Under 1s!

[Nicolle De Beer]

Hi there I have recently registered as a childminder and have two children of my own aged 3.5 years and 9 months - I have taken on a 4 year old girl after school for 2 days a week and have had interest from a family with a 4 month old. Now I want to take on the 4 month old and my husband says he can be home during the day to look after my 9 month old.

Would I be allowed to take on the new baby? and if Ofsted inspect me would I get into trouble?

Thank you for your help

[Rick]

I have received this from Ofsted and DfE regarding your own children.

IMPORTANT INFO FROM OFSTED AND DfE

In theory you could take your daughter out of your numbers if your husband is available to look after her. At the end of the day you will have to explain to an inspector your actions. I would urge caution with this especially as this will mean 2 under 1's. What will happen if your husband can't look after your daughter. Do you want to appear unreliable if you have to cancel your mindee each time he is unavailable?

I suggest you read the information we received from Ofsted and DfE and print it off if challenged by an inspector. Do a full risk assessment including what happens when your husband is unavailable. Inform parents.

[Nicolle De Beer]

Thank you for your reply, I have done a risk assessment and my husband works from home so highly unlikely he would ever be unavailable. Only reason may be due to illness however this is not all the time.

My main worry is how do I prove this to Ofsted if they ask? My little one turns 1 year in just under 3 months time.

[moggy]

A very grey area and much debated!

I believe, some recent letters from Ofsted/Dept of Ed (on this Forum somewhere, quite recent) suggest it is OK to have your own child under the care of someone else while you have full EYFS quota... BUT you must have a plan B in case that care falls through... so what if husband is suddenly sick/away/working/injured? You on your own can not be left with 2 under 1s (this is not 'continuity of care').

Can husband become your registered assistant? that would be a much safer way, but again he must be there at all times when there are 2 under 1s and have a back-up in case of his absence.

Personally, I would not take the risk. Ofsted is scary enough without having to try to convince them that what you have arranged is meeting the EYFS with its vague ad debatable rules. You are also putting yourself at risk of being 'reported' by busybodies thinking you are over numbers and you need to think whether you can actually provide the care/resources/space/time that 2 babies need.

When you are new it is tempting to jump at every enquiry, but sometimes it pays of to wait until something else comes along- it will, in time and it might be less risk that this plan.

[FussyElmo]

Another angle to look at it from if your dh works from home how will he look after your child as well?

[Rick]

Another angle to look at it from if your dh works from home how will he look after your child as well?

That's a good point. How can you convince Ofsted your daughter is being solely cared for by your husband if he's supposed to be working? Your risk assessment needs to be bullet proof so think carefully about doing this.

[Nicolle De Beer]

Another angle to look at it from if your dh works from home how will he look after your child as well?

He currently does it now anyway its not a time consuming job and if ever the need arises that he has to focus solely on his work then with my mum, his mum or his sister has agreed to have her. So there is always somebody to look after her. I am not new to the childminding world as was registered back in 2012 and had been for 2 years so know the ins and outs. My main aim of this question was just to get some advice and I'm also going to phone ofsted and get their opinion on the matter