To ask why you chose a nursery over a childminder or vv?

[mummyrunnerbean]

Just that really. Starting the great childcare hunt and feel all at sea- I'm going back to uni in September when he'll be 13 months.

Also, have already posted asking in childcare, but what in particular should I be looking for, in either case, beyond the obvious?

quite frankly cm was cheaper. I am going back to work on Monday 8-2 nursery quoted me £800 a month CM is £525.

Just want to point something out here-CM's,by law, have to follow the same EYFS framework that nurseries do.We do planning, assessments,observations,learning journals,training courses etc that all other pre school providers do.
CM's tend to 'know' their mindees very well as they only have a small amount.Yes, illness could be an issue (although I haven't had a day off ill in 15 years)-so could holidays;although all my families take the same holidays as me so it isn't a problem.Many minders have CM friends who may offer care if they are ill/on hols;just ask when you visit.Minders are generally cheaper,and if you get a local one, you could have them for a long time.I've had children in my care from the age of 5 months who are now 9 years old and attend the local school,where I take them.And we don't 'traipse' little one's on school runs-that makes us sounds like they are being dragged along the road reluctantly,but the school run is actually a lot of fun and we play lots of educational games whilst we do it.I work extremely closely with the families that I care for and all my children are 'lifers'-one boy has been with me for 10 years.
Contrary to popular belief, most of us don't stick the kids in front of the tv all day-mine is rarely on-while we drink tea.I don't take children shopping, or to the dentist,or doctors-that's done in my own time (although they can be educational;it's no different to a nursery having a dentist in to visit the children) We are professionals but there are bad minders, just as there are bad nurseries.

OP, you need to think about the sort of care you want and then visit as many as you can.Ask for recommendations too.Look at their Ofsted reports online.Nurseries and CM are both professionals,but offer completely different settings;I've worked as both and much prefer minding.You will get a gut instinct for the one that feels right.
Good luck x

Advantage of nursery:

the one I chose was on the site of a hospital (with a Paed A&E) just in case

the children all the same age (not the case with CM)

when I dropped them off they stayed there unless they had a trip. They weren't traipsed all over doing school runs and shopping (which I know a lot of CM will do) . My DC do enough of this with me

I think the notion of a CM is weird if you don't know any. For this reason (mainly) we chose nursery the first time but it did feel very institutional and a little impersonal, though at the time I loved the structure and the routine of the place.

5 years later and 5 years into parenting I chose a CM for dd and then dd2 as she was a good friend and it totally felt right. She was amazing and using her was perfect for both our girls. She was super flexible, so kind but also massively organised/educational.

I think it's a very personal thing and I'm sure you can get good/bad of each. Go for lots of visits and ask a lot of questions. Try to speak to other parents if you can. If you're currently on mat leave try to watch CMs at toddler/baby groups and see how they interact with their mindees.

I chose a child-minder, like yourself I was going back to uni and I think the child-minder was more lenient with my days. My timetable changed over the first year and she was brilliant with the forever changing times and days, unlike my friends who have had never ending problems with their children in nursery's.

The main thing for me was that my little ones were really young and I wanted them in a home environment for a little longer, they already have to many years of classrooms and structure ahead of them I preferred the home environment and the community toddler groups that they still got to attend. I have tried a nursery but my DS hated it, the meals were poor quality and they employed school leavers with very little experience. (this is only one nursery though, and my own experience)
It was a really hard decision, but I would ask to see Ofsted reports and have many visits before you make the decision. My LO's love their child-minder and they have a brilliant relationship with her.

I chose nursery, after a close family member had a terrible situation with a childminder. It really put me off and although I know not all nurseries are perfect, I felt safety in staff numbers was important. I also know there are some great childminders around, I liked the idea of the home from home environment and there seems to be a bit more flexibility.

The first nursery ds went to was great until he got to about 2, then he became a bit lost in such a big environment due to his personality, I then moved him to a much smaller nursery where he has thrived. He will stay there until he starts school.

He has loved the structure and playing with lots of children his own age.

