Sleeping babies & children?

[M&AsMummy]

I'm currently going through all the pros & cons of where to let my mindees nap in my house, I am trying to decided between downstairs in my living room & upstairs in my 2yr old daughters room in a travel cot. I ideally didn't want to use any of our bedrooms for minding but the more I think about it Im getting confused. I cant decide whether having them downstairs will be easier to check on them than having to trail the other children with me upstairs.

I could be over thinking this so if you could just say where your mindees nap and why you chose that area that would be fab.

Thanks x

[green puppy]

I have 3 bedrooms so my mindees sleep upstairs either in a travel cot or lay flat pushchair (however they sleep at home). I have a monitor in each room and also do visual checks. I prefer them being upstairs so they are not disturbed if others do not sleep or by me clearing and re jigging daily resources. Mine are now aged 2.5-3.5 and one now sleeps in my dd's bottom bunk bed(he has a bed at home), she never uses the bottom one. The 2 girls share my room both in lay flat pushchairs as they sleep at the same time and each sleeps for a while without disturbing each other, The other lo used to sleep in the final room in travel cot but rarely sleeps now. The children know which is "their" room and bed and all sleep well. I wouldn't have been able to sleep four lo's downstairs in one room.

[M&AsMummy]

Thank you for your reply :)

I maybe should add that I will only have 1 mindee (a baby) to nap as the other 2 children (in my under 5's) are my own. My eldest is 2 and she doesn't nap in the day any more and my youngest in almost 10 months so will sleep in her own room for her naps. We have 3 bedrooms, ours which I don't want to use, my eldest daughters which I am considering then the nursery where my baby obviously sleeps.

The main bonus points of upstairs are that they can nap undisturbed by the downstairs noise and I have a monitor set up in my 2yr olds room. Im just worrying about having to interrupt my 2 whilst they are playing to take them upstairs to check on the baby....or is this not necessary. Im just worried about the logistics I suppose. How often do you check your mindees when they are napping? Im unsure what is a reasonable amount of time as I have always use angelcare monitors with my girls which I find allows them to have a nap of 1hr without me physically going up to them as I can see on the monitor they are breathing also an alarm would go off if there was any problem.

The problem is I would personally be fine nipping upstairs for 1 min to check on the sleeping mindee but that would leave my 2 unsupervised, I am ok with that risk as obviously I do it myself to use the toilet etc when I am at home with my own children but I'm unsure of Ofsted's view on this as I assume they don't want to see the children ever unsupervised for even the shortest time?

x

[swindonminder]

I have quite a large hallway so I have my travel cot set up there. I prefer it to be downstairs as I think I would worry if it was upstairs, even if I had monitors :panic: !!!! If it gets to noisy I close the living room door slightly that way they still have some privacy from the other children whilst sleeping.

[M&AsMummy]

Just read my reply back and I'm not saying I would be comfortable leaving a mindee napping for 1hr that is just my own child. I would go up and check before that with a minded child even if I do use the angelcare monitor pad.

I think the thing that is going round in my head is that I read on another childminders website that she checks on sleeping children/babies every 10 mins! I just cant get my head round how she manages that without disturbing the play of the other children to take them with her unless she leaves them unsupervised.

x

[green puppy]

I can hear the children breathing on the monitors but I check every 20 minutes or so for babies (unless I can't hear them then I check straight away). Now they are all older I check if I hear movement, otherwise every half hour or so. This could be just listening through the door or opening it a crack for a peek. I have had the children since babies so ranging from 2-3 years now and I know their sleep patterns well. I do not take non sleeping children with me, I know them and I make sure they are occupied whilst I nip up to check (takes seconds). I risk assess so know my lounge is safe for the children to be left for the few seconds that it takes to check and I can hear them downstairs anyway. I think it's more risky trying to take children upstairs, you have to turn your attention away to check the sleepers anyway. Plus you know your own children and know if they can be left for a few seconds or not. I explained to ofsted that it is more dangerous for me to take 2 or 3 lo's up and down stairs than it is to leave them for a few seconds. Obviously you have to do what you feel comfortable with, it would be worth registering all of your rooms upstairs and see what works best for you. I only have one large lounge downstairs so would not be practical to have sleepers downstairs.

[caz3007]

My pre reg Mrs O was an ex childminder and she said to register all my rooms. I used to have the travel cot in my DS's room and a monitor and used to check on them visually regularly. Now I have a travel cot in my back family lounge just cos its easier and its only the bathroom thats used upstairs. Its all about what works for you, so would suggest you get all the rooms registered and then go from there.

Ummmm as the non sleepers are your own children then certainly wouldnt drag them upstairs to check on the sleeping child it would more likely disturb them anyway

[Jiorjiina]

We got told on our pre reg course that as long as children are audible and within earshot, then they count as supervised (so that you can leave them playing to go and check on a sleeping baby, for example).

I'd say that checking sleeping children every 10 mins is a bit on the excessive paranoid side, to be honest, if you've also left a monitor in the room with them. I agree on 'every 20 mins checking' though.

[Kezzle]

If you had a sleeping baby upstairs and toddlers downstairs and were worried about leaving them a few seconds to check baby then maybe invest in some sort of play pen where you know that is the only area they can occupy and not have any accidents. I was thinking of buying a play pen/travel cot for this very reason. Obviously if they're older then they can be taught and trusted for a few seconds if happily playing

[M&AsMummy]

Thank you very much for these replies! :thumbsup:

My mind is getting clearer on what procedures I'm going to follow with the sleeping children and when I have to use the toilet. I'm sure these things will fit into place when I'm actually minding but trying to work it all out before hand gets so confusing.

x