Overwhelmed - how to decide on a childcare option...

firstly do you know what hours you are going to be working and what days?

then are the hours always going to be the same and the days

do you have any standbys if a childminder is ill?

we chose a nursery because it opened from 8am til 6pm and there would be no problem with staff sickness

we only looked around one as all the others in the area didn't open at 8am, most opened too late for me to get to work for 9am

cost it out is good advice

my ex-childminder was slightly more expensive than a nursery and I had to pay for her holidays and find alternative care - quite expensive

(not trying to open that old row again that's just my experience)

also, look at the other kids she minds...your LO could be stuck in car all day (or in a buggy) going from pillar to post doing school drop offs/pick ups

good luck

You also need to cost it all up. Childminders generally work out cheaper than nurseries, which may have a bearing on your decision.

you need to visit as many as you can and get a FEEL for them - how the children are interacting in each setting, how you feel about the staff/childminder etc etc.

I would wait until baby arrives, so you know how you feel about your baby too and your baby's needs/wants.

We ended up choosing a nursery because we liked the thought of our dt's playing and growing up with multiple children of the same age whereas a childminder would only have your LO along with a few older children. Because of my and my DH's work commitments we liked the continuity of care element - no issues with staff illness as its their responsibility to have the staff numbers to cover - if your childminder is ill, you have to take time off work or find another childminder....not something we could do at the drop of a hat.

You HAVE to be comfortable with your choice though, so any element of doubt needs to be ironed out and discussed with the carer in question else you will be sat at work worrying - and then posting on here asking "this happened to DC today, should I be worried....."

Good luck in your search, and of course good luck on arrival of DC!

The best thing to do really, is to go and visit them - you really get a feel for the place and will start to see whether you want your child in nursery or with a child minder.

I personally went for a nursery as I didn't feel that anyone who came into the childminder's house could be CRB checked (relatives etc) and so felt nursery was the safer option and so started from this basis. I also put together a list of questions to ask them - I thought I had it saved to post here but I don't, although if you trawl mnet, you will find threads detailing the questions

Bottom line really though, is the feel of the place - the nursery DS is in, had that feel when we went in - happy, homely, clean etc and that combined with the Ofsted report, answers to questions etc, decided it for us

Hope this helps a bit?