I've been to lots of nurseries with my job. There's a big range in quality. Some are lovely and some are poor. Some of the sweeping genalisations on this thread about nurseries are unhelpful and mostly untrue. This is nonsense:
young children should be out living in the real world enjoying real life and their local community and not some constructed structured room with high staff turnovers,low educated workers and several staff
Firstly, nursery is the real world but anyway lots of nurseries take their children out into the local community to shops, train station, firestation, etc. Staff turnover and level of education vary massively from nursery to nursery. At my DSs nursery the majority of the staff have been there 10 years plus and all of the nursery practitions are educated to at least NVQ level 3 with over half having degrees in Early Childhood. They only have 2 members of staff (nursery assistants) who are not yet qualified to level 3.
Several of the nursery staff have children and grandchildren in the nursery.
And are you suggesting that children should be looked after in unconstructed unstructured rooms? .
Whether you go for cm or nursery is very personal and depends on what suits your child/family/lifestyle/situation and what settings are available. Go and see some different settings, ask lots of questions, go with your gut instinct and ignore anyone who tries to make you feel bad about whatever choice you make.

I would echo what others have said about looking at a range of different providers, and also consider that different children 'fit' in different situations.

Hi,just need help and advice. My 3.6yrs old toddler started nursery which is 10mins from where we live when he was 2yrs old,but ever since he started the nursery he had one infection after the other from conjunctivitis to pneumonia each twice that required hospitalisation. However,he's 3.6yrs nw and is very active and caring..... but now im about to start uni in 2weeks and dont know if i should leave him at the nursery for the free 3yr old early entitlement and pay a childminder for more hrs or i should leave him at one place? Bear in mind,as a single parent and a student i wouldn't want him to be left without care e.g sickness and hols with cm.... pls advice needed...

You may be better starting a new thread rather than bumping a zombie thread.

Those of you saying that the only 'trips' a CM will do s a school run or to the shops are way off the mark.

I used a CM for my dcs (now 11 and 9). They used to go to the zoo, museums, water parks, cafes, woodlands, libraries, Farms, toddler groups...even the Fire Station once a year!

Re - "I want my child to socialise with other children"

Do you really think they don't at s CM? Mine socialised all day, albeit perhaps in a slightly smaller group. However the group are all ages and they became like a family. These days, my dd is still friends with my CM's dd and my ds is off to cub camp this weekend with one of his fellow mindees.

As for sickness, I may have been super lucky with this, but in 10 years my CM has been sick ONCE when she was in intensive care with pneumonia. I'll give her that!

OP, like everything there is good and bad. Go and visit good CM's and good nurseries. I just wanted to address some misconceptions I guess that CM only 'go out on the school run several times a day'.

Sorry, I've just seen this is a zombie thread sorry.

I have visited the Cm at her home and she was recommended to me by a friend who are 2 kids stay there and also works there as an assistant. But at the same time at my sons local nursery there has been times were he was left in his own mess all over and never borthered to change him and other things plys they're very expensive seeing that I'm starting uni in 2weeks and looking for how to cut cost being a student...

We choose a childminder even though I would of got staff discount

There generally not good for very small children

Often it's a constant stream of Diffrent people and students who have no quilfactions looking after your child the food portions are tiney

Cm are more like being at home if there feeling a bit unwell they can just lie down of the sofa and watch peppa pig there doing normal things like I would go shopping Ect and also can be more flexible so when it was hit the childminder would text say bring swimming coustume and off they went swimming in the nursey things had to be planned out months in advance

I worked in nurseys for 3 years after completing my child development course , have been a foster carer for 7 and would never use a nursey

And can I just point out people saying they feel nurseys re safter in terms of others being able to see what's going on pretty much all the sexual abuse cases over the last five years have happed children in nursey and school settings there has been virtually no case of serious sexual abuse to children in childminding placements

We chose a CM. I went back to work when DD was 7 months old, and she felt too small to put in a nursery with lots of other babies, she couldn't even sit up. Friends did, and their babies thrived, so it's not an objection in principle, just a preference. It helped that one of DH's old friends is married to a CM, so we knew that she was nice and kind, that their house was clean and happy and that their son was a lovely kid. I don't mind DD going on school runs, and apart from that the CM seems to manage to do all her personal errands out of work time.

