Is it more beneficial to send Children to a nursery or a childminder rather than pay £1K a month nursery fees? **Title Edited by MNHQ**

[asnugglysnerd]

Hello,

Just weighing up potential childcare options... nursery or childminder.... Nursery costs are so expensive... £1200 a month it seems in my area... What is the point in going back to work!?!? I earn more than that but it is just so much! I know that they are looking after our kids and 99% of the nursery workers deserve more than they are paid, but taking everything else away aside the cost, that is a lot of expenditure...

Of course I will, I love my job, but can anyone give me a run down on pros and cons of nursery v childminder?

Thank you!

I think generalising about nursery v childminder isn't particularly helpful. It's all very well to think 'I prefer nurseries because of X' or 'I prefer childminders because of Y'. But in practice, what you have to choose between isn't hypothetical examples of one or the other, but the particular childcare providers near to you. Be open minded and search out the best childcare you can find that meets your needs (opening hours, holiday arrangements, cost, location, etc).

@Dirtygirtyisthirty depends what you class as 'capable'. I'm capable of not working and having my child with me, ensuring they are fed, watered and clean and keeping them alive for the day.

I'm not capable of the level of patience, determination and interest that is required to do the role well. I'd have severe mental health issues, my child would suffer, my marriage would suffer.

Some people make fantastic SAHP, I know some of them. I would not be one of them. I could not be one of them. I don't have the imagination or inclination.

Notacluethisxmas I'm one of those women who 'couldnt' (would be horrifically bad at it) be a SAHP.

I know women who openly admit they struggle to manage a job and find it impacts their mental wellness so severely they cannot work.

I think both can be great. My feeling is that an awesome childminder slightly trumps an awesome nursery, but awesome childminders are reasonably hard to find.

Keep an open mind, visit lots of options and go with your gut.

In the final year, the nursery followed the early years curriculum that would be followed at school
Early years providers should follow the EYFS from the child being a newborn baby, not just in the year leading up to leaving nursery.
That was really really slack of them and I'd be very surprised if they got anything other than inadequate at inspection time.
All CM's also follow the EYFS

Goodness themoomoo, you sound a little defensive. I'm afraid my experience pre-dates the EYFS. However, the OP should definitely ask all the prospective childcare settings to demonstrate how they fulfil the requirements of the EYFS.

We've chosen a nursery for 9 month old DD, she'll be there 4 full days a week.

For us, the flexibility of all year round opening is needed, I don't want to care about when someone is taking their holidays and have to take mine at the same time and I don't want to be stuck last minute because someone is sick - it's hard enough with a dog walker (although she's hands down the most reliable person ever).

Personally to me, I feel better that DD is with a range of adults rather than just one and that there is CCTV if it's ever required - obviously I pray that's not the case!

Our fees are not going to be £1k plus though, we're looking about £640 a month, before tax free childcare reductions are taken into account. We live up North.

As others have said it’s really personal preference and what you think will suit your little one. We use a childminder (a great one) who was actually the total opposite of what I thought I wanted. My reason was that I wanted a more homely environment but my DS was only 9 months when I went back to work. Everyone who I knew who had worked in nursery’s (which was quite a few people) said they wouldn’t put their own child in nursery so young, but would when they were older. My DS has learned absolutely loads from his childminder, she’s great, we’re very lucky.

Child minder. More flexible and they still get to mix with other kids. I don't mind if they want to doss around with the tv in sometimes i dony need them to be learning per se they 'll go to proper nursery sooner or later. When they are out the house for long periods I want mine in a home environment. And I'll need the Child minder for wrap around soon any ways

I didn't have a childminder for DS2 or DD so they went to nursery quite young, but DS1 had a lovely childminder and I think that was nicer for him when he was just tiny. After about 1 though I think they get more out of a nursery.

My kids have all been with the same CM since 2011; they are basically cousins to her kids and part of the family.

I took my son to a nursery for a settling in session but what I saw there was so awful that after that it had to be a CM for us.

