looking after nephew for money

fluffyb

I have been a Registered Childminder for 24 years

It is illegal to look after other peoples children without being registered unless you are family. Having said that, if you are paid you must register as self employed and you will still proably need to register as a childminder. You can check this out with your local authority or OFSTED.

You can look after a child for only 2 hours a day 'for reward' if you are not registered.

If you register you will need to take a course, a food hygiene course, a 12 hour first aid course, and have regular OFSTED inspections. Trust me - they are AWFUL - and I am one who actually does well in them and still find them stressful. Friends of mine have been torn to pieces in OFSTED inspections. More and more is being expected of childminders and studying for NVQ's is openly encouraged. You must also have public liability insurance.

If the parents want to claim tax credits etc etc. they could not do so with an unregistered childminder as the childminder has to declare her registration number etc for credits to be paid.

I have looked after my great nephew. I looked after him for 10 years and felt obliged to charge a reduced rate.It could cause friction if you have different ways of parenting for sure.

Looking after a child without being registered can lead to prosecution.

Good luck with your decision!

maisie-jane

paddy's_mum wrote: »

My advice? ... don't do it! You've already said that you didn't want to do it, your ways aren't their ways, and it's only one day a week.

You are going to end up feeling very resentful, and put upon by your better half, and all for the sake of about £30 a week. If your better half is so keen on the idea, let him arrange to have the child all day Saturday so that he is the one helping "family" for a pittance.

You, on the other hand, can find some little job for a very few hours a week and still bring home the extra £30 that your better half thinks is so worthwhile. Do you know what - I'd bet money that your other half will back pedal on wishing to earn a few pounds by being lumbered with a crying baby all day long!

Its £20 quid and your right, other half would have a nervous breakdown! My youngest is just about to start full time nursery, so my days would be my own. I'm looking for a little part-time job. Its not about the money, its about being surrounded by other grown ups rather than kids! Its the letting down family thing that would bother me if i said i couldn't have him. He had a childminder all lined up, but they wanted one to one care, and obviously as i sit on my butt watching Jeremy Kyle all day, im not in a position to say no i don't want to.:rolleyes:

pandora205

I don't think you want to do this (as you've said as much). There are much easier ways of earning money, which isn't likely to be very much particularly as they are family.

And as several people have mentioned you would need to register as a childminder.

Why not think of some other ways of earning for a day a week (or whatever) that you really prefer/enjoy?

essexgal

Hi M-J

Just to say


DON'T DO IT !


I know of several people who have been in this position (myself included) and in each case it's seriously not worth the aggro !!!!! Even if you are getting paid - which I'm not:mad:

It starts off with one day a week and then before you know it it becomes a longer day, a couple of extra hours here and there, two days, etc. and if for any reason it's inconvenient for you (i.e. hospital appointment, been invited somewhere) suddenly you're the bad guy because you're 'letting them down' and they don't have anyone else. Don't put yourself in this position - they already had a childminder - what's the betting the real reason they decided on 'one to one' care - i.e. you is because you're the cheaper option.

I'd turn them down and say that you're looking at part time jobs and can't commit until you know what hours you'll be working - and hope that they find alternative childcare.

Or you could offer to do a like for like - i.e. they look after your children for a whole day at the weekend so you and OH can do things - watch them backpedal then.....;)

seem to have gone on a bit - can you tell it's an 'issue' with me:rotfl: :rotfl:

essexgal

Loopy_Lobes

I totally agree with essexgal, don't do it! as well as all the reasons she has listed above what will you do if they're late collecting him or if they drop him off early, will you charge more? will you be expected to care for him if he's ill?what if they ask you to babysit as an 'aunty' at the weekend, will you charge then or will it be free? What about when you're ill, or your hubby is ill or your children are home sick from school? There's so much hassle to not being properly registered and having proper policies in place with the backing of a body such a the NCMA and local childminging associations. I think if childcare was your thing you would go and get registered and do it as a 'proper' job but reading your posts it seems like your heart isn't in it.

Not sure if someone has mentioned this above but you'd probably need public liabilty insurance, not sure how you go about that if you're not a registered childminder? Also I'm pretty sure (someone will correct me if I'm wrong) if you're earning any money at all you need to register for tax, even if you're not earning enough to actually pay tax. Then you have the hassle of doing tax returns and expenses etc.

