Thinking about becoming a Childminder..

[fieryleo1984]

Morning everyone, just after a little advice really. Ive been thinking about becoming a childminder..I have a 13 month old daughter and currently work 3 days a week but the costs of going to work are rising and Im not happy there anymore. I love children and think I could do a good job of looking after other peoples children.

However my main concern is that my house is not big enough :-/. I live in a modern 2 bedroom townhouse. I have a living room and a largeish kitchen area. I know if Im clever with storage I could make the rooms appear largish but Im worried this would stop me from getting business. Im not looking to take on lots of children so wouldnt have a packed house just be interested to see if anyone is in the same situtaion.

Emma

[hannahemilie]

I have a small house, 2 bedrooms one of which is small, one tiny bathroom, a living room and a kitchen/diner, I have a garden as well. The way I see it all you need is a table to sit on and a room to play in! Like you im not taking on lots of children, but I have 1 after school, one 4 year old and a 15 month old (not all at once!) from jan and thats plenty. As long as your house looks well kept etc I dont think it should put people off at all. The only problem with a small house is where you put everything, thats annoying! Go for it and good luck!

[linda2girls]

On my course, we were told space isn't an issue, you can still childmind if you live in a flat with no garden.

Linda.

[Penny1959]

Size of house not an issue - Ofsted may limit number of childen due to amount of 'furniture free space'.

Take a look at Ofsted website as guidelines for amount of space needed - so you could check space you have - you might be surprised at how much space you have!


Penny :)

[fieryleo1984]

Thankyou for all your replys, I am defo going to look into this properly! Im very excited now :-)

Em x

[Pauline]

The child/space ratios are also on the main Childminding Help website, to save you searching the Ofsted site:

http://childmindinghelp.co.uk/becomingachildminder.html

I think you would have to have very limited areas for Ofsted to stop you childminding - good luck :)

[ORKSIE]

Parents who choose a CM, want a home from home setting, not a nursery. IMO

I have a large kitchen/Diner, but a small living room, it works for me and has done for the past 16 years.

Good luck.:thumbsup:

[keeks]

I've got a 2 bed upstairs flat without a garden. I had my numbers limited to 3 under 5's and 1 over 5. I'm quite happy with these numbers.

Good luck!
xx

[BlondeMoment]

My house is weeny too. Kitchen isn't big enough to swing a cat and lounge isn't huge. Biggest problem is not having a downstairs loo for toilet trainers.

I had one parent say she wasn't interested in me because of the little house but others have said it's bigger than theres! All depends what people want and everyone is different! x

Good luck looking into childminding. I have to say the first 6 months can be stressful as is starting any business but once you get passed that, it's a lovely lovely job!:)

[Jacko81]

hi - this was one of my concerns too, as we have quite a small lving room, but i have found that parents are more than happy if we access the outdoors daily (as is expected) and also they all said they chose me to care for their children and not my house. :) as long as your house is well kept, inviting and you use your surrounding outdoors well, then i cant see any problem xxx

[WeePud]

Hello & welcome!

As the others say I wouldn't stress about space, if your home is already suitable for your own child then it should be fine, even if it just means a slighty lower number of children on your certificate.

I don't want to sound like a stalker but I think our girls r the same age & we both post on another board :)

[fieryleo1984]

Thanks for all the advice ladies, its good to no I dont have to worry about the house so much! Im going to ring birth to five to get some more info etc.

Hi Weepud, as soon as I saw your username i thought i recognised it! i tend to use the same usernames for forums :-). How are you finding being a childminder?

Em x

[WeePud]

I'm still pre-reg unfortunetly, my lady can't get out to see me for my pre-reg visit cos of the weather :( I started doing 2 hours a day from 2day tho, just to settle my wee mindee in (he'll b 1 next week) and get DD used to sharing me. It went really well yay. Taking the 2 of them to our usual music group tomorrow to see how I cope with DD running about & mindee crawling about. Hoping she'll get out to see me before Christmas so I can start properly in January.

You should def look into it, it's a great way to bring in a wage & not miss out on ur wee one growing up. I worked in a nursey for years & they were all very surprised when I didn't go back after maternity leave, but it was always my intention as it's a way to do almost the exact same job at home!