Unfortunately we didn't have a good experience with Tracy. Our 12 month old baby was in her care on a full time basis and thankfully we signed a contract where we stipulated a 'settling in period' where no prior notice must be given to end the agreement. Tracy lacks communication skills and the way she treated us made us question the care she has giving to children. Details of what happened and the response given to us:

- Our contracted hours was from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday; We normally arrived at her house at 9am;
- Tracy requested a day of no Thursday (which is absolutely fine) and she gave notice in advance;
- Our baby was ill and was prescribed antibiotics;
- On Friday daddy went to drop him off a bit earlier (at 8am - as per the contract) and had the antibiotics with him. Below is the of message we received from Tracy after dropping him off:

" I would need more notice if an early drop off next time. I wasn’t expecting him until 9. Is he being collected early too. Dad says he hadn’t had much breakfast or milk but there is no bottle made up ready for him to take. Yes I can make a bottle up but you suddenly bring him an hour earlier I am not prepared with the once boiled water etc. Also he tells me Otto is on antibiotics. You cannot just drop off an hour earlier and tell me all this. "

" It’s not my job to read the labels on medicine that have been prescribed by a dr. I expect better communication beforehand. I will discuss this further at collection time as I am not happy with this. I find this very disrespectful of me and my position. "

Of course, everyone would have their own judgment about they way she replied, however to us it felt unnecessary and rude. We were still on the first week of settling in period and as parents we all make mistakes. Maybe we could have done it differently but we believe she should have called us (or messaged us) to explain how she would like things to be done next time. She could have said the same things but in a different and more caring manner. This attitude made us question the way she could treat children if they do something that she consider to be 'wrong'. Made us question her ability to handle children's 'behavior whilst in her care.

As a family Solicitor by profession I deal with clients (especially mums) everyday and try to understand their needs to better help them. As mums we just want what is best for our children and at the same time we try to juggle between family / home / profession / kids / personal life and so on. What I expect from a childminder is someone that I have a good relation with and that has good communication skills. I believe we have to work together with the childminder in order to achieve our goal which is to develop the child's skills and understand his needs. If the chain of communication is broken, I believe the relationship can't move forward.

We decided to no longer use Tracy's services and ended the contract.

I am sorry that it did not work out and hope Tracy could develop better communication skills with the future families she will encounter in her journey.

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