, i tried a couple of childminders & ds2 didn't settle with them but once I found the right one it was great.
She was amazing, ds2 settled there (& he doesn't usually settle anywhere).
She just provided a warm, loving caring environment.
She had no SN or asd,cp experience but she has entirely the right attitude and just loves children, so she made it work.
If I hadn't found her I would of had to give work.

Look around, go and visit & take your ds, go back a few times and see how he and she reacts.

There's no magic recipe. You just need to go and see lots and lots of providers until you find the one which feels right. Then be very honest about your sons needs.

I would recommend looking particularly at childminders because they should be able to offer an environment which is a bit more ASD friendly. I mean in terms of fewer unfamiliar faces, less unpredictable behaviour, a calmer atmosphere and more flexibility.

DS3 had a Cm all through diagnosis and assessment: if we ever get ds1 sorted he would return there.

She is great anyhow (ds4 goes a bit now, our break) but she has an older son with AS so 'gets' it all.

we have given in and are about to employ a nanny, live in.

this will also give us continuity of care re: babysitting.

there is a chance we might have a life soon , but not holding my breath.

this now means I can go back to work, only problem is, I'm not sure what I want to do!

am browsing further study for now, to ease myself back in...

I think long term a Nanny will be a must for us as well, though if I ever manage to qualify I might do bank, depending on what DH is earning by then.

Must say I don;t really like sharing my sapce so feel a bit anti-Nanny for us but beggars and choosers etc.

I am apprehensive about that too, Sancti.

I have resisted until now for that reason (we are fortunate, and could have afforded one at any point)

our current house is arranged over 3 floors, so the nanny will be on a separate floor to the rest of us, and we interviewed long and hard until we found one likely to be self-contained - the last thing I need is a new best friend

but I have said to dh it's a trial for a year. I am not sure I will get on with it, but am looking forward (with the usual amounts of parental guilt!) to some time off!

and the dds both have sleep issues, and so babysitters have been out of the question. nanny has 2 evenings per week in her contract - 2 evenings a week?! I won't know what to do with the time, tbh

Our childminder is AMAZING. I can't believe how lucky we are and I wonder if there might be similar set-ups you could find:

She runs her business from the ground floor of her mum's 4 storey town house along with two other registered childminders. This basically makes it like a really small and personal nursery. It really is the best of both worlds, I'm sure there must be others like her you could try.

I honestly believe that by going there it has helped DS (probable ASD) massively. If he stayed at home I don't think he'd have the social skills he has now and if he went to a proper nursery I think his issues would be magnified in the same way as when we (used to) attend playgroup. We are also extra lucky because her mum (who's also a registered childminder) used to be a teacher and gave it up to foster full time. She's since adopted 3 boys, one of whom has fetal alcohol syndrome so they understand a lot about additional needs.

God, writing all that down really brings it home how lucky we are.... we're NEVER going to let her go!!

Hope you find something suitable x

Wow lots of replies thank you everyone.

SHould have put in OP, I used to be a childminder but was too much for both me and DS full time, so I went part time but couldn't afford it, then went to work in a nursery (turned out to be a rubbish one) DS hated it and regressed developmental and I had to hand in my notice.

Would definately be a childminder I'd be looking at. Wish a nanny was an option but as I'll probably only be earning minimum wage it's not likely to be!

I know there are three cms at DS's school as I used to view them as competition one always has a ridiculous amount of mindees, one is unprofessional and one I haven't met so would definately meet her and any others that had space for him.

I like the idea of taking him a few times to the cms while I chat with her.

I am very of all of you with lovely childcare!

Am glad I started thread now as it has made me feel more positive about it being an option so thank you all for replying.

When we found our childminder we didn't know DD was autistic, she was 19 months and non-verbal and it did take her a couple of months to settle in fully but she has blossomed and our CM is brilliant and loves our DD.

We met a few CM's and were seriously worried about some of them lol! But we knew as soon as we met our current CM that she would be great for our DD. I think you get a feeling right away if its right.

She is also brilliant and lets me ring 2 or 3 times a day if i'm worried about something and is very flexible and since finding out DD is autistic she's read up on it and does Floortime with her. I'd say go for it, there are probably lots of great CM's out there :)