To consider a nursery where the children don't get to go outside?

[RevoltingPeasant]

This is kind of hypothetical, as I don't have DCs yet, but DP and I are hopefully going to start ttc next year and I am already making hideously premature plans getting excited.

I also plan to sign up for nursery basically as soon as we start ttc because I know about the difficulty of getting places.

So.... where I work there is an on-site nursery. A colleague uses it for her two DCs and loves it. It is about 2-3 min walk from my office, so if anything ever went wrong, I'd be there like a flash. DC would commute in with me to work and we could spend lunch together sometimes, etc. I would probably also get a discount as a staff member, though not much of one.

There is also a nursery about 15 min walk away from where I work. It is highly rated, and another colleague uses it and loves it.

The difference between the two nurseries is that the first has no outside area. Instead, they have this weird 'open basement' set-up - kind of hard to explain - where the bottom floor is just below ground level and has safety bars around it, but is otherwise open to the air - bit like an underground parking garage. The children play there every day, but they're not out in the sunlight.

The other nursery has a garden where the DCs go out when it's not raining. Colleague A says the on-site nursery is fine; Colleague B says she can't imagine not allowing her DS to play out in the sun 5 days a week. I have to say I'm leaning towards convenience - but am I being unreasonable/ neglectful??

I would go for the nursery with outdoor space without a doubt, but I think it partly depends on how much time the child will be there. If it's for two days a week, I'd say fine - go with the convenient nursery. Any more than that and the one with the space wins.

I work in a pre school, and we are very outdoorsy, always going in the garden or for a walk in the woods etc. We had a child start with us last year who had been in almost full time day care in a setting that had very limited out door space, it was lovely but also very sad to see how excited this poor child got when we went outside. He was 4 when he started, but displayed the sort of excitement you would expect from a two year old upon seeing a lady bird, a plane fly past, the postman or rubbish collection van drive by, being able to squirt water on the ground, finding a spiders web or a stick...... I could go on for ages. I can't put into words how much our children get out of being outside, I really can't. There are just so many learning opportunities that actually have some relevance to the world around them, rather than everything being artificially created for them in a sterile nursery.

A good garden is essential imo.

why have kids and dump themin a nursery all day because some of us dont have the option of not working thats why not that i use child care because i am lucky to work shifts as does my dh so we work opposite each other but get infuriated by snide comments about working mothers as would love to be sahm but finances dont allow for it

re the places being available, it might be worth paying for a place earlier than you need - i wanted a place for DS from January, but the January list was so long I was unlikely to get a place. someone tipped me off that if you said you wanted a place in December you effectively jumped the queue as not many mums go back to work in December (often taking extra unpaid leave until after Christmas), so there's a short list, and in January the places are offered off what's available then - so if lots join in December (regardless of when they put their name down) there's no places left in January. I paid for 2 mornings a week in December and jumped the queue of other parents who had put their names down earlier.

Apparently September is another 'crunch' time for places as lots of parents aim to go back to work after the school holidays/after their family holidays so it's easier to get a place in July/August.

Thanks FPT.

it seems totally ridiculous to me to apply for a nursery space for a child which has not even been conceived yet.

Anyway, there is an onsite nursery where I work and DS has been going there 3 times per week since he was 7mo (now 2.4yo). It works perfectly for us. The commute to work is very short, either 10 mins by car or around 15 mins by bus. he adores going on the bus so on days when we are bussing it he is delighted and it's nice to spend that time with him.

As for lunchtime visits - I actually did this for the first month or so that he was at nursery and we both enjoyed that and the nursery have an open door policy where we can pop in at any time (I don't these days unless for special things like parties), but I was not the only mother down there visiting. he was never upset when I left and i think it has been good as he has the feeling that I am really close by, which I am obviously! DH works in the same office as me, so DS has been up to the office to pick up DH at the end of the day etc and it's lovely that we are all in the same location IYSWIM.

However, in saying all of that, DS's nursery has a large garden with slides, playhouses, trikes, veg plot etc and they get outside loads. I wouldn't be happy with the lack of outside area at your onsite nursery. Especially if your future child is like my DS and extremely fond of playing outside!!