Experience of nurseries in W6/W12?

[Maiakins]

I'm looking at nurseries for my 6 month old dd in the Shepherds Bush / Brook Green / Hammersmith / Ravenscourt Park area of London. Does anyone have any recommendations? Alternatively, any thoughts on nurseries to avoid?

I'm looking at Bringing up Baby in Richford Gate (W6) and Happy Times in Ravenscourt Park, Hammersmith (W6). Has anyone used these nurseries or have you heard anything positive/negative about them?

[sinclair]

I had a very bad experience at Happy Times - have written about it on here before - a few years ago now but in short they refused my DD a place when it transpired she had special needs (which in actual fact whould not have impacted on her day to day care one jot) They refused to return the hefty deposit...all very unpleasant. I now realise I could have made formal complaints to regulatory bodies but I was green. I ended up at Little People in Haydn Park Road - which is small so felt homely, and DD did very well there for a couple of years. However, it all depends on the staff, and turnover can be high, so I would try and spend a bit of time in each one you are considering to get a gut feel. Good luck.

[Maiakins]

Gosh, that's terrible. One of my concerns with Happy Times is the huge size of the deposit and the fact you need to give 60 days notice. It isn't very reassuring to hear they are so inflexible and uncaring abot the deposit. Do you mind me asking why your dd left Little People? Was there something wrong with it or did she outgrow it?

[sinclair]

We had another baby! For us, with two and a pre-school place coming up for DD (Vanessa Nursery in Cathnor Park, can't recommend highly enough once you get to that stage) a nanny worked out cheaper, and offered me much needed flexibility to boot.