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Teething problems continue to dog the Early Years Directorate of school inspection body Ofsted, three months after it took over responsibility for regulating providers of child care services from local authority regulation and inspection units.

Child care inspectors, nurseries and childminders have reported difficulties adapting to the system, although many say it will lead to more consistent and higher-quality standards of child care in the future.

For child care inspectors, the main problems have been associated with becoming home-based workers. Although Ofsted has provided them with computers and start-up expenses to buy office furniture and install new phone lines, many have reported feeling isolated.

Access to the computer system, both for training and for day-to-day use, has also proved problematic. Ofsted itself has accepted that the system was "not sufficient to meet the needs of all the inspectors" and that its remit was now being changed to allow ongoing access. "The system could not cope with everyone logging on at the same time for training," said one child care inspector.

Inspectors have also felt frustrated at not having all the tools and knowledge to carry out their new role efficiently, and feel "de-skilled" following the removal of their development and support role - which has been retained by councils.

For nurseries, the main issues are the loss of a local point of contact following the replacement of 150 local authority registration and inspection units with eight regional offices, and the time it takes for a new registration application or a registration variation application to be processed.

However, a spokesperson for Ofsted insisted that if a registration variation application had continuity-of-care implications, an inspection "should happen within a few weeks".

For childminders, there are serious concerns about Ofsted's inspection procedures. Under the new regime, childminders are notified of a four-week period during which an inspector could call. They are expected to let Ofsted know when they will not be at home during that period.

National Child Minding Association chief executive Gillian Haynes described the practice as "unworkable": "It puts an unreasonable burden on people. If the sun shines, you go out. You can't keep children cooped up for four weeks."

Ofsted's spokesperson said the body was looking at the problem. "We have to balance people over-preparing for inspections with the need to give some notice," she said.