is it all worth it?

[Donkey]

I am not sure if this is meant to be in fees or book keeping.

I am right at the start of wanting to become a childminder.
Problems with my current employer and returning to work means I have to have a complete about face in my life. I can't get a job anywhere else really as it wouldn't be enough to cover my childcare costs and travel to and from work.

I need to make £500 a month to cover my bills. (this would be poor living lol)
is it possible to make this much money from childminding?
I am not expecting to quit work and have a successful business overnight but I need some realistic expectations. While I am training and fingers crossed working (they want me to do all the rubbish shifts which will interfere with LO routine and breastfeeding I know my rights on this and will hit them if they continue being awkward.) I will save as much money as I can so that if I do fall on hard times it won't be as bad.

also has anyone continued breastfeeding while minding? How do you get around feeding? do you feed in front of your mindees or leave them unsupervised to go and feed. I am hoping LO will not need as many daytime feeds at that point but who knows what she will be doing.

thanks

Joy

[littlestar]

hi joy just to say i have this problem i dont think now it is worth going to work it just wouldnt cover my costs and bills i have just registered with regards to breast feeding and it took 8 months so i think she will be doing it a lot less now where are you in the country?

[Donkey]

sheffield :rolleyes:

[littlestar]

oh im northampton quite abit away sorry i couldnt help more :)

[Donkey]

don't worry!! thanks for the little bit though :)

I know it will take a while to get going, not even been to the briefing session yet, thats tuesday :D

just want to be at home with my baby and this seems like the best way to do it, tried 'party plan' companies in the past and I know this will be nothing like that but having another 'failed' business venture would not be good for me. I cannot risk not having an income. I hope I am worrying for nothing, I've spoken with the adult learning team near me as I want to do a makaton course and they have already said they might be able to put minding work my way. :clapping:

[ajs]

hi joy
in answer to the finances question
yes when you have built up a successful business you should be able to take over £500 pm but it may take a long time to get a successful business.
one temptation is to charge more so be careful you don't charge over the going rate when you set your charges. i charge £3.75 an hour which i know is on the high side in my town but i have worked in childcare and education for the last 28 years so the parent's do get a very experienced carer and luckily seem to appreciate it too.

in answer to the breastfeeding question i cannot see it being a problem with feeding in front of the mindees but i haven't ever breast fed since childminding so not sure of the official line i am sure someone will let you know exactly how you need to approach it.

i know it's big step to take but think of the benefits of being with your daughter while she grows up

[littlestar]

im sure you will be fine as long as your heart is in it good luck let us no how you get on now i have done it i want to be at home with my girls cant emagin going to work and paying for someone else

[Blaze]

Hi,
Your best bet to work out fees would be to go here:

http://www.*************.gov.uk/

That way you can work out the going rate in your area (bear in mind that if it says contact provider...chances are they charge a little more)! We do have members from your neck of the woods, so they can help with how many enquires they get ie is there a demand in your area.

I know in my area once you get going making £500 a month isn't too much of a problem.

Re breastfeeding...I would feed discretely in front of mindees...having already explained to parents you are a feeding mother upon meeting them...can't see it being a problem!

Best adviceget your forms sent in asap... stick with the job until you have mindees lined up...then enjoy!

Tasha:)

[Donkey]

people local to me charge £3 per hour including all meals. But I am not sure of the standard of the meals, I want to set good examples with healthy eating and varied meals. I need to minimise my costs as much as possible without compromising on the quality.

I have bought a breadmaker (wanted one anyway and didnt know what else to spend birthday money on) the salt content of packaged bread is quite bad. only 1tsp goes into my home made loaf and its lush!
so idea number 1 and selling point number 1 is 'we have fresh home baked bread every day.
I am also starting to grow some of my own veg. carrots, toms and lettuce at the minute, so this will be selling point number 2.

I also got a wormery for my birthday, df buys me such lovely presents, so selling point number 3 is 'we recycle as much as possible'

pretty sure that the area I live in most of the parents will not be bothered by any of the above but I have morals and standards lol

p.s breadmakers rock and if you use it only for mindees you could put it through your books, im saving my receipt and it will be going in mine, it only takes minutes to put the ingrediants in and if you do it first thing in the morning its ready by lunch. plus you could do a whole thing on it, rather than bread coming out of a package, they see how the bread is made from flour and then possibly try to do a day trip to a flour mill???:jump for joy:

[angeldelight]

Good advice from everyone

It is not going to happen over night and even in the future if you get really busy you only have to have a few children leave and it can knock your income about a fair bit

Being self employed is always up and down its one of the risks that you take

It will be nice to be home with your baby though

Good luck keep us posted

Angel xx

[ajs]

people local to me charge £3 per hour including all meals. But I am not sure of the standard of the meals, I want to set good examples with healthy eating and varied meals. I need to minimise my costs as much as possible without compromising on the quality.

