Childminders

I went for a look round during day- slightly different for me as I the childminder I already used in the past for school drop offs for my oldest. But I went round to see what it was like during the day with other little ones there. He then did 2 settling in sessions

They usually answer some questions by phone or email but usually invite you to see the setting. I went twice at different days and times to see how the vibe is. There is also ofsted reviews available online. It's a bit nursery like in that you find one that just clicks for you x

I tried a childminder but they’d booked in 28 days holidays this year and there was no way I could over that! There’s an app called Tiney that I used to find one in my area. Ended up going with a nursery though. They ask you to walk round and view, pay a reg fee, then settling in sessions about a week or 2 before they start.

I found my childminder on childcare.co.uk I sent her a message, she was new and starting up so gave me a time to come visit her house, have a look, ask questions etc etc. then when we decided to go with her we had 2 settling in sessions and that was that! We had to put a ‘deposit’ down to secure our place and the settling in sessions were deducted from that and the remainder was taking off the first months invoice x

I had a phone call and then went to her house. Then had a settling session for an hour with my son and he had another session for an hour and a half on his own. He’s been going a couple of weeks now and going well. In all honesty I viewed 3 or 4 and just got a vibe of that I either liked it or didn’t. Childminders can be ofsted registered so ask for that and also what kind of system they use for care notifications such as when they slept/nappy change etc. ours use an app called baby days and it’s live so it’s really reassuring when I’m at work at pops up that he’s asleep

@Amy also same as Amy, my childminder uses baby days and logs meals/bottles/naps etc and adds pics 🥹

@Carys I also used that app to find her but I didn't pay to send messages, lol I googled her and got her number online from gov website :)

@Mou yeah same lol I found her Facebook page 😂😂

@Carys this is so reassuring!

Thanks ladies!