Expert help needed please!! What would you do?

[OrlandoBelle]

I have a bit of a predicament and i'm not sure what to do.

I have a lady coming to see me on wednesday who is looking for childcare next April/May time. Her daughter will be 20 months old by then.

At the moment I have 3 under 5's, 2 of which are part time, so I do have some part time places on various days. However I also have another lady coming to see me tomorrow who wants to fill one space.

I don't really know what to do. How do I know if I will have vacancies by next April? Presuming I do, should I charge her a deposit or retainer to hold a place? And if so, how much?

Also one of the parents I have at the moment is pregnant and has already asked me if I can care for her baby when it is three months old. I'm not sure if she is going to keep her daughter in my care when she goes on maternity leave or keep her at home with her and the baby.

Does anyone have any advice please? Need help before the potential parents come out tomorrow evening! :panic:

[Blaze]

Sorry...I'm a bit too tired to keep that all straight...I'll reply in the morning!:)

[Deb]

My understanding is that you can only retain for 12 weeks anywho (read that on the back of the NCMA contracts) - so in your case you would be better off asking her to ring again nearer the time. Beware of holding spaces for unborn babies - anything could happen and you could easily find yourself well out of pocket. You need to weigh up the pros and cons of each customer and take it from there.

Also, you cant take a retainer for a place you dont have, that would be a depost against the place that you might have - if you dont have the place then you have to pay it back.

[mrs c]

Be careful if you opt for the pregnant mother - I have just had something similiar and now dad has said they can't afford 3 days (just had hol to far east)and have reduced me to 2 and left it until last minute to tell me - could have filled the place several times months ago and now calls have dried up. So if you go for this make sure you get a good deposit/retainer once baby is born.

[miffy]

I'd see both sets of parents and talk to the mum you already mind for who's pregnant before you make any decisions.

Things can change so quickly in this job - the mum who's pregnant might decide not to go back to work.

If the part-time one coming today is an immediate start and fits in then I'd be tempted to take that.

Good luck - at least you know there's plenty of work around!

Miffy xx

[angeldelight]

I agree with Miffy

Anything can happen in the next year

Angel xx

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I agree with Miffy. Take what is available at the moment and then ask for a variation on "continuity of care" basis if mum still wants you to have baby next year

[RainbowMum]

When I was asked to hold a place for a long while I charged a £200 deposit which was only 50% refundable when they took up the place.

Personally I would go with filling spaces now as April is sucha long way off and anything could change between now & then - I would be willing to hold the space from December on wards and ask the mum to contact me then to see if space available.

Good luck x