Childminder instructions

Part 1 - Sleep - 2 naps per day - Going to sleep he is always fed to sleep with his bottle (6oz) he doesn’t drink it all but he drinks until he falls asleep. Even if he has had a bottle an hour or two before, he will only sleep with a bottle or rocking (takes longer) If it is a cot nap he will fall asleep on the bottle in your arms, we keep the bottle in his mouth whilst transferring to cot, after being led there in the cot asleep with the bottle we will take bottle away when stops drinking or is sleeping. In the pram he will nap but it does take a while to fall asleep in just the pram on a walk. He will nap in the pram with a bottle and the pram being rocked. He always has his white noise machine on for sleep pram or cot. In his cot at home he has a black out portable Gro Blind. If you think this will help we are happy to provide one. Freddie has 2 naps per day. The first wake window is usually 2hrs 45 (usually an hour nap but can vary from 45 minutes - 2 hours!) then the second nap

then the second nap is after a wake window of 3hrs 30. This is usually a shorter nap. He usually has around 2.5 hours worth of sleep on an average day in naps. Bottles - kendamil formula, mam bottles. We offer freddie 6oz every 3 hours but this is a little bit irregular at the moment as he’s recently stepped up to 3 meals per day. He’s very much a “snacker” with his milk so he will rarely drain a whole bottle. Food - freddie is in the weaning process at the moment with no known allergens yet. For breakfast he typically has porridge, toast, omelette, eggy bread.. for lunch he usually has some pastries I’ve pre made cheese twists, ham and cheese swirls etc he really isn’t fussy with food but does get frustrated with no working his hands out properly when he’s hungry so sometimes might need pre loading his hands. I will provide Ella’s Kitchen pouches for you if you’d like some spares for lunches. He loves a yogurt after his lunch and will always eat a melty stick (Ella’s kitchen)

Mobility - Skills Freddie is army crawling at the moment but is very quick so will keep you on your toes. He’s rocking on all fours at present so I’m sure full crawling will start shortly. He will be really interested in animals but obviously doesn’t understand “gentle hands” yet so will need to be mindful of him accidentally grabbing fur (our poor cat) Freddie will wave, say dada and turn his head away from bottles when finished. Usually with meals he will start looking away or blowing raspberries when finished or bored - I give him 5 minutes, re offer if no joy he’s done.

Car/car seat - if possible can we please use one of your car seats (?) can you confirm it is a rear facing car seat, after an accident car seat safety is really important to us and make sure he’s rear facing until we are told it’s not possible. Freddie can often grumble in the car so we give him toys. He also loves the Baby Sensory album particularly “say hello to the sun” this always calms him when upset in the car or overtired at home and also The Happy Song by Imogen Heap. Toys - freddie loves books, anything musical, shakers, pop up toys. Loves playing peek a poo and music.

Important info - I really struggle with the concept of “cry it out” or self settling and this is something ive never or wish to expose freddie to. If the naps are an issue with the busy environment, noise or children please do let us know and we can review how he’s sleeping but my worst fear would be him a cot left to self settle or cry. Medication - Freddie is on no medication and no allergies we are yet aware of.

Thank you!

Sounds wonderful… if I was going to care for your baby I’d love to have all that info, sounds polite and well written , not demanding at all

@Kirsty thank you so much. Gosh it’s hard isn’t it. I don’t want to teach someone to suck eggs but every baby is just so different 😭

Exactly don’t be embarrassed you are the expert in your baby. You said no allergies that your aware of. I’d maybe make a note of which ones you have tired. I’d want to know if I was accidentally giving peanut butter or something for the first time x

My childminder has given us forms to fill in with a lot of this information so I think they will want to know as much as possible. Saying that kids do different things for childminders. I know babies that just fall asleep on a mat at the childminders but have to be breastfed to sleep at home.

This is exactly the amount of info I’d give. I’m sure they will be grateful for it all, it’s so helpful for someone when caring for a baby x