What mums say about employing a childminder

I asked around for recommendations when I went back to work after having my first child. A friend recommended the childminder she was using for her son, so I went to visit her. I had a chat with her, checked her references and asked her a few questions about how she would care for my daughter. It was when I saw her interacting with her own kids that I just had ‘mother’s instinct’ that she was the right childminder for my baby. 
 - Lisa, Wolverhampton, mum to Eloise, 7 and Imogen, 5

When I went back to work, I chose a childminder for my son. I visited nurseries but, quite frankly, I wanted him to experience real life in a home environment and to be with older children as well as younger ones. He flourished. When I was pregnant with my second child, I decided that I would stay at home but still needed to work, so I became a childminder myself. I am now three and a half years into my childminding business and enjoy every moment of having the other children here. I feel exceedingly honoured that people trust me with their most precious possessions.
At the end of the day, the choices are wide: childminders, nannies, nurseries or family. Childminders and nannies are there at all times for your children and they have a single point of contact for the time they are with them. In a nursery they will see many faces and not really know who is who, as a lot of nurseries have a huge staff turnover. A child in a nursery from baby to school time can be cared for, on average, by forty carers.
- Alison, Woking, mum to Joshua, 6, Madeleine, 4 and Charlotte, 20 months