More of a WWYD - nursery choice

[WhereTheCrawdadsSing]

Nursery A:

Pros:

1. Walking distance
2. Small
3. Friendly staff and management
4. Charity run
5. We can afford to send dc 3 days a week, which would be better I think.

Cons:

1. Not the naicest of areas - a bit of a mixed bag of an area iyswim, with some extremely expensive houses, but also close to town, so there is a lot of footfall and I know there is a corner one street from nursery where they deal drugs, which obviously means people tend to come that way to buy drugs etc. Not judging, but it isn't ideal (no pun intended...I deal geddit?...aaaanyway).
2. Not much outdoor space and a bit concrete.
3. Outside space is RIGHT next to the road with a fence, which is pretty secure, but the kids do come up to it a lot, which for some (unreasonable?) reason makes me uncomfortable.
4. Not brilliant at communicating with parents.
5. Meals not included, so we have to send a packed lunch. Also the snacks they serve aren't always all that healthy.

Nursery 2:

Pros:

1. In the countryside.
2. Lots of outdoor space.
3. Great at communicating with parents.
4. Hot, healthy meals included in price.
5. Very professional staff and good back up from a head office, as it is a medium sized chain.

Cons:

1. Have to drive there and it isn't the nicest drive.
2. Not flexible about payment - when free hours kick in, we won't be able to use them all.
3. We can only afford two days, which is not as good for us, (but doable), and even then, it would be about a third more expensive than nursery 1.

Or Option 3, keep looking and consider childminders?

DC is 2 and a half.

Sorry, not really an AIBU, but if you really want me to shoehorn one in, AIBU to not be 100% happy with either choice? Is anyone 100% happy with their nursery? Am I overthinking it too much?

TIA.

Neither sound ideal, but only because you can’t afford 3 days at Nursery B which is what you want/need. Otherwise Nursery B by a country mile – who cares what the drive is like? Nursery A not providing meals would put me off, life’s far too difficult to faff around with packed lunches before you have to.

I would keep looking, though – I’m 100% happy with DD’s nursery and it felt “right” from the moment we looked around. I was making pro/con lists about the others but this one was the baby bear’s porridge. It is nice that it’s three minutes’ walk away, though – no need to drive or wrestle a toddler in a “slippery eel” mood into a pram.

@burritofan

Neither sound ideal, but only because you can’t afford 3 days at Nursery B which is what you want/need. Otherwise Nursery B by a country mile – who cares what the drive is like? Nursery A not providing meals would put me off, life’s far too difficult to faff around with packed lunches before you have to.

I would keep looking, though – I’m 100% happy with DD’s nursery and it felt “right” from the moment we looked around. I was making pro/con lists about the others but this one was the baby bear’s porridge. It is nice that it’s three minutes’ walk away, though – no need to drive or wrestle a toddler in a “slippery eel” mood into a pram.

Thanks - that's really helpful. Because dh was thinking if neither is ideal, maybe there is no such thing as the perfect place for dc... but that's good to know that you did have the baby bear's porridge experience with yours...

There is one more option I could use, but we can't look round for another couple of weeks, which is a bit tight for starting middle to end of September. It is in between the two in terms of price.

The drive for option 2 is actually not a big issue, but I do like being able to walk to nursery and want DC to be used to walking instead of driving everywhere iyswim. But that would be in a perfect world.

I agree, neither are ideal as there is a compromise and getting a kid out for nursery rush is a faff without the added pack lunch thrown in.

I don’t know why you won’t be able to use all the funding hours for your DC though, have you asked them why?

@TheTrollFairy

They have quite a complicated fee structure, where you can use an allocated number of free hours per full day you are there. So if you get 15 hours free, they let you used 3 hours per day for 5 days or else 3 hours per day for two days, so we could use 6 of the 15. That is my understanding anyway.

And with the packed lunches, yes, the added faff is annoying, but also, I think dc would end up eating the same old thing every day if we did packed lunch.

I would say nursery B, the environment sounds so much better at the cost of a little inconvenience for you.
But saying that my 2 and a half year old is with a lovely childminder who does lots of groups (pre Covid) so I feel she has the best of both worlds in terms of a more homely environment and socialising.
I do need to send a packed lunch but she will top up with snacks if my DD finishes it all.
You do need to think about covering their holidays or sick leave whereas you don’t with a nursery though. I generally get very good notice for holidays and she’s only had 1 day sick so I’ve been very lucky.
Keep nursery B in mind but don’t feel you have no other options.

Is there a local preschool you could use when hours kick in? Combination of expensive nursery and local cheaper preschool?

Thanks @SingingWaffleDoggy. I have contacted some childminders, who come highly recommended. Think that might be worth exploring. I'm not going with nursery 1. It is the closest one to us and to what we hope will be his primary school, but I'm not happy with it and I'd be uncomfortable I think. I don't think he would like the environment either as it is a bit claustrophobic and chaotic with lots of kids from 2 - 4. In the childminders it would be different ages so maybe a different vibe.

@Di11y

Is there a local preschool you could use when hours kick in? Combination of expensive nursery and local cheaper preschool?

Yes, there is and his name is down for it, so actually, the free hours may not become an issue , if he gets a preschool place. We don't find that out until half a term before start date though.

Nursery B 100%

A.

Not flexible about payment - when free hours kick in, we won't be able to use them all.

This would be a dealbreaker for me.

My DD is in an "A" type nursery. The proximity to home and experience of the staff make it for me. I had my doubts at first but it's been brilliant throughout, and waaaay better than any other nursery we viewed when it came to handling lockdown - they sent out simple suggested activities each week for example, rang us weekly, stopped fees immediately.

I don't find doing packed lunches a faff for a typical toddler - cheese sandwich, piece of fruit and a yoghurt.

The more I think about it, the more I think a good childminder might be a good compromise. Going to see one next week 🤞.