Minimum age of mindee?

[marzi]

Hi,

I know some CM's only take on children over a certain age. Why is this? Is it personal preference or some other issue I havent thought about (there's a fair amount of them :blush: ).

[Ripeberry]

I personally think that very young babies under 3 months old, need to bond with their parents, also they would have had their 'shots' by then so less risk of catching something nasty from other mindees.

[miffy]

I don't know - probably personal preference

Miffy xx

[marzi]

I personally think that very young babies under 3 months old, need to bond with their parents, also they would have had their 'shots' by then so less risk of catching something nasty from other mindees.

Never thought of that! The shots part not the bonding bit :rolleyes:

[RainbowMum]

A Newborn is such a responsiblity, I personally find babies very hard work, even my own! The youngest I have taken so far is 7 months, however I would consider any family/child on an individual basis and dont have a set minimum but would take some convincing to take younger than 6 months x

[RachelG]

I don't know if I would feel comfortable taking on a child under 6months. My only reason would be that a child under 6 months is at more risk of cot death and I would never forgive myself if that happened in my care.
Also agree that they need to bond with parents xx

[solly]

The youngest i have taken on was 5 weeks old I have also taken on children of 4 months and that was a teachers child but usually they are about 6months old but i do think its personnal preference

[marzi]

I don't know if I would feel comfortable taking on a child under 6months. My only reason would be that a child under 6 months is at more risk of cot death and I would never forgive myself if that happened in my care.
Also agree that they need to bond with parents xx

I didn't think of that either!

[Twinkles]

I would collect from hospital if required ! Couldn't guarantee I'd hand it back though :D

[marzi]

I would collect from hospital if required ! Couldn't guarantee I'd hand it back though :D

I'm the same lol I love babies

[sillysausage]

Back in the old days when I was a relatively new minder maternity leave was only 18 weeks, and there were no tax credits etc so 4 month old mindees were a more regular occurance. Also part-time working for mothers was far less common so you often got young babies full time because it was the only way families could afford everything.
I would take on a very young baby but I don't know if I'd be happy providing full time care. For several years now all my under 5's have been part timers when they've started, perfect for them having a good bond with me and for the parents (mainly mum) to not miss out on any of the 'firsts' etc.

[christine e]

The youngest I have had is 11 weeks closely followed by one of 12 weeks. Like just mentioned back in the old days maternity leave was much shorter and the option of part time work not there. Nowadays babies tend to come to me at about 8/9 months and they find separation difficult. I remember reading somewhere that babies separate better before the age of 5 months and that by 8 months they are much more aware of what is going on!

Cx

[huggableshelly]

the youngest I have cared for is 18 months

I have never had a baby and when I worked in a nursery i detested being in the baby room so i doubt very much if I will ever look after one.

another cm around here only looks after preschoolers and younger, she took on a 7 wk old so it works well, she has the babies I have the older and afterschoolers. Just the wat it is lol and suits me just fine.

[Pauline]

Like Christine says the changes to maternity rules means that many parents do not need to go back to work so early.

The youngest I've ever had was 6 weeks on a part time basis as mum prepared to go back at 3 months old.

I know what you mean about cot death and the responsibility, they never left my side and I watched them like a hawk!

Glad to say they are now a healthy 18 year old :clapping: