Nanny vs Nursery final decision thoughts and experiences ?!

Neither decision is bad. I chose nursery because of the 51 weeks per year opening.
Nannies are good too but I have seen too many sat on their smart phones in parks and heard too many off sick stories to take the plunge.

i've had all types of childcare, if you can afford it, I'd always go for a nanny for under 3 - we had to stop when ours was 2 as it was over double the cost of nursery. It's more expensive for a good reason, there is no comparison.

I work in a nursery and am very pro-nursery in general, but I wouldn't send my own under 2s to one.

I think you've made the right decision, I hope it all works out for you.

If the cost is likely to be a problem long term, you might want to consider a nanny share at some point. It would be good to mention that as a possibility to the nanny at this early stage and see what she thinks. Better than bringing it up out of the blue later on. A nanny share usually costs about 60% of having a nanny to yourself. Most nannies are open to a share, it's very common now.

If ou can afford it, a nanny. For all the reasons nuffsaidsam gave in the first reply.
After leaving school, I worked in a nursery, then as a nanny, followed by a childminder when I had my own dc.

My preference for my own dc would have been nanny, childminder, nursery. So much of what a nanny does is of benefit to th whole family, doing the children's laundry, changing their beds, can pick up any shopping, stop in for the Tesco delivery, be around to let the plumber in, feed the cat, empty the dishwasher, make grandma a birthday card, etc. It is the Most expensive option, but if you get a good one, they will be worth their weight in gold.

In my view, babies and small children don't need to be surrounded by lots of children all the time to become sociable children. A good childminder or nanny will be able to add in a couple of toddler groups/play dates with other children and their carers.
Don't forget to add on a couple of groups/classes on to your calculations. Nanny may well suggest taking baby to a couple of these and they could work out to add a lot onto the total. (Round here, baby sensory type group is £5, do something similar twice a week and it's £500 a year added on to the bill).
Hope whatever you choose works out for you.

I would say nanny, particularly as you've found one you like.

Sorry I meant to say under six months....

All three have their advantages and disadvantages.

I could never find a suitable childminder in our area - all of them seemed to have many of the disadvantages of the nurseries we were looking at but none of the bits of the relationship which feel more like dealing with a nanny. However, childminders were the cheapest of the three options by far. I would say if you can find a great one, it's probably gold dust though. We were, I think, just a bit unlucky.

Overall, being a nanny employer brought us a lot more stress than the nursery relationships we had. The cost, the management element, and the admin outweighed the benefits, in our case, of having the children looked after at home. Our last nanny, who was after school only, was fabulous but we had two others who were very challenging, for different reasons. All of my friends have had some turnover with nannies and it is something you need to bear in mind. I am not persuaded the aggro is worth it for one child, unless you baby is very young (under one month) and you are really unhappy with the nursery options.

As an alternative perspective, I have had two nannies. Both were great in their own way but it is very hard having someone in your home daily and you really do have to remember to set boundaries. I came home one day to find nanny sat in my bedroom playing with my toddler and baby. We have a five bedroom house with playroom and it just hadn't occurred to me that I needed to specify my personal space as off limits. I have also had a nanny that took my children on dog walks with her dog without ever asking me,random sickness generally on a Monday or Friday, never ending soft play with nanny mates, bizarre often processed food choices (despite well stocked fridge and access to Ocado log in and contrary to what was discussed at interview), questionable cleanliness, car seats not installed properly and other small niggles. A lot of what I discovered was because I needed surgery so I ended up being at home but not able to look after my children. I think I would have been oblivious had I been at work as I just wouldn't have seen it. It was also eye wateringly expensive and the tax is always loads more than you have calculated!! Mine are at a small nursery with early years profs (rather than teenagers with an nvq) and I'm very pleased. For me it costs more than a nanny though!

We were in a similar position and went for the nursery. Cost was certainly a factor. I love that nursery is open 50 weeks a year, I have enough difficulty getting the same time off as DH without throwing another person in the mix. I wasn't particularly comfortable with the idea of one person looking after a non verbal baby on their own. We are fairly rural and I wanted DS to be around lots of other children, especially as he won't be getting a sibling. I was worried about illness, particularly as we don't have any emergency childcare options other than one of us taking time off work. However, DS has been in full time nursery for 8 months now (started at 4 months old) and has only been off once so our fears were unfounded.

I have done both. For dd1 we used a great nursery which worked out well. When dd2 came along, dd 1 was in school, so we hired a nanny who could look after the baby by day, and also collect dd2 from school each afternoon. I'd say the nursery was great and I don't feel any regret about using it- but nanny was better, providing 1-1 care in our own home.

