Nursery or childminder

[nightandthelight]

I am returning to work end of October when DS is 9 months, hopefully part time. We have looked at a couple of nurseries and have chosen one which we like. However I am also keen to look at some childminders but am not sure of the pros and cons of each.

I feel as though a childminder would be a more homely environment for a baby. What are the pros to a nursery?

[FurryGiraffe]

They are open 51 weeks a year, so you're not restricted to childminder's own holidays. They don't close for sickness/home related emergencies etc.

A nursery will almost definitely offer the 15 hours funding for 3 year olds- childminders may not. Also lots more children to mix with. Both of these are only really relevant to older children, but influenced me a bit because I knew DS could stay in the same place until school.

Personally, for me it was about assessing the individual setting. I love DS's nursery generally, but there were practical pluses to it. DS's nursery offered good hours for me, and do all meals. That makes my life considerably easier! But some childminders do meals of course. Also, I thought DS was much more likely to sleep in a nursery setting with cots and a quiet baby room, than at a childminder's where things would probably be noisier etc. But children are all different. I think it totally depends on your needs, your child and the individual childminder/nursery.

[liquidrevolution]

We do both!

Mon childminder
tues and weds nursery
thurs childminder

I have fridays off and about 5 or 6 weeks a year there is no childminder. We save money as we dont have to pay her and we time our holidays for these dates. My parents live by the sea so I just do really long weekends there. If the CM was ill I can either rotate my day off and use the in laws on the friday or pop her in for extra nursery days.

It works best for us as we couldnt afford nursery every day but we needed a certain amount of reliability with the childcare. Plus its best for DD as at the childminder she mixes with older children and its more relaxed and homely. At the nursery its way more structured. We have been doing this since she was 8mo and she is now 2.

[nightandthelight]

Hadn't considered the holidays and sickness aspect furry, definitely need to have a think about that!

Interesting that you do both liquid, I had never considered that but something else to have a think about :)

Have looked at the nurseries so will visit a couple of childminders too and then make a decision :) Thanks for your help ladies!

[Banana99]

My DD loved nursery - what surprised me is who is she attached herself to from the staff (it was a member of staff I just didn't gel with). They had a very close relationship for years and we still see them. I wouldn't always dismiss nursery on basis of not being homely or getting individual attention.

[nightandthelight]

That's reassuring to know Banana, I had been worried that a nursery might be a lot of different people with DS not feeling attached to the people caring for him but sounds like that might not be the case :)

[Banana99]

You might want to ask about how long the staff have been there - the core members at ours had been there more than a decade. Some staff will always change but good to know some continuity

[Bertieboo1]

I think pros of nursery are - it's always open so don't need to rearrange for childminder illness/hols; structured day; lots of children of a similar age. Pros of childminder - fewer children, more homely setting, get out and about more.

We both have jobs where it is very hard to take time off for own and child illness so we needed somewhere that is 100% reliable. We chose nursery based on size, staff (most been there for years) and facilities.

[Youhaveupdates1]

My ds was in a nursery from 10 months and we recently placed him with a childminder inMarch and he has thrived with her! Looking back I can see that the nursery setting was over whelming for him, he is so much happier with CM - she takes him out both days and he is always exhausted, he feels happier with a smaller group of people and he really loves her. His confidence in outdoor situations has grown so much and I love that he is out experiencing so many different things and places.
She has told me in advance when she intends to take a holiday this year which is fine for me as on Mat leave but even if I wasn't I would just take hols, my mum has him on a tues and she goes away more than CM she doesn't charge for days she is unavailable (hols and sickness) so that's good for us! If I drop him off early or collect him late she doesn't mind whereas the nursery would charge me.

[Youhaveupdates1]

You should definitely see more than one child minder too just like you would a nursery, our CM house felt right and comfortable and my son seemed to enjoy being there

[Needmorewine]

Nursery. I worried about entrusting my DC to one person. Plus I've seen a lot of very disinterested childminders from my time as SAHM at playgroups / soft play etc. Children seem to spend a lot of time in the car / running about after older ones.
Uni nursery felt safer, I liked the fact there was CCTV always two people changing nappies etc.

[nightandthelight]

Lots of things to think about thanks everyone :) Pros and cons I hadn't thought of, definitely need to do some more research.