I'd like DD to go to nursery for the last year before she starts school, but I'm not sure how we'd manage the logistics of it without a change of CM; she does the school run to her son's school (obv) so can't be school-running anywhere else at the same time. We will all be really sad if we have to change completely.

poster oklumberjack F

Agreed children under 3 don't play together they play along side so it's a dream about socialising

And for your ofsted you need to show trips and outings actually my childminder used to do a lot when shopping they would all have there won shopping lists with 5/7 items they they all had to get tick off there list they would talk about each item and what it was for they would help pack the shopping even plan the jounery before hand

Our cm is great. In 4.5 years caring for our 5yo ds she's had one day off ill. She puts in a huge amount of work and knows him extremely well. She's a lot cheaper than nurseries and is very flexible. She rarely relies on TV for entertainment and does a lot of activities with the children.

When ds became eligible for free hours he went to nursery for a couple of days as we wanted him to experience a larger setting with different children in a more class-like environment to prepare him for reception. He absolutely loved it there too - loads of variety, he was able to become a bit more independent and they had a lovely big garden which he really enjoyed. He settled into reception really easily. He still has the same cm after school and during the holidays and loves her to bits.

The only issue we have had is finding alternative care for ds when his cm has a holiday. Not so much of an issue now he's at school, but in the past we've either had to take holiday at the same time the cm has taken hers or find alternative care. Our second is due in November and we'll stay with our current cm. Will probably do the same about nursery when we're entitled to free hours again. I also liked the more one on one attention and family environment our cm was able to give ds in the early years.

I chose a childminder because I wanted my DC to be in a home from home environment. I wanted them to have a strong link to one person rather than a team.

Both DC went to the school nursery for mornings once they turned 3, and were with a CM for the rest of the day.

I looked at both and found it hard to decide between them.
Advantages of nursery:
Open all year
More adults so more accountability and less likelihood of someone doing things they shouldn't (admittedly a low chance of this happening either way though)
More structured
More social
No school runs with older kids

Cm advantages
Only pay for the hours you use whereas at nursery you pay for the hours you book regardless of whether you take them up.
More personal - child will get to know one care provider really well
More relaxed
Cheaper

In the end we went with nursery because although I preferred the idea of a childminder, in practice I liked the structure and security of nursery. It probably would have been different if I'd found a childminder I really loved though.

Nursery because

• dd loved it
• reliability issues (it would be extremely difficult to take a day off at short notice is a childminder was ill)
• chance for DD to mix with a wider range of children
• variety of staff - more scope for DD to experience a range of relationships with adults, rather than just a one to one
• no car trips for school drop offs etc with older mindees

I don't quite get why children getting out and doing normal everyday family things like shopping/going to dentist/on a school run/post office is seen so negatively by some. Are all those things depriving kids of some valuable activities they could be doing instead? I see it as a good thing, they get to experience real life and soon they will be going to school themselves so what's the problem.

We have a favulous cm, she had ds for 7 years and my 22month dd loves her as well. She does tons on stuff with them, parks, outdoor pools, beach, rhyme time, arts and crafts, baking, you name it... We went to a few nurseries when my ds was little but i didnt like the feel of these places, big rooms, different people looking after kids, too institutionalised if you like. I think little ones need homely environment and one person who they can bond with and trust. I am of course biased as my cm is fabulous and rated outstanding by ofsted.

In the end, it doesnt matter whether it's nursery or cm as long as your child is happy.

Nursery.

Structure, OFSTED reports, good ratio of staff to kids, massive outdoor space, activities, chef on site, meal plans, interaction with other kids from different backgrounds.

Hate the thought of a childminder, I imagine if they have young babies they spend all their time seeing to them (quite rightly) which wouldn't be so much fun for a toddler.

Also, convenience. Nursery en route to the station.

1. Reliability for the reasons pp have listed
2. I see many of our local childminders walking to and from school, and up town with a double buggy and walking DC in tow in all weathers. My ds has that with me 4 days a week! I wanted somewhere I could drop him off,he could spend the day doing activities and playing.
3. I felt nervous about safeguarding issues around one person looking after him all the time solo. I realise this is insane and has no grounding !- it's just the way I felt .

Ds formed some lovely relationships with his carers and would often be having a cuddle when I picked him up so I felt happy he had that security with carers who had time for him.
Fwiw I viewed some awful nurseries before I found his one! I'm also sure there are some fab cm out there. It's just what suits you and the DC.