Perceptions of the impact of childminding services on child, parent and family outcomes: research findings

4. Combining childminding with other forms of childcare

Summary of main findings

• Participants described various patterns of care involving a childminder and other forms of care from a nursery or grandparents.
• There are several reasons why parents choose to combine childminding with other forms of care: to cover all their work or study hours, to try to achieve value for money, and because they want their child to attend a nursery setting before starting school.
• Although there are practical reasons for combining care, parents and childminders also talked about benefits of children experiencing and being comfortable in different settings. Participants did, however, identify some logistical challenges to overcome.
• There was no consensus among childminders on whether funded hours had, had an impact on patterns of care.
• However, there was a view among some childminders that it is not financially viable to provide care for children for a short time before or after nursery, as they count towards the setting’s operating ratios. As a result, some childminders have stopped offering wraparound care or asked families to use them for full days only.

Patterns of care

Participants described various patterns of care during a typical week. Some parents used a childminder for all their care and others used a mixture of a childminder and other forms of care from a nursery or grandparents.

There were examples of blended care^[18] where a child attends more than one setting for funded ELC hours:

“A parent of a four year old, uses a childminder from 8.00am to 5.30/6.00pm three days a week and nursery two days a week with the childminder also doing drop off and pick up from the nursery.”

As in the example above, some parents described how they use a childminder for wraparound^[19] care outside the hours typically offered by a nursery setting. For example, a parent of a four year old described how their child attends nursery until 12.40pm every day with the childminder collecting the child from there two days a week on the days she is working full time.

There were participants who used a childminder and made use of informal care from grandparents or other relatives. For example, a parent of a one year old and three year old, who used a childminder three days a week and in-laws two days a week.

Reasons for combining childminding with other forms of care

Parents described a number of reasons why they use a childminder in combination with other forms of care.

• A common need is to cover all the primary carer’s work or study hours. For example, a parent of four year old, studying full-time, uses a nursery five days a week and a childminder for wraparound care after the nursery sessions. The parent described how the nursery only offered certain hours that do not fit in with her classes.
• Another practical reason is to try to ensure value for money whilst maximising funded hours entitlement. For example, a parent of twin three year olds, who uses a nursery (funded) for three days a week said it was cheaper to use a childminder (unfunded), than a private nursery, for the other two days a week.
• A common perception was that time at a nursery setting is important before a child goes to school to help with their development and transition.

“I do like the idea of him being used to going to that building, you know because it’s attached to the school and that’s where he’s then going to go into school. Kinda think that will hopefully help with his transition. He’s obviously meeting a lot of his wee friends that will hopefully go into primary one with him.”

Parent of a 3 year old, using childminder and nursery, Falkirk

As such, there are parents who would consider using a blended model in the future because they want their child to experience nursery before they go to school.

“I would consider blended simply because she is in a routine, she likes the childminder, she likes the children that go there, so I would keep her there but probably two days a week but at the nursery three days a week so she gets the educational side.”

Parent of a 17 month old, currently using a childminder only, Highland

In this regard, it is worth noting that parents, in particular, and some childminders valued highly the notion of ‘school readiness’. However, best practice guidance emphasises the need for schools to be ‘child ready’: “For children, now is more important than the futures we plan for them. Rigid ideas of ‘school readiness’ or what children ‘should’ be doing, place too much emphasis on the practitioner’s concerns about the future (Carlton and Winsler, 1999).^[20]

Benefits of combining childminding with other forms of care

Although there were practical reasons for choosing combinations of care, when asked what their ideal childcare would look like, parents commonly said they were happy with their current arrangement and identified a range of benefits:

• Participants highlighted the benefits of their child experiencing different settings and mixing with different groups of children. For example, a parent of a four year old and a six year old, who uses a nursery and school and childminder for wraparound care, highlighted that the school has children of the same age but that there is a range of ages at the childminder. Similarly, a parent of a four year old and a two year old, who both attend a childminder two days a week, described how the four year old enjoys time away from his sister and making new friends when he goes to nursery one afternoon a week.
• The benefits of experiencing different settings was also specifically mentioned in relation to additional support needs. For example, the parent of a three year old with additional support needs, said their son gets to experience the “best of both worlds” with the home environment at the childminder and a noisier setting at the nursery where they also have access to specialist staff.
• There was a view that, for some children, full days at a nursery setting can be draining so that is balanced by using a childminding setting for part of the week.
• In addition to flexibility and financial benefits for families, it was also mentioned that using a childminder can reduce the burden on grandparents who want to help with childcare.

Childminders described similar benefits to parents of using another form of ELC as well as a childminder. In addition, a participant highlighted how childminders can work together with a nursery to benefit children indicating that, if there was a good relationship with the nursery, they could both support the child if they were struggling with part of their learning.

Disadvantages of combining childminding with other forms of care

Parents highlighted few disadvantages of using more than one setting, for them or for their children.

The most commonly described disadvantage was the logistics involved with getting children to different settings during the week (during the same day or on different days) and the disruption this can cause. However, it was clear that this was less of a disadvantage once a routine had been established.

Childminders identified similar disadvantages of using more than one setting for children as parents did, and in particular, that it can be a challenge to juggle collecting children from different settings during the day. This could be disruptive for other children in the setting who need to go with the childminder for pick ups and drop offs or get used to children being around at different times. However, as with parents, this was less of an issue as a routine is established.

“[children attending another setting] is not a challenge as long as you're organised, but I have a lot of running around in the morning taking kids to four different schools.”

Childminder for 12 years, Angus

Impact of funded hours on combining childminding with other forms of care

There was no consensus among childminders on whether funded hours had had an impact on patterns of care.

Some childminders thought that it had not had an impact. For example, a childminder of two years, Edinburgh, not delivering funded hours, said she had not seen a difference yet as patterns of combined care were already working well in her area. Another participant, a childminder of 11 years in Aberdeenshire, delivering funded hours, said she had fewer families combining care as parents have chosen to use their full funded hours with her.

However, childminders commonly said they had seen greater use of combined care due to funded hours. For example, a childminder of nine years, in the Scottish Borders (not delivering funded hours) said:

“in the past it was one or the other, but I'm definitely seeing a trend that [parents] use blended [meaning combinations, not necessarily both funded] more often.”

It was mentioned that some childminders feel they have been left with the “dregs” of hours (largely in relation to wraparound care) and that this is having an impact on their business. It can be difficult financially to provide care for children for a short time before or after nursery, as they count towards the setting’s operating ratios.

“we are getting left with the last lot of dregs of hours to try and fit in, and then parents obviously don't want to pay or can’t afford to pay the difference, so it is not a viable business anymore… a lot of nurseries are saying okay, we will offer you 9am to 3pm, three days a week, four days a week, five days a week, but parents that work full time have to get wraparound. The only option for wraparound care is childminders, but the childminders don't really want wraparound care, there is no money in it.”

Childminder for 14 years, delivering funded hours, Falkirk

As a result of these challenges some childminders said they have asked parents to use their service for a full days only or have stopped offering wraparound care.