Meals/Taster sessions/milk.. Help!

[Keeley77]

Hi,

Do most of you charge an additional amount for meals? My hourly rate is £3.75 (i'm in Plymouth) and I have been including snacks, cooked lunch and dinner at no extra charge, Its not really cost effective!

Also... if you provide a child with a taster session, do you charge your normal rate? and how long would you provide a session for? I was thinking just an hour but charging £5.00 (i'v now set my minimum session at 4 hours so £15 would usually be my min charge) Hope this makes sense?!!

Finally (for now anyway)lol .. How do you go about claiming back for milk etc?

Many thanks for you help x:)

[Mouse]

I include lunch and snacks in my fee, but not an evening meal or breakfast.

I offer 2 one hour settling in sessions for free.

I claim back my milk allowance through NMRU

https://www.nurserymilk.co.uk/faqs.html

Once it's set up it's really easy to do. I only claim it back once every 8 months or so, so get a nice little sum paid into the bank!

[Jenna]

Hi I charge £4.50 per hour and include all meals and snacks i charge a little more than some other childminders in the area yet i am the only one to include these things so there are no extra costs on your bill. Some childminders in my area charge £1.00 - Breakfast £1.50 - lunch then £1.50 for tea this can work out very expensive on top of bills.
I do a free 2hour introduction session then we go from there. If they need more sessions parents have to pay but with settling in i tend to be flexible.
I have just signed up for the free milk scheme so am just waiting to hear back off them.

[JueQ]

Hiya

I charge £4 per hour and a set fee of £2 per meal. (This has recently increased from £3.50 and £1.50). I include breakfast for free and snacks morning, afternoon and after school for free. I give parents the option to send a packed lunch which no one can be bothered to do! I offer lunch and tea but to be honest, try and discourage tea as it is a pain trying to watch children and also cook a meal (which some of them are very fussy!) I have increased the meals because the older children can eat me out of house and home and I find I cannot cover costs with £1.50!

I have just signed up for the milk scheme and get my first delivery this week.

Hope this helps!

[JueQ]

Forgot to put about taster sessions/settling in periods. I generally offer parents the chance to come and have a coffee whilst the children familiarise themselves and spend some time at my house. If the parent wishes to do this a couple of times and leave the child for 1-2 hours I am happy to do this for free. If they want longer than 2 or 3 sessions then I would consider charging. I have never had a child requiring more than this to be honest, including a baby. Most children have either settled straight away or feel comfortable after 2 or 3 visits.

I have spoken to other minders who have had little ones for settling in periods for several weeks and a few hours each time. They state they don't charge but I find it hard to believe and think a parent is taking the mickey if they did this and expected it for free. I personally wouldn't offer such a prolonged period. If a child hadn't settled after several visits then I don't believe it would work out anyway.

[samb]

I include all food in my hourly rate - seems to be the norm around here.

I offer a free 2 hour settling in session (or 2x1 hours if they prefer) and if they want any extra they have to pay for ad hoc hours. So far no one has wanted extra. I usually do this the week before they start with me.

I use cool milk - you just sign up saying how many children under 2 and 2-5 you have per day and they set it all up with the local milkman who magically leaves it outisde your door once or twice a week. They send an invoice which just states how many children you have, by email. If they have it wrong you just email them the mistakes and they sort it out. If you are away on holiday or numbers change you just email them and they sort it out for the following week. I've only been doing it a few months but it's been fine for me.

[lovechildcare1]

I will charge £4.00 per hour and have extra charge for breakfast (£1.50) Snacks, milk and fruit will be provided as part of the hourly fee.

Is it ok to ask parents to provide a packed lunch? I have a small kitchen and dont quite know how i would cope at cooking meals lol :) Dont get me wrong i will provide a warm meal if thats what parents wish

[blue bear]

It's the norm here for childminders and nurseries to ask parents to send packed lunches or meals that can be re heated.