I have bought a breadmaker (wanted one anyway and didnt know what else to spend birthday money on) the salt content of packaged bread is quite bad. only 1tsp goes into my home made loaf and its lush!
so idea number 1 and selling point number 1 is 'we have fresh home baked bread every day.
I am also starting to grow some of my own veg. carrots, toms and lettuce at the minute, so this will be selling point number 2.

I also got a wormery for my birthday, df buys me such lovely presents, so selling point number 3 is 'we recycle as much as possible'

pretty sure that the area I live in most of the parents will not be bothered by any of the above but I have morals and standards lol

p.s breadmakers rock and if you use it only for mindees you could put it through your books, im saving my receipt and it will be going in mine, it only takes minutes to put the ingrediants in and if you do it first thing in the morning its ready by lunch. plus you could do a whole thing on it, rather than bread coming out of a package, they see how the bread is made from flour and then possibly try to do a day trip to a flour mill???:jump for joy:

my hubby is desperate to buy me a breadmaker but our kitchen is tiny and we have no storage either

don't be so sure that ofsted will agree wtih you on the bread not from a package thing
i got marked down as an apple had fallen off my tree and it was a wasp hazard she didn't take into consideration that the kids had an organic apple not from a bag from asda but straight off the trees.

your usp sound great and i for one would pay for you to look after my kids, they are 13, 14 and 17 so you may not want them.

[Twinkles]

Like the others have said maybe someone in your area will be able to clue you in as to the demand. But the figure you quoted is easily achieveable in my area ( and more ). At the moment I earn more than my husband , but i am working to full capacity you may not want to do that with such a young child of your own. Do bear in mind that it will take quite a while from first registering to having a thriving business.

Good luck with it all.

[Schnakes]

Joy - it is worth it if you've got heart. Im very dubious of anyone who wants to start minding because a) they cant work anywhere else and b) because they want to stay at home with their little one. I think that B should only be a bonus...only people who genuinely want to work with children etc should consider becoming a childminder. I personally think that if you feel childminding is an easy way to earn an extra bit of cash while you lavish attention on your new baby....you are going down the wrong lane. If thats not the case then great! :)

That aside, with re: to breastfeeding - I did it while I was minding, and in front of the children. (Funny how your inhibitions change when you're breastfeeding, isnt it!!). To be honest, none of them batted an eyelid, so it really wasnt a problem, although I was discreet. One of my mums feeds her baby at my house and doesnt mind sitting there bare chested in front of me. It makes me uncomfortable. I certainly wouldnt be doing that in front of the children!!! You shouldnt really leave the children unsupervised at all. We had a discussion recently (which I started, if you want to take a look) about what we do when we need the toilet. Thats how silly it is!!! :rolleyes:

In summary, childminding, for the majority of us, is a professional business that we are proud to do. We put a lot of hard work, time, money and study, and if you are prepared for all that then welcome aboard! This website is excellent for support and information, and if you decide to go through with it - stick around....you wont find anywhere better on the web for childminders.

Good luck!

Sx

[nell57]

Hi Joy

Cant really add much more to the good advice the girls have already said but just wanted to say good luck what ever you decide

Helen:)

[manjay]

Joy - it is worth it if you've got heart. Im very dubious of anyone who wants to start minding because a) they cant work anywhere else and b) because they want to stay at home with their little one. I think that B should only be a bonus...only people who genuinely want to work with children etc should consider becoming a childminder. I personally think that if you feel childminding is an easy way to earn an extra bit of cash while you lavish attention on your new baby....you are going down the wrong lane. If thats not the case then great! :)

Sx

Have to say I didn't realise my full desire to work with children until I had started on the registration and learning process. I had thought that was what I wanted to do but was by no means sure.

I think it does depend on your area and demand for minding services. I am as full as I want to be 4 months after registering and yes I earn that amount a month and in September I will have a full timer which will obviously increase it substantially. You do need to take into consideration all the extras you spend on and like Angel said it can be a very fickle business so one minute you may be full to bursting but the next they have all given notice.

I too love you usp's. I make bread and all food from scratch using as much organic produce as possible which obviously is not cheap but it is just as much for my childrens benefit as anyone elses. We also make a big deal about recycling and the children are really excited about getting our compost ready

hth

amanda xx

[Tatia]

I breast fed in front of mindees, too, albeit discreetly. But then, I breast fed my daughter any and everywhere we happened to be when she was hungry. I did tell parents and they were perfectly fine with it. I thought it was really sweet when one of he little mindees would hold her dolly up to her chest to feed it instead of using the dolly bottle.

[sarah707]

I think wanting to be home with your own children is an excellent reason for starting childminding... it shows a dedication to children for a start and that you are wanting to give your child the best possible start in life by having you there - what could be a better thing for potential parents to see?

Having said that, though, there is a heck of a lot of red tape and paperwork, so you have to be ready for that too.

I don't think £500 a month is unrealistic - just unlikely to be immediate. And yes, I would suggest you have a couple of months worth of cushion money in the bank cos you never know in this job.

