Child Care Options

[magie73]

I am investigating options for child care (other than nursery) and was wondering what the pros/cons and legality of the following.

Are any course required or registrations needed, etc?

What would be reasonable costs? How would you work out who pays what, etc?

If anyone knows of any links where I could get further info on these I would be grateful. Also, if you've heard of other options which might be good please let me know.

Option 1 - Child Minder in their house

Option 2 - Child Minder in our house

Option 3 - Group of Mums in one house i.e. 3 or 4 children (different families) of the same age being looked after by one mum in her house. Other mums pay for the child care.

Option 4 - Group of Mums with 1 Child Minder i.e. 3 or 4 children (different families) of the same age being looked after by one child minder so it is a shared cost.

Option 5 - Group of Mums in rotating house i.e. 3 or 4 children (different families) of the same age being looked after by one mum in her house on 1st day, next mum in her house on 2nd day, etc so each mum has all the kids one day a week in her house.

Many thanks.

I don't understand what you are asking for - you have posted under going back to work, are you a mum looking for childcare options for her own child, or someone looking to set up a childcare business? If so there is a childminders topic you might have more luck in.

All child-minders need to be registered AFAIK .

All childminders who look after children in their own homes for more than 2 hours per week have to be registered with ofsted and insured. Nannies working in your home do not have to be registered but if you want to claim tax credits they will need to be. A registration process will be required by your local council and courses compleated, these are usually free and some funding provided.

If any mum is looking after your child and you are paying her in any way including gifts and return childcare she needs to be registered with ofsted.

Childminders have the advantages of creating a family environment for your child and being able to take your children on outings etc and take them to and from school. Many nurseries dont go out on visits and if they do its only once or twice per month, sometimes never. Nannies can come to your house and work your hours but they are in your house all day and generally cost more.

As for fees this depends on your area and can vary widely. They usually charge per hour or by session and you pay them weekly or monthly in advance. Some childminders charge extra for meals and trips. They are normally self employed.

Hope this answers some of your questions.

A person who looks after other people's children (as well as their own, sometimes, but not always) in THEIR OWN house is a childminder. This tends to cost similar per hour to a nursery, but will vary according to area. The only way to find out is phone up some local childminders or ask local parents who use one.

A person who comes to YOUR house to look after your children is a nanny. This tends to be more expensive than a childminder or nursery place, unless you have more than 2 children of pre-school age.

You would usually share a childminder with other parents, in the same way as there would be other children present at a nursery. How many children depends on the age of the children and the amount of adults (some childminders work in pairs for example) - there are legal ratios which you could look up. Each family pays for the care of their own children - there is no "splitting" of cost. It's exactly like a nursery in this respect and most will not offer a sibling discount.

You can share a nanny with other parents - this is known as a nanny share and usually involves 2 or possibly 3 families maximum. I don't know much about it so not sure which house they would be in. The parents in both families would share the cost in this case.

Those are the options - if you want to look after someone else's child in return for them looking after yours, you have to register as a childminder, I think. Although this kind of arrangement sounds as though it would work well in theory!

Option 1 - Child Minder in their house - they need to be ofsted registered and do an introduction to childminding course as well as first aid and child protection.

Option 2 - Child Minder in our house - that is known as a nanny and you are responsible for employing them and paying their NI contributions etc

Option 3 - Group of Mums in one house i.e. 3 or 4 children (different families) of the same age being looked after by one mum in her house. Other mums pay for the child care. this is a childminder and would need to be ofsted registered etc but she would be limited to 3 children under 5yrs old and 3 children aged 5-8yrs inc her own.

Option 4 - Group of Mums with 1 Child Minder i.e. 3 or 4 children (different families) of the same age being looked after by one child minder so it is a shared cost. -Think this is called a nanny share not sure on the legal side of this, someone with more advice will come along.

Option 5 - Group of Mums in rotating house i.e. 3 or 4 children (different families) of the same age being looked after by one mum in her house on 1st day, next mum in her house on 2nd day, etc so each mum has all the kids one day a week in her house. - I think they would still need to be ofsted registered but because no money is changing hands and is not being dome by 1 person on 1 premises I'm not sure tbh BUT I cannot think it would be good for the children to be passed around so many carers so much tbh.