I didn't really want the CM to provide constant stimulation the way a nursery does; I wanted my kids to feel at home without actually being able to be at my home.

We chose nursery over cm because they only close for a week all year - around Christmas- and have enough staff to cover staff sickness.

How stressful and deadline driven are your jobs? Nursery is open 51 weeks a year and it gives them 3 meals a day. The childminders round me only provide tea, and obviously take holiday sometimes. I find it hard enough to get out in the morning without throwing breakfast and needing to be there in time for the school run into the equation.

I chose a childminder partly because I only wanted term time care. I also didn't really want an environment with a school feel to it until preschool age. I just wanted a normal home with one main carer for both DC and I to have a good relationship with. I think a cm can provide more individualised care and the two that I've had are very experienced having brought up their own families and many other children over the years. They are very much part of the local community and I would argue more 'visible' than nursery staff. A typical day is having breakfast in the kitchen, taking older kids to school (short walk or sometimes drive), going to toddler group or another cm just to play, lunch and nap, craft activity, collect from school, play in garden or park, early tea or snack then the day is finished. Sometimes a trip to the farm, music class etc. Pretty much exactly what they would do with me! And now my DC are at school they go to cm for wraparound care. Even the high school age DC will go there sometimes if they feel like it. For us CM has been like extended family but without the excess sweets

Simple answer...depends on the child, child minder and nursery. Personally my dd has loved nursery and learning alot. Im not at all upset she runs in without saying goodbye honestly. She bakes, paints, has friends there and has learnt more than i thought possible in such a short time.

Bear in mind that if you use a nursery you will have to start all over again finding wraparound and holiday care once your child is 4 whereas with a CM they will just continue to care for them

But only if your child gets into a school that CM drops off to/picks up from, of course...

DS1’s school is a total childminder blackspot. We tried to find one when he started school but hardly any pick up from his school - plenty for other local schools. There are kids at his school who had the same childminder since babyhood but had to leave them when they started school.

Before that he’d been at a brilliant nursery. Fortunately his after school club is also good.

We've done both childminder and nursery with 3 children. My 1St dc thrived in nursery so naturally I sent my second to the same nursery but he didn't do well at all. My 3Rd dc attends a childminder. I think which you choose depends on your child and their personality. Both my 2nd and 3Rd dc are quiet and gentle whereas my first was quite outgoing. The second 2 do better with the closer bond of a childminder with less children and not such rigid structure of nursery. But a nursery environment suited my 1dc better.

Not sure that helps but what I'm trying to say is there are pros and cons to each so it's worth visiting a few of both and basing your decision on what kind of environment you think will suit your dc best.

Really interesting topic OP and I’ve wondered this myself. My DP has insisted we use a nanny he employed when his children were younger and she is absolutely wonderful and a godsend but when I return to work I’m going to do a mixture I think because I want my DD to interact with lots of children.

I’m thinking of doing half a day in nursery and then half a day with the nanny.

I've gone for a nursery rather than a childminder as I don't trust one single person enough to look after my child.

Just go with what you're most comfortable with. I felt confident with the nursery my child's at because they are very caring.

I chose a nursery for DS, I have a job that means I deal with a lot of child abuse cases and I just feel there's more accountability with a nursery. The nursery is excellent, he has gone from refusing to sleep anywhere but attached to my left nipple, to napping on command for the girls at the nursery. He absolutely loves it there. It is extortionate though, to the point where I'm having to make quite a lot of sacrifices to pay the fees.

You do get excellent childminders/nannies though. Depends what's available in your area.

Look at lots of cms and lots of nurseries.
We chose a 'top notch' nursery, got there and realised it wasn't for our ds. Same 4 walls and same tiny playground every day. His key worker admitted that the kids get bored after a few months.
Found a cm who is amazing. Same ethos as us, the variety of activities is brilliant, a great relationship where we can work together on any development or behaviour. It's very personal and it was the right decision for him.
Not the most convinient for us parents (she's out of town), but manageable.
She takes the same weeks off every year, which we take as our annual leave. She's taken 1/2 a day sick in 18 months.