maternity leave for parents

[ajs]

i think i know what you're all going to say but i am going to ask anyway as mum will be asking me about it soon

one of my mindees' mum is pregnant baby due july (it's a boy by the way)

i currently have her 24 hours a week half day mon and thurs and full tues and wed

so how/ what do i ask her for when she's off on maternity and how do i word it. and do you give a reduced rate for sibs

i have been in this situation before but finished with the kids before mum finsihed her mat leave as she couldn't afford the hourly charge, it was a long time ago and i can't remember what i did

[custardcream]

When ever I have been in this situation the mum has still wanted mindee to come to mine to give her a bit of time on own or with new baby, so sorry I cant really help.

[LittleMissSparkles]

Im not aure what to suggest until you know what mum will be needing Mandy sorry x

[angeldelight]

I have not been in this situation sorry Mandy

Unsure what I would charge to be honest

I have also always continued to mind the child so mom could rest etc

Why dont you ask if she is going to be doing this ?

Angel xx

[ajs]

yes i will thanks
i was just preempting the conversation really

and just wondering if anyone does anything different

[sarah707]

I'm not sure I would hold the place open without a retainer in place as it's likely mum will not go back to work / muck you about / choose a nursery / do different hours ... etc.

You never know what they are thinking! One of the joys of the job I suppose

[Twinkles]

i'm in much the same position. C comes three full days a week and her mum is expecting in April. C will continue to come to me for 1 day a week but I will be paid for 1 1/2. Mum's not going back for a year so it was along time to hold a place open, but I will get sibling too.
Personally i don't do reduced rate for siblings as they still take up a place that you could be charging full for.

[yummymummy]

hi ajs, Perhaps my previous expectant mums have just been thriftier than most but they have all tried it on by saying that they'd love baby to come to me but kept baby home with them with older sibling for the whole of their maternity leave and then took a chance that I will be able to help them out when the time came!
It's no wonder I am a wee bit cynical these days!
With maternity leave now being 9 months I don't think I'd let them run circles round me now like before and would give a date from when I would want a retainer to hold open any place.
good luck!
ps I don't give reduced rates for siblings either

[Kelly]

One of my parents is expecting, her LD comes 4 days a week and she will go on maternity leave in July. We have agreed that she will pay a retainer of £60 per week (approx half fee). I have never given a sibling discount, however due to this families circumstances I have agreed a 50p discount on the older child with the baby at full fee (as the baby will eventually end up doing more hours because of school), it suits me as the family are really nice and never take the mickey, (like some) if they are off they keep LO at home and never try pulling a fast one over sickness etc. Parents like that are worth keeping in my book !!!

[mrsbumbles]

Well i started back today with new baby whose mother has been on maternity leave for 6 months, mother continued to pay me for one child and continue to send her. Second child whom was at school , i dropped his fee during leave.And i have a variation for 4 under 5s due to sibling link for the baby, so i didnt have to hold a place open for her.

As for reduced rates, i dont usually do it, but because this is the third child in the family, i have dropped the school age childs fees down to half .Felt guilty charging them so much money.

[Heaven Scent]

I would treat this just like a school teachers holidays and charge a retainer - no less than half and agree that child can come for half of the time if she so wishes I do give 20% disc for older child does that all make sense. You need to judge if you think they can afford to pay you full and the child could come as and when parent needs it if they can ask for that.

If they are good parents always useful to keep them sweet!!!!!!!

Celine

[deeb66]

The best thing to do is to just talk to her about what she thinks she is going to do.

The others have already given loads of advice.

If the parent chooses to keep the child at home with them during the maternity leave then I generally don't hold the place open....purely because a majority of mums take the full 9 months leave now and even if they paid me half retainer it would still cost me a fortune to hold the space.

You may be lucky and mum may still want the LO to come to you throughout her maternity leave.

[Sarsar3NCH]

One of my mums went on mat leave and her full time son went down to 2 days which I could choose. I found another child who needed 3 days and purely by chance mum became pregnant and new LO left the same week that original mum went back to work, but I had a few sleepless nights before I knew it would all work out so well.

New baby was 4th child so I didn't need to keep sace open for her.

I gave a 50p discount to this family but wouldn't do that again unless family and hours were great.


Sarah

[ajs]

One of my mums went on mat leave and her full time son went down to 2 days which I could choose. I found another child who needed 3 days and purely by chance mum became pregnant and new LO left the same week that original mum went back to work, but I had a few sleepless nights before I knew it would all work out so well.

New baby was 4th child so I didn't need to keep sace open for her.

I gave a 50p discount to this family but wouldn't do that again unless family and hours were great.


Sarah

thanks everyone great advice
mum and baby are going away for 2 weeks on sunday so i will talk to them when they get back
she has already told me that she will take longer mat leave this time
she was back at work when lo was 8 weeks but that i will definately having both when she goes back.
we've got to sort a few things before then so i was just getting some ideas for what's the best way to do it.
and i definately agree that when you find a good family you do everything you can to keep them sweet and this one is definately one of the best i've ever had.

[Tily Bud]

Some good advice was given xx I found it helpful as both myself and Hazel have mums who are due to have babies in June xx

[Twinkles]

thanks everyone great advice
mum and baby are going away for 2 weeks on sunday so i will talk to them when they get back
she has already told me that she will take longer mat leave this time
she was back at work when lo was 8 weeks but that i will definately having both when she goes back.
we've got to sort a few things before then so i was just getting some ideas for what's the best way to do it.
and i definately agree that when you find a good family you do everything you can to keep them sweet and this one is definately one of the best i've ever had.

Aahh!! does that mean you had her at eight weeks? i'd love to have one that tiny.

[miffy]

If you have a good relationship with this family mandy you should be able to sort out something which is fair to everyone. It may mean taking a drop in income whilst mum is off work but then you will double your money when she goes back to work

Do you think she will take the full 9 months off? If she went back after 8 weeks last time but says she wants more time off now she might still go back long before her 9months is up

I wouldn't give a discount for the baby either - you only have x no of places.

Miffyxxx

[wendywu]

I never get little ones at 8 weeks any more. These rotten mothers who dont go back for 6 or 9 months. Its just not natural!

When people ask how young i take them from i say i will collect them from the hospital

[ajs]

Aahh!! does that mean you had her at eight weeks? i'd love to have one that tiny.

yes i had this one from 8 weeks and my younger baby from 5 weeks
i only have the 5 week old on fridays (she's now 6 months) as mum had started a college course and wanted to finish it, she goes back to work in april so i am having her 4 days from then.
my 6 year old i have had since she was 14 weeks.
it's funny i don't know how parents know that i just love having the babies so much.

miffy no i don't think she'll take the full 9 months
we do have a lovely relationship and i'm not seriously worried about the money as she is so generous really i was just sounding everyone out to see what they do.

this mum has never deducted money from me for taking days off and even when i say i'll swap a day she insists on paying me overtime
she is one of the few people who likens her job to mine, she gets paid holiday so why shouldn't i, she can take an hour off to go to the dr so why can't i, she even finshed work early one day as i couldn't get a hair appointment for when i'd finished so she told me to make it for a time i should have been working and she collected baby early. so i definately want to try to be sure that she is happy with what we arrange.

[Chimps Childminding]

Parents like that you definately need to keep hold of they are a rare breed as far as i can tell!!!!!!