Childcare Bubbles

I find it quite ironic that childcare and school are exempted from Covid rules, given that children returning to school started the new wave.

There seems to be so much confusion around and some people read the rules as they see fit. My neighbours have their son, DIL and 3 grandchildren for Sunday lunch and watch the little one overnight. Having just watched my 89 year old mother die because of Covid I feel a strong sense of frustration as well as despair that this disease will take longer to control because of the number of people not following the guidelines.

There's no such thing as a childcare bubble YouCan provide child care though Your children should stay out of the house and if you are not providing childcare none of them should be there

I used to collect grandchildren from school a couple of days a week, but since mid September, irrespective of the tier, both my sons have forbidden it. They reason that the schools are breeding grounds of transmission, and whereas they and the children might catch a mild dose, they do not want the responsibility of the childrens’ line of transmission putting me and grandad in a box.
It is sad but for the best. We can meet, socially distanced, in the park.

I also thought the bubble was for one person to join with one other household involving no distancing when indoors together. For Tier 2 I understood that nobody can join you in the house. If this is all wrong then I am completely confused now. Our Local Council encourages elderly educational groups as support bubbles I find this great but very odd I think it is to do with the vast number of mental health problems with the elderly - or something like that!

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202010/medium-545175-e29005ba-c8d6-4ba0-bb99-8dcec5529eb4.png https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202010/medium-476187-28e899b9-cb4e-42b1-afdd-82d78e3f67fb.png

Please read!!

We provide childcare for my DD and SiL and have done since September. I think the guidance is pretty clear really. If we go into tier 2 the pick up and drop off will be kept to under 15 mins. So no coffees just information that needs to be relayed in a calm and unhurried manner so that the children feel secure and not rushed. All totally doable.

GrauntyHelen

There's no such thing as a childcare bubble YouCan provide child care though Your children should stay out of the house and if you are not providing childcare none of them should be there

Yes there is - and you can have a support bubble and a different childcare bubble

Thanks Tolaton and suzie, that has clarified things for me. So under the rule of six we can, and do, provide childcare for our daughter and for our son, but if we move into Tier Two we would not be able to do this.

I've also messaged the page "My friend has multiple support bubbles" but think it should give us all pause for thought.

Hi. I’m the originator of this thread. Just to make it clear - I was never trying to flout the rules to gain extra access to my family. I was simply trying to understand the rules to make sure that I could stick to the guidance.
I have found the following guidance on the government website. This is from the the Tier three guidance but as far as I can see, it also applies to tiers one and two. The main points are:
- that you can only have one childcare bubble and
- that you can only have your grandchildren if you are looking after them while their parents are working, and not at any other time.
Hope this helps, and thank you all for your contributions. I think the different views expressed show just how difficult it is to find our way through the ever changing regulations!

maddy you would have to choose one of them.

Yes, that seems to be it suzie. At the moment we’re okay as we’re operating under the rule of six (there are five of us today) but if we move up a Tier to Tier Two, we’ll have to limit the childcare to one family only.

They can say ‘you can have one childcare bubble’ all they want.
But people have to work. That’s my priority.
So unless they come up with a more feasible plan I will just have to continue having two separate people for childcare as well as the childminder and nursery.
I’m sure a lot of your adult children are in the same position.
Prior to Covid we needed 0 help with childcare. Thanks to Covid there are now different days we need help that one grandparent may not be able to help with but the other can.

Aren’t most of us just trying to do the best we can for our families in these difficult times?

Yes there will always be those who blatantly flout the rules but the majority of people are just using their common sense, which I believe was the phrase Michael Gove used a while back.

I look after my 3 yr old grandson in his home and have since he was born. His mum comes home from her key worker job in the NHS and takes over during the afternoon. I am classed as informal childcare, we are in tier 2 atm. You just have to do the best you can to follow the rules...

"Unofficial childcare" is allowed. You can look after the children in your own home or in the child's home. You are allowed to enter either house and so are the parents to collect their children as they are part of the bubble. You can also be in their house providing childcare whilst they work at home, if that was relevant to their situation

We are looking after our 2 year old granddaughter 2 days a week. My husband is 73 so no vaccine yet and at 68 for health reasons I’m not permitted to have it. Until the new variant of Covid happened our daughter was coming in to our home before and after work to bring little one and collect. Question - should she still come in or just drop her off with us? This is hard! But we need to be safe. Any advice?

Your risk depends on how likely it is that your daughter and her family are exposed to the virus. Where does she work? Where does her husband/partner work, if there is one? How careful are they?
To be honest, if either of them got Covid, I would have thought that there is a good chance that your dgd would get it too, even though she may show no symptoms. That would mean she could pass it on to you, even if your daughter doesn't come into your house.

You need to do a risk assessment based on their whole family, and unless they are virtually self-isolating, the only way you can really stay safe is to stop all contact with any of them, including your dgd.

May5
I think you'd be better off starting a new thread to ask your question.

Are you in England, as rules might be different in other parts of the UK?

the more contact, the more risk.
ditto for mingling, including shopping.
are you absolutely sure that you cannot have the vaccine. have heard experts on radio correct callers who thought they could not have it, much confusion.