Overnight Care Childminders

Many parents have to work overnight and it can be hard to find a childminder who provides this service.

However, Childcare.co.uk have over 500,000 childcare providers listed on our website so there is a good chance you will find a childcarer in your local area who is able provide overnight care. Don’t forget to look on the route to work as well as close to your home - this will enable you to extend your search area and give you more chance of successfully finding an overnight care childminder who suits your child’s needs.

Leaving your child with a childminder overnight can be a very difficult thing for a parent to do, so you need to take all necessary steps to make sure your child is safe. Overnight care details have been removed from Ofsted registration certificates (since Sept 2012) because all childminders can now offer an overnight service if they are registered as a childminder as long as they have:

• Informed Ofsted

• Public liability insurance to cover overnight care

• Suitable bedrooms and clean bedding, towels etc for children to use

• A monitor in the bedroom or evidence of how they can always hear children through the night

• A list of all those people living on the premises

• Emergency contact details for parents and others in case they cannot be contacted – providers should ask you for at least 2 emergency contacts in addition to the child’s parents

• Ofsted suitability checks for every person over 16 living or working on the premises

• Risk assessments to help keep children safe.

Once you have found a childminder in your area who offers overnight care, there are a number of things that should be considered and discussed before arrangements are made. For this reason, we advise that you arrange a meeting at a mutually convenient time to discuss the arrangement.

The childminder should discuss all aspects of overnight care arrangements with you, including how they will ensure that the child is within their sight and / or hearing at all times (via a monitor will be fine).

You should ask to see the provider’s:

• Ofsted registration certificate

• Ofsted suitability letters for all over 16s on the premises

• DBS disclosure

• Up-to-date paediatric first aid certificate – it must be updated 3 yearly

• Public liability insurance certificate

• Safeguarding and child protection procedures

• Complaints procedures

• Overnight care risk assessment

Childcare.co.uk recommends that you ask if all these procedures are in place. Please note that while Childcare.co.uk takes every precaution to ensure only qualified childcarers register on our site, we cannot verify references, DBS / PVG checks, qualifications, Ofsted registration details etc for childcarers who are registered on our database. It is, therefore, very important that parents carry out their own robust checks during the interview process.

Note - if a child is cared for a continuous period of 28 days or more, they are regarded as a foster child and childminders are legally required to notify the local Social Services.