What does a childminder provide?

[Berrie]

My baby is going to be looked after by a first time childminder in September. She is currently going through the rergistration process and we are due to have a chat next week about arrangements. As neither of us have done this before I wondered if anyone could advise me as to what I might expect the childminder to provide in terms of wipes, drinks, playgroup fees etc?

I think it will very much depend on your individual childminder and the age of your child. She should give you a contract that will detail exactly waht is included.
With a small baby I would expect to provide my own nappies, wipes, milk and a drink - or at least their favourite drinking cup. With my childminder I provided food too but that was really my choice.

As my DS was in washable nappies, I provided all those plus wipes/nappy sacks etc as well as food (he was just over 7 months when he started and we were weaning). Once he was over a year old and was eating everything, she started providing lunch/snacks/milk for him. And he has whatever her children are having, it is not 'rationed' in any way - always a bowl of fruit within easy reach too. I pay for music sessions, she pays for playgroups (which she also helps run) and any 1 o'clock club things they go to. We have a bread machine and we usually give her a fresh loaf once a week! She always has an open pack of wipes around, and also has spare (disposable) nappies, clothes etc. Hope that helps.

I provide food for the boy I look after and the parents provide nappies, wipes and pay for playgroups which we have agreed to go to.
It depends on the individual concerned so you need to discuss it.
If you want your childto use a particular type of nappy or wipe or only eat a certian type of food then you would probably want to provide it yourself.
All childminders seem to do things a little bit differently so its all up for discussion really.You need to talk and reach a mutually satisfactory result.

DS2 is nearly 9 months and has been with childminder for 2 months - she's also new to it.
I provide his baby milk, baby food and nappies, but she has a supply of baby food jars and a few cartons of instant baby milk just in case, as well as some rusks and if she uses any of these, she replaces them. She also has a supply of stuff like baby wipes
She also gives him finger foods when the other children are eating - eg, I give him his breakfast before he goes round and she gives him a slice of toast to gum and crumble up when he gets there! When he is off baby milk and baby food, she will provide his meals, including full fat cows milk.
Most of the playgroups etc she goes to are free or low priced and she pays for them but if she wanted to do something special with them, like take them to a kiddie concert or something, I would offer to pay for that. (Frankly, there are so many things they can do, especially in summer that cost v little, I would be surprised)
I think the main thing is to discuss it all in advance and put it in the contract, but be prepared to be flexible - I find it quite hard to raise these type of things, especially since my childminder is also my next door neighbour.
EG, after a couple of weeks, we had a discrepancy with the hours - and therefore the fees - because I was calculating it on a daily basis and rounding UP to the nearest quarter hour, and she was calculating it weekly and rounding DOWN. It only amounted to about £3 a week but I thought she was doing herself out of pay and raised it quickly before it got out of hand.
We both still keep to our system and as long as we are within a few pounds of each other - either way - we're happy

Our childminder provides food, drinks, entrance fees to playgroups/farms/zoos etc.

We provide nappies & wipes.

HTH

Ds has been going to his childminder (also the next door neighbour) since he was 4 months old (now 3.10). We supplied nappies, EBM (until 12 months), lunch food (until about 2 I think, when she said he would rather have what the other kids were having) and (still) an extra wee bottle of milk. I'll prbably stop that once he starts spending half the day at nursery from September.

She gives him toast when he goes through in the morning at 8 (although he has breakfast with us), and all other food, drink and snacks until he is picked up at 5.30.

She's more like a wee nursery (she does the childminding with her mother and MIL) and there are quite a few kids, so they never go out, so the issue of extra fees/costs doesn't come in to it.

I provide nappies, wipes, did provide milk (formula for dd1, expressed breastmilk for dd2) and initially food. When they're on proper meals (as dd1 now is) they eat at hers for an extra quid a day. She provides snacks, outings, loads of extras really that I never know about unless she mentions it incidentally.

Thanks for your advice. It seems that we will have to sort it out between ourselves. We still haven't talked about the hourly rate yet. We've budgeted at £2.50 per hour as that is what the other minders in the area seem to be charging. We're really worried that she'll come out with something outrageous which will be difficult now that we're we're this far down the line! Once we've negotiated a contract the only thing to worry about will be giving up my baby boo hoo. Will he still seem like my baby?

Don't worry, you will still be his mummy! You will want him to feel secure with the childminder and she will also become very fond of him. But she won't be another mummy - more like an auntie... (I don't know about you but I remember a couple of friends of my mum who I called 'auntie' when I was a child, all of whom had children I played with. They were 'special' people who paid attention to me and had fantastic houses to play in!)

Thanks, you're right. We decided on a childminder rather than a nursery mainly because we wanted someone to give him one to one love and attention and to notice when he did something clever for the first time. I think my husband jokingly naming her MummyRuth which is how the family and friends now refer to her was going a bit far!

Also, do people out there pay their cm a set amount based on the hours agreed even if they are sometimes less or would it be unfair to request a more flexible arrangement?

It all depends on how flexible you want your childminder to be. A Childminder can only look after a certain number of children at any given time and like a nursery, reserves a place for your child during the hours you have agreed.
As the childminder is then available for work and may have refused other work at these times I should imagine that she would expect to be paid anyway. However if you cosistantly collect early and are one day late I would then expect that you wouldn't be charged for the extra time, as it would seem a bit unreasonable givien the circumstances. I know it is difficult from your point of view but from hers it is her business amd she will look at it this way (as well as carinng for your child of course)
Its anouther one that you have to discuss carefully and make sure it is clear from the outset.
I'd start writing a long list of things to talk about as it is best to get evertyihing you can think about clear from the start

I pay my childminder for four full days a week, for two children. If she is on holiday, she charges a half rate.

If I am away, or otherwise don't put my children into my care, that's my decision. I pay her notwithstanding. As a fellow freelancer, I totally agree with her standpoint. Even though I am usually Tight Git of the Year....

Oh, and the National Childminders' Association has a very good (free) booklet on things to ask a prospective childminder - as well as reinforcing that point about how they are doing a job and entitled to full payment!

The usual hours are defined in our contract with the cm. She gets full pay for 2 weeks' holiday per year and half pay if she's otherwise available but we're on holiday. For sickness or any further days off she won't charge if she has to cancel but we pay half rate if we have to cancel. It all seems perfectly fair to me.