Prior to September 2008 being a Childminder was an extremely enjoyable and rewarding profession, if you loved children and wanted to work from home, what better profession was there than to become a Childminder.

After September 2008 things changed, the Government introduced the EYFS - The Early Years Foundation Stage, a framework which launched on 13 March 2007 and came into force in September 2008.

This was the new regulatory and quality framework for the provision of learning, development and care for children between birth and the academic year in which they turn five, and along with the EYFS came mountains of paperwork, paperwork that Childminders had not expected to have to complete and this included: Planning, Focused Activities, Observations, Diaries and much more.

Childminders now have to complete this paperwork, they do not have a choice, there is no provision to opt out, they have to do it without any formal training or help, yes, they did all receive a free EYFS handbook but that doesn't explain how the work should be done, it just details what needs to be done.

You only need to spend a few minutes reading the numerous Early Years web sites and forums on the internet to see that everyone is struggling with the EYFS paperwork, so you have to ask yourself why, when it was launched, a set of standard forms were not made available to everyone, so that every childcare provider in the country was using the same forms and the same procedures to provide year 1 teachers and parents with reliable and accurate information about each child's level of development during the first 5 years of their life.

The Conservative analysis of OFSTED figures found that there were 59,323 registered child carers in England at the end of September 2009, compared to 63,600 at the end of August 2008.

This drop of 4,277 is equivalent to around 12 childminders leaving the job each and every day of the year, these childminders have quit since the introduction of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) in September 2008.

There are many possible causes, including changes in demand as a result of the recession and rising demand for other types of childcare, however, here at Baby's Days, we're confident that this drop in figures is due to the complexity of the paperwork required to fully conform to the EYFS.

The Baby's Days software system is the only system available that fully conforms to the EYFS, it is designed to reduce the time and stress required to complete the required areas of the EYFS including: Daily Diaries, Planning, Progress and Assessment Scales and much more.

If you're a childminder and fed up with the EYFS paperwork, don't just give up a profession you love, invest in Baby's Days for your setting, the low price for such an advanced system will save you time, stress and money in the long term.