Can you afford it? (Childcare in general)

Member Name: yesidoo

Product:	Childcare in general
Date:	09/08/00 (207 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: goes without saying

Disadvantages: as above

I have been a single parent and now I am on the other side of the coin. I now have two children and I work part-time and live with my partner.

We are now at a crossroads in our childminding status. I earn just £4.91 an hour doing a tedious horrible job I hate. If I wanted to pay a childminder I would have to pay £2.80 an hour to pay for my daughter who is 12 months old.

However I do not finish work untill 5.00pm so this means that I also would have to have someone to collect my son from school at 3:00pm. this means that from 3pm onwards I would be paying £5:60 for childcare, thus working for -69p!!

Apart from my heart being constantly torn apart by thinking I'm doing wrong by my kids, it seems that only the well paid can afford chidcare. Or if you are receiving benefits. I just wish that there was a middle of the road out thier somewhere.

So here is my list of bewares that we have found out through trial and error! Hope its usefull.

If you do decide on this form of care your child should be safe and well in its own environment or the childminders. Usually a childminder will have chidren of thier own so they will have playmates. This is usually a more flexible arrangement and is more easily altered if you need to. Also easier if you or your partner are on shift patterns. It is easier to build up a rapport with the childminder for both you and your child as you have consistency with the arrangement.

With a child minder you can set the boundarys that you would like your child to be treated under. IE, they are not allowed chocolate before dinner etc and this will be adhered to. Childminders are usually bewtween £2.00 and £4.00 depending on your area.

There are other choices, the local nurssery. This charges varying rates depending on the length of time in care and and the chids age. The drawbacks to this are that if your child is sick you are NOT ALLOWED to bring the child but still have to pay. You have
to pay if you go on holiday for more than three weeks in a year. There is no flexability for varying shifts. This is usually about £25 for a full days care.

Nurserys offer a well balanced attitude to the caring of children. There are regular story times, activity led play. Regular outdoor play. Pantos etc etc. The meals are always varied and they try to keep everything different and healthy. There are plenty of staff available but this can change as staff are replaced or move on.

If you decide to opt for family beware!!! Firstly it is essential that all parties involved are happy with the arrangement. If it is a parent they may be older and possibly not be able to handle a child physicallly sometimes. (when they throw a tantrum etc) the parent/auntie etc may feel used, so either decide to pay a set amount or treat them now and again to say a bunch of flowers to let them know how much you appreciate it.

Be sure to ask regularly if the arrangement is still satisfactory so that there is never any atmosphere and all parties involved can alter arrangments if need be.

Sometimes if it is a family member you may not feel able to tell them how you would like them to treat your child in your abscence. If you have stated that they are not allowed sweets before dinner but they go ahead and do it anyway, many take this extremely badly and think that you are having a personal attack at their abilities to look after your child. You can end up in a situation where you are not happy for this to go on but daren't say anything.

Whatever you choose ultimatly your child should be in the happiest environement you can provide. Good luck it's not easy!

Summary: