What to Look for in a Childminder

Hi again, in answer to your question.

For us, a nursery was preferable for the following reasons:

• different children to mix with
• not getting too reliant on one person, if they are sick, having a bad day, on holiday etc
• wider variety of choice of activities
• no risk of just being taken along on their daily tasks, shopping, coffee with friends etc
• variety of carers, so not getting too close to one person and again the issue that if you only have one cater and they're having a bad day then your child will be having a bad day!, if there are more carers that risk is reduced
• more sociable for the children

So we used nurseries for 3 days per week until school. I also used a cm for 1/2 day pw to pick up ds2 from pre-school at lunch until school pickup at 3. I still use her one day per week after school for ds2 (nearly 9).

Different combinations of care suit different people and many will have an alternative list of positives for cm for babies/ toddlers but for us a nursery was better at that time.

She obviously lives up to her username
You don't actually need any qualifications to work in a nursery, so it's a non-comparison.

I chose a CM for DD2 (after nursery for DD1) because I wanted her to be in a home environment, and because I found someone I really gelled with who lived just down the road.

However, the main reason was practicality - my CM could also have DD1 after school on occasion, and when DD2 was older, take and collect from the local pre-school. Yes, gut feeling etc is important, but the main thing that good childcare should do is to make your life easier. Part of that obviously is the certainly that your DC are being well cared for, but what's also crucial are the practicalities - location, flexibility etc.

Am a bit at TotallyBS's comment that childminders aren't professional.

I chose a childminder over nursery do to cost, and her adult to chile ratio. She only has one other for full days and another in the afternoons.
I wasn't happy with the high staff turnover of staff at my local nurseries, and the lack of flexibility.
I'd go with your instinct. Visit them at home, have a look at the space, try and do it when she has all her charges there so you can see how busy she is and the level of chaos.
Mine is lovely, she doesn't mind if I'm a bit late occasionally, she feeds them lovely home cooked meals, healthy snacks, sends me picture messages and keeps her book up to date on what they've been doing.
He gets on great with the other boys too.
I drop him off in his coat and give her a bag of nappies and wipes as and when she needs them. The other boy comes daily with a bag but I'm not organised enough for that!
He loves it there, he doesn't even wave me goodbye

When your baby is in the house of someone you don't really know how can you be sure that she isn't neglecting your baby while she is on Mumsnet :) or having her friends over for coffee etc

At least in a nursery you have professional staff.

We were quite happy with out nursery and at 6 months does the baby care if it is a bit institutional? :)

We used a private nursery (and we are down south) so can't help with other questions but with regards to last question - on a daily basis we dropped off DC with a bag holding (several) changes of clothing and bottle feed that we made up ourselves. We would also drop off a bag of nappies and cream stuff when the previous lot ran low.

Obviously it varies from CM to CM. I mean, some will prefer to keep things simple and feed all her charges the same thing or not to have to keep track of which bag of nappies belong to which baby

Fair enough. Different choices for different people, personally I preferred nursery for several reasons but everyone has their preferences, I just think it's important to check everything out.

Many things but most importantly someone who you feel comfortable with and rely on your gut feel.
Also, not sure if you have considered a nursery but if not, consider all options.