Childminding part time

[gemgem12]

HI, I just wondered if there's anyone that is employed part time and is also doing childminding for 2 or 3 days per week? This is what I plan to do and wondered how this works for people? Thankyou x

[BallyH]

HI, I just wondered if there's anyone that is employed part time and is also doing childminding for 2 or 3 days per week? This is what I plan to do and wondered how this works for people? Thankyou x

At the moment I work a 4 day week but when I first started *****minded for 2 days a week and did so for approximately 4 years. It's the same paperwork as working 5 days but shorter LJ's etc. What concerns do you have?

Not sure what ***** is?

[Maza]

I have done briefly. It depends on what your other job is. If it is a job where you can walk away at the end of your shift and don't give it a second thought until your next shift then it could work. If your other job also entails paperwork in the evenings then it would be tough to wear two hats - I preferred to just focus on one job after a while. I know some teaching assistants also do after school childminding.

[gemgem12]

Thankyou. I'm a family support worker in a children's centre so no paperwork in evenings. I wouldn't want to do that full time now I've got my 2 little ones so my thinking is that by childminding on my free days I can bring in some extra money still. I just wondered if people found it difficult to find families that wanted just 2 days. I'm not really relying on this wage so wouldn't be worried if I didn't get families right away but just suddenly thought - after all this registering process I might struggle getting any families wanting a Monday and a Friday!

[FloraDora]

I used to CM for 2 days and then fit my other consultant job around it.
All my children are part time 2/3 days and I think this is quite the norm now as parents themselves work part time and grandparents help with childcare to keep costs down. So in theory you should be able to fill your two days, it's more likely I think that you will be able to pick up one dayers...that other CM may be reluctant to fill a space with, but of course this question really is about ' how long is a piece of string?' As nothing is guaranteed in this job.
You seem to be in an ideal position of being able to wait though so it may work out fine.
I used to have a LO on a Mon and Fri because grandparents wanted a long 4days together weekend ....crossing my fingers for you that someone like this is out there in your area!

[bunyip]

Thankyou. I'm a family support worker in a children's centre so no paperwork in evenings. I wouldn't want to do that full time now I've got my 2 little ones so my thinking is that by childminding on my free days I can bring in some extra money still. I just wondered if people found it difficult to find families that wanted just 2 days. I'm not really relying on this wage so wouldn't be worried if I didn't get families right away but just suddenly thought - after all this registering process I might struggle getting any families wanting a Monday and a Friday!

I doubt you'll have any difficulty finding families who want only 2-3 days care. You might have difficulties finding families who want the same 2-3 days you're offering, but I'm sure you'll find a good fit if you look hard enough.

I started out doing 4 days pw, then extended to 5 due to demand, but have never had a single full time mindee. I now do 4 days of day-care, with the 5th day being booked only for school runs and ad hoc.

A lot of parents want just 2-3 days because families often have one parent working full-time and the other part-time. Families with 2 full-time working parents often have grandparents looking after the children: but grandparents have things to do too, or can only take so much, so they're grateful for a CM who will share the care.

The fact that I've always done part-time care has meant I've built up a reputation for it, and I've frequently been as full/busy as I want to be. Contrast this with other local CMs who moan they can't get enough work, because they refuse to do part-time or insist on charging for the full week, even if parents don't want the full week.

Hope it all goes well. :thumbsup:

[gemgem12]

Oh great, Thankyou everyone. That's really good to know 2 or 3 days childminding is quite common. I've started to spread the word already so hopefully I'll be up and running soon! X

[BallyH]

Good advice so far. I have one child at the moment on a one day contract as she shares childcare with grandparents and as already said this seems to be the norm to cut costs. Plus it'll be interesting to see what the future holds for us if/when the 30 hours comes in. We may all be sharing childcare left, right and centre.
You said parents may not want you for a Monday/friday. In my experience when you get an enquiry and like what you hear ask the parent to come along to your home for a chat anyway and they may, if you build up a repore and they like what you have to offer, swap days and come to you on a monday/friday. It's happened to me before. Best of luck.

[tulip0803]

I used to be a Family Support Playworker at a family centre 3 days and childminded around it. I couldn't help a lot of people who rang but I did fill my spaces. I did both from 20018-13 before I started minding full-time. I did want to childmind full time but got into a catch 22 situation where the enquiries where not enough to cover the income from the family centre so couldn't leave. I enjoyed doing both jobs. When it comes to tax return you have to fill in an employment and a self employment page.

Good luck xx

[gemgem12]

Thankyou.
Yes, that side of things is going to be new for me - in terms of my self employed work and my employed work. That's the bit I'm not looking forward to as I've no experience whatsoever in being self employed and what to do with working both jobs!

[alex__17]

I mind 4 days a week and have 2 eyfs children each day plus my own 3 year old so am full.
I have 1 for 2 days, 1 for 2.5 days, one for 1.5 days and 1 just 1 day so yes it's definitely possible to just get people needing one or 2 days
And it only took 6 months to get the right combination of part time children to fill all the days I had spaces :-)
It's also great having part time as when one leaves the drop in income is minimal and there is always 1 existing parent that wants extra days when spaces come up so I find it works really well.

[gemgem12]

Great, it sounds like families are often looking for only a few days a week then.
Thankyou everyone 😊x