Say you can't do it, be honest and say you would worry about your relationship being spoiled with your differences in parenting styles etc. If you sit home all day and watch Jeremy Kyle that's your business no one can 'expect' anything of you because you've got free time.

Lillibet_2

Hi

My 3YO is looked after by his auntie for about 5 hours a week, just one afternoon./evening when hubby & my shifts clash, but she comes to my house. We pay her petrol (£10 a time), make sure there is a nice meal in the slow cooker/oven for her & our son to enjoy together, make sure we have in her favourite drinks (fruit tea & diet coke) and she gets odd bunches of flowers, small gifts etc as random thank yous. We wanted to pay her but she won't accept anything else. That said, she is also our sons Godmother & dotes on him (no children of her own) & loves to have the once a week opportunity to have him to herself. Also her work hours allow her to do this without any significent impact on the rest of her life We would never have dreamed of asking her if we hadn't felt confident that she would feel she could say no/change her mind without offending us. Auntie broadly follows our rules (routine/ naughty step no smacking etc) but obviously everyone has a different way of doing things & we don't expect her to be the same as us. It seems to be working as Spud really looks forward to her afternoons now, eats far better for her than us & goes to bed & off to sleep without a murmer!
All of that said, I would immediately put a stop to it if I felt either one of them wasn't benefitting from the arrangement as her relationship with him as his auntie (and as hubbys big sister!) is much more important than childcare convenience. I like to think she feels the same.
Go with your heart, maybe an agreed trial period for a month or so for both parties to get a feel for things would help?

Good luck whatever you decide;)

Mojisola

maisie-jane wrote: »

He had a childminder all lined up, but they wanted one to one care, and obviously as i sit on my butt watching Jeremy Kyle all day, im not in a position to say no i don't want to.:rolleyes:

Of course you can say no! It might cause friction for a while - but if you take on their child for years and resent it, the friction's going to last a whole lot longer. Why should you subsidise their family income when you could be out earning money in a way that you enjoy?

If you do go ahead with it - they think that you're going to do a better job than the childminder so they should be prepared to pay you at least the same money and agree to professional terms about collecting him on time, etc.

Savvy_Sue

maisie-jane wrote: »

He had a childminder all lined up, but they wanted one to one care,

If they want 1:1 care, they should be prepared to pay for it, and that's not £20 per day.

maisie-jane wrote: »

and obviously as i sit on my butt watching Jeremy Kyle all day, im not in a position to say no i don't want to.:rolleyes:

If that's your OH's assessment of the situation, ask him if he'll take a day off work if you're ever ill and can't cope, or if he would be prepared to do it for £20.

Apart from the 'proper' job hunting, there are many reasons you can give for saying no, I don't want to. "I don't particularly want to care for another baby now mine's at nursery." "I don't particularly want to care for someone else's baby." "I'll do it for the first six months but I think the rot sets in the moment you start them on solids so I don't want to do it for longer than that."

Just wondering, did your OH hear them agonising over the AWFUL thought of NOT having 1:1 care for this baby and say to his sis "Oh, don't go to the expense of a childminder, we'll do it for you"?

And in fact that is almost the most stupid reason I've ever heard for not using 'proper' childcare. You can only give 1:1 care to the first baby, after that EVERYONE gets to 'share' the love and care available. Even if they are only planning to have one baby, the day will come all too soon when he's in a 'shared care' situation - and if Reception is his first experience of that, he may not like it that much.

Strangely, most first-borns cope well with the experience of younger siblings, and most younger siblings don't seem to do too badly either.

Sorry, rant over ...

Rachie_B

£20 a day ! :eek:

maisie-jane

I know, its crap really when i think about it. I think they thought the childminder would just sit him in a travel cot all day and leave him to it. I'm sure thats utter crap, and i'm sure the childminders on here would agree. I'm going to have to be brave and do the right thing for me! I've done my baby duties with my three, if i wanted to do more i'd have more kids or consider childminding as a career, and i'm not going to do either. Thanks for all advice guys.