We've found a child minder

She's local and we've spent this week getting our daughter used to her and going to baby clubs. I researched and narrowed down the list of childminders and nurseries, we did some visits and she was the only one we both liked.

Anyway my partner and I don't have set schedules. He works 4-5 days a week 1pm - 11pm and I will be working 4-5 days a week, and working 8 hour shifts between 7am and 10pm. The childminder asked if she could let her know what days our daughter will be in her care, I explained our situation when we had first met and she said it was ok. Today she says she needs to know for sure incase she has other kids and there is a limit to how many she can have at a time (6 kids). She currently doesn't have anyone else anyway🤷🏾‍♂️

I let my manager know and he says he can't give me allocated days off. He'll only be able to let me know which days I have off a week in advance. He also suggested I find someone else that is more flexible. Really?? Find someone else 2 weeks before I go back to work, come on. We've already spent time getting to know her and my daughter seems to like her so it's not realistic.

There must be a way for me to get a set schedule. There should be some way work can help. Maybe I need to go to my union? Anyone else been in the same boat?