Good luck! :D

[Banana]

Hi Joy.

Just wanted to say you have been given some good information so far :)

I would also say that you need to look at things realisticly too - you arent going to receive your registration certificate and the very next day have all of your spaces filled - unless you have managed to line up full timers for all your vacancies before you start - which is not unheard of but not common at all.

In the begining I started out with one part time mindee and it was earning me £87 a week... 3 weeks later his mum lost her job and left me with no income for 6 weeks - then I took on a full timer at 30 hours, was still only £109 a week but then my initial part timer came back after his mum got another job and I also took on another part timer. everything was fine for 4 months - then my full timer left and I ended my part timers contract. I was down to 1 part timer again but then luckily took on 2 new part timers in short space of time! I currently have 4 children on my books, 1 full timer and 3 part timers - what I am trying to say is that it is unpredictable and your income is not garaunteed - anyone of my mindees could leave tomorrow and leave me short on my income :rolleyes:

I guess if you have a passion to want to work with children and be able to take care of your own baby at the same time and can afford to not be garaunteed your money each month then go for it. But just be aware that its not the plain sailing easy way to make money some people think :) It takes a lot of hard work on your part

Good luck with whatever you decide!!! But childminding is a good job to be in!!

xx

[Minnie Minx]

i just want to add, you may be entitled to benefits whilst minding. If you're on a low income you may be entitled to housing benefit etc. It's def worth enquiring about :)



xxx

[berkschick]

It is definately worth you speaking to your local CIS or childminders to see what the demand is.

I started minding in January and I am earning £290 a week before expenses etc.

For me it has built up quickly but there is a good demand for childminders here luckily for me.

But like Lana says, things can suddenly change and thats the main problem.

[Donkey]

thanks for all your lovely replies and pm's ladies

i know i will not be in this for the short haul and its the long term i am looking at.
i know it won't be a walk in the park, but hopefully i will be able to get regged and up and away.
we wont be entitled to any kind of benefit as other earns too much, but with bills and commitments we really need my wage. our mortgage alone eats up half of partners wage.

work have refused my req for flexible working so i need to appeal, also seeking legal advice as i may have grounds for indirect sex discrim.

all fun in the joy house today! :crying:

[Kelly]

I hope your appeal goes well, at least it would give you some breathing space. Do you know of any childminding groups, In our area there is a real need for childcare so most childminders are lucky and are full, if any newly registered/registering childminders come along we are happy to pass on details, this means that the majority of new childminders that come along to our group have at least one child within a month of being registered.

I definaltley think £500 is a realistic amount to earn in a month, but make sure you have something to fall back on as it could take time.

Good Luck

Kelly;)

[Donkey]

i will find out more on the session on tuesday I think.
will have to wait until then.

[angeldelight]

Good luck on Tuesday

xx

[Gherkin]

Joy, I was registered in September and have only one under 5 space available due to having two children of my own under 5. My average earnings without having that space full to capacity are over £500 per month (our area is £3.50ph). In that time the most before/after schoolies I have had has been 2 at one time. Some months I earn £300 others I earn £800. It all depends on things like sickness, holidays etc. If you can have more than 2 under 5 then I think that your potential to earn more than £500 pm is certain as long as you do not have everyone leave you at once. However you do have to invest in your business. Advertising is so important. In my area we have a website for childcare which everyone advertises on but I also advertise in the local magazine and shop. It gets my name out there and I have had referals from these sources. I also do babysitting to give me extra spending money - it doesn't provide much but it is used to buy more resources for the minding. You need to be clever and save as much as you can when you can. In the end it is worth it. I never thought about childcare as a career until my own childcare situation blew up in my face but I have to say I am loving the fact that I have my own business, that I am with my children and that I am providing care for other children. In the beginning you cannot be too choosy about who you take on but you can cover yourself in your contracts so if it gets too much you end the contract. I have taken on one very challenging child who has sen requirements and although on the bad days I want to give up the good days pay everything back in kind and this is with a child that no other childminder in my area would take on.

[louise]

Hi, I will admit i havent earnt that great as there are lots of cm in my area. My current mindee has been 3 days for over a year and will now be 5 days.
At times i have thought about looking for something else but the way i see it i have been able to spend most of the week with my son(i have been doing another job fri and sat but will finish that now have f/t mindee) That far out weighs anything to me. I would miss him and i know its silly but wouldn't like someone else to look after him esp as i have been a cm.

[Alibali]

Regarding the breast feeding, one of my mindees aged 2 years was horrified to see me bottle feed his new baby brother and demanded I get my 'boobies' out to feed him cos thats how babies get milk!!!! Now I do most things for them but!!!! Little ones accept what they see as normal and I am very adamant that all babies should be breast fed if possible (ex midwife talking!), so as long as the parents know and are happy with it you shouldn't have a problem. Any parents not keen can find alternative care!

Ali :)