We did a mix of nanny and nursery from 9 months.

If you can afford a nanny and find a good one, and assuming your child is around 1, I would say nanny hands down. The nanny can take them to some baby groups for socialisation.

My two were quite happy going into nursery most of the time, but it was only really when they started preschool at 3 that I felt they were really gaining anything from it.

As a qualified early childhood teacher (I'm not in the U.K and am not sure what you call the equivalent there). I would say hands down a nanny or childminder rather than a nursery. I really don't want to knock anyone who sends their child to nursery, but, one-on-one (or close to it) care in a quiet, familiar environment, with a person who knows your child well and who will follow the routine you already have in place, is much better for a young child than a nursery environment, which can actually be quite stressful for a young child. I would say from 18 months to 2 years old is a better time to start nursery, if you're worried about socialization. Also, consider all the bugs your child will be exposed to. Some children seem to catch everything going when they first start at a nursery and if you're really unlucky, this can go on for months.

*breastfeeding counsellor obviously!

We do a mix of both.

I work 4 days a week and we have a nanny two days a week and nursery two days a week.

I've found that works for us as we get the benefit of structured nursery, which both my kids love, and the convenience of a nanny at home for sickness etc.

We are due a third baby soon and so when I go back to work we will increase our nanny to three days and nursery for one day as the risk of one of the kids being sick will increase massively!

It's tough financially because I have one at school already and one due to start next September so nursery would technically be the cheaper option as they also run the after school club for my older two.

But my husband travels for work a lot so if the kids are sick it always falls to me, and I can't be off work all the time... my kids fall sick one after the other so I could easily have to stay home for a full week.

So you can have the best of both worlds if your nanny is open to it.

I don't think you can beat the benifit of being around other children at that age. So nursery would be my choice.

Our nannies had free run of the fridge and larder. There was always stuff for their lunch. We usually had a toddler as well and always had extra snack things for visiting friends. That was nicest bit of nanny - they had nanny friends who brought other children around to play and stopped it being lonely.

I was very keen on either a nanny or a childminder when I went back. Interviewed several but didn't really gel with any. The cost of the nanny was eye watering but like you we were willing to make sacrifices if we thought it would be best. Issues we came up with were reliability with nannies- we have no family around also really needed assurances about leave etc from early on but this wasn't forthcoming. We were happy to give very generous leave as long as it was planned well in advance in order to give us time to make alternative arrangements. DD was breastfed, bottle refusing and 10 months when I went back to work but barely eating solids and I also needed someone who wasn't going to panic about that fact. Almost all of the nannies we saw were very displeased and said things like- "you'll need to get her eating" as though I could force it!

I was disappointed as we were offering what we thought was a very attractive package-average pay for the area, with no babysitting evenings/weekends and a paid week off every 6 on top of annual leave (my shifts allowed for recovery days in blocks).

So for various reasons we went with nursery- there was a lovely small baby room with low ratios and very happy children. There was also a breastfed counsellor working in the room who was really a godsend when it came to supporting us through feeding issues. DD is almost 3 now, and still very happy in the nursery so I think it was the right choice for us. I did have a wobble after 2 months of crechitis but she's barely been unwell since those first few months.

I don't think there is a right answer-I would go with whatever setting you feel most comfortable with.

I too would go for the nanny, but cost should not be ignored as a factor IMO!

As a nursery user I would say mornings are hard, my dd doesn't sleep well at nursery (so much going on despite sleeping room) and has been ill since starting.
We do think we made the best choice for our family but it's still hard having those negatives!

Nanny every time. They can give a more normalised experience in the child's own home. They can adapt to needs of individual. They can look after unwell child.

I would pick a nanny for all the reasons outlined in your first reply. I regret picking a nursery for my eldest who struggled (my youngest was fine but he had a different personality and would have been fine with all sorts of arrangements). I picked a nursery because I was worried about reliability of a nanny (sick days, getting better jobs etc) and a belief they were really expensive. I now know more about nannies from a couple of close friends and it looked so much better. They still go to toddler groups to get the social contact and can head to nursery for a few hours a day when they are two and build up to school hours. I am not digging at people who use a nursery as that's what I did but I think a nanny is better.

As a nanny who started of my career working in a nursery, for under 2'S I would always suggest using a nanny over a nursery. Babies need that one on one that you get from a nanny. A good nanny will make the transition for you returning to work so much easier. I always say when they get to two that's a perfect age to start introducing nursery and being in more of a formal setting slowly introducing them in to more of a school experience.