Full time nursery or mix with childminder?

With regard to the girl who's a nanny-but-isn’t-a-nanny, I agree with @nannynick.

I think adults make too much of the 'confused child' idea. I’ve never met a child who was "confused" by a wide range of varied experiences. I have met adults who don’t allow children sufficient time or space to adjust, or put unrelated problems down to 'not settling'.

Children really do not need the same, monotonous day-on-day routine. If you weren’t using childcare and they were with you, I doubt they’d be doing the same things every day. Nobody would claim a child was "confused" because they went to the park one day, shopping the next, the library the day after, etc......

Children are very adaptable if given the opportunity, and it helps them learn their own way of managing change, which is a great life skill.

Shes a third cheaper than the agency I was speaking to but its almost too good to be true.
A third cheaper... that does sound too good to be true. National Minimum Wage applies so maybe she is very young, so maybe £6.15 minimum wage but that would make the agency cost over £18 which sounds rather high. Meet them, check references, be aware of your responsibilities as an employer if it is permanent work, rather than just occasional babysitting. I don't know your location but try to establish what pay rate is usual in your area for a babysitter and for a nanny. Consider if what she wants to be paid is reasonable... and offer to pay more if it's too cheap - you are the employer so you decide how much to offer as salary.

As a nanny I have never been provided with a car. Yes there are employer responsibilities but these can be outsourced mostly to a nanny payroll company.

A nanny though is an expensive option, so not surprised that you have now ruled that out. Typically it is more than the cost of a nurseyr or childminder for two children but the 1:2 ratio care and that care is provided at your home can be beneficial.

Visit a childminder and ask them questions like you did with nursery. Also post on Mumsnet: Childminders section for advice about finding a childminder.

Oh and I’ll add that our nursery is excellent. Ofsted outstanding, staff seem to genuinely want to get to know the dc, pay attention to detail etc.

Another benefit of nanny is I don’t have to pack nursery bags, which I find onerous...

And it was very hard to find a good nanny; I almost gave up! Depends on your location I think tho...

Sounds like you’ve already decided but just to add another voice.
I also had to make a similar decision recently. I was worried that two separate settings would make it doubly hard for my dcs to settle. Decided to do two days nursery and two days nanny, due to the benefits of both (nursery cheaper, safer in terms of the ‘risk’ of a bad carer being reduced as there’s more than one of them, don’t have to worry about the carer becoming sick and unable to work; vs nanny providing one on two care, being in our home, extra help with house work, occasional extra weekend/night work for us to have a date as we have no relatives near us).

They’ve settled really well with both. Glad I didn’t do nursery full time as they both are exhausted by the time i get them home (which makes it extra tiring for me doing dinner and bedtime), and little one doesn’t take bottle properly so is more likely to wake at night for extra feeds. He takes a bottle much better with the nanny for some reason.

I honestly think the mix would be a bit confusing for them. I'd either go full nursery (my preference) or full childminder

I'm going to politely disengage myself now. I've clearly hit a nerve with some childminders. I'm not saying all childminders are bad, as clearly the one we use is absolutely amazing. But sadly she's in the minority, and that's just a fact based on my observations.

Sorry OP for derailing. Cheers all

@AriadneO

You couldn’t possibly have made that last comment if you knew the first thing about the childcare/education inspection framework.

When you set out to traduce the reputation of an entire profession based on something you might have seen in a North London Park, you can hardly come over all personally outraged when people defend themselves with facts, even if those facts are somewhat inconvenient to you.

What do you mean good as long as you dont neglect the children? Do you know the inspection criteria? Which is the same for nurseries and childminders ...and actually means most settings are good with a few that offer care that truely stands out from the average....outstanding.....

Can some posters please stop frothing at me and tagging me. I qualified my view with 'in my north London neighbourhood'. And the VAST majority of childcare providers receive 'good' (as long as you don't neglect the children), so really, they need to separate out 'outstanding' and 'good' to give a meaningful statistic.

@AriadneO

About your "mixed bag". The Office for National Statistics published annual figures on the quality of childcare/education providers. These are based data provided by Ofsted, covering every setting in England and Wales, rather than just the odd visit to the park. The findings are consistent, Year on Year.

94% of nurseries are rated 'good' or 'outstanding' , with 6% rated 'inadequate' or 'requires improvement'.

In contrast, only 94% of childminders are rated 'good' or 'outstanding' with 6% rated 'inadequate' or 'requires improvement'.

Oh, hang on...... they’re exactly the same.

As a general rule, I advise a mix of childminder and nursery. There are many ways in which it can help a child’s development, as they will enjoy a wider range of experiences and resources. They benefit from more sets of eyes making observations. On a practical level, you’ll also have each covering for the other if/when you need emergency cover.

In my experience, children have thrived and developed best when they experience such a mix.

Of course id always choose a childminder though 😉

This is an interesting thread. I’m a childminder & have noticed a rise in parents doing a mix. When I had a conversation with one parent to ask why they were doing a mix she said cost & also they had read that children get more 1-1 care with childminders. I know lots of children happy in both types of settings & both have pros & cons so I’d go with whichever you think will work best for you & your child.

I’d do a mix; my 2 year old does one day at nursery and the others at childminder and she’s knackered after nursery compared to childminder. When she’s 3 I’ll increase her nursery days but only to 3.the two settings doesn’t unsettle her and when she was a year she had 2 childminders and didn’t find it confusing

@AriadneO.
Yes I am a childminder and an assessor so go to lots of settings nursery and childminders. Lots of things happen in nursery that is not visable becouse its behind closed doors. There are good and bad of all settings ....including staff busy observing using iPads and devices like phones and not relating to children....childminders use phones nursery ipad ....I'd rather they didn't and the latest ofsted changes will hopefully change that.
Bad things happen in both types of setting as do amazingly good which is why you have to visit a few of each not make sweeping judgements.

Is your eldest due to start school nursery next year? If so how are you going to manage wrap around care from then until age 11? If your thinking you may find a childminder now would be a good time to settle them in so shes not coping with school and a new childcare. Dont forget childminders are often cheaper and take funding. I've had lots of families start with me for wrap around care for school go on to move their younger children to me as they find the children get more with me. Most never go to school nursery the 2 who did stayed a term before coming back to me.

Goodness me, calm down @jannier are you a childminder or something? I know these people are childminders as I've either interviewed them for my own daughter or spoken to them. I definitely wouldn't be happy with them providing that level of care to my daughter - impatience, raised voices, letting children run riot while they text, etc.

@AriadneO....
How can you say the quality of nurseries is better based on what exactly? A few you see out who you think are childminders? Are they being abusive? Are they stepping back allowing children to separate from them explore and make decisions for an hour out of the up to 11 they maybe with their charges? The amount of 1 to 1 support in a nursery is far less with most only getting any at nappy change

I think go the nursery route. In our north London neighbourhood, the nurseries seem high quality, though the ratio goes a skewiff sometimes, especially at pick up. The childminders, on the other hand, are a real mixed bag, depending on who it is. I have one day off a week with my daughter and am absolutely aghast at most of the childminders I come across in the park, library, etc. My daughter is with a lovely childminder and her husband, and I feel so so lucky to have found them, as the quality of childminders can really vary, and is usually worse than nursery.

I’d have thought if they are settled at nursery full time there would be less disruptive than mixing in a childminder- plus nursery has the benefits of cover when sick etc. I’d bump them up to f/t!