Childminder or Nursery???????

[mhum2b]

Hi i am getting ready to go back to work... I am in a dilemma, childminder or nursery??? What do you reckon and why??????

Depends very much on the child/age & what's important to you as a Mother?

Dread the thought bof going back to work and leaing her.. She will be seven months... I just want the BEST for her...

I won't say too much then as I'm not a fan of nurseries for Babies.

So I would without a doubt go with a Childminder.

I'm sure others will come along & tell you otherwise though I have experience working in Private nurseries with under 1's & they don't get the attention I feel every baby deserves.

Definitely a CM, for all ST's reasons, a under 1 is better in a home environment IMO

Well being a childminder I am biased but if it were my baby I would go with a childminder. Obviously having said this there has to be a childminder near you that you feel totally comfortable with and that meets yours and your baby's needs.

In my experience I find that babies thrive better with a childminder, I know lots of people who have put their babies in nurserys and who have been unhappy with the care that they get (not all nurseries the same obviously).

I know a few parents (some of them are my mindees parents) who have sent baby to childminder until about age of 2 1/2 then gone with a combination of childminder and nursery so that they experience different settings.

I would say childminder as would prefer more of a home environment.

you get the consistency of care with a childminder and they can go with childs routine a little easier..i still don tknow how they manage to get all these babies to sleep in one romm..it amazes me

We had a great experience with a nursery - she did sleep, they cooked great organic food and did loads of fun things. She did get sick more though, but she was about your daughter's age, and at a childminder's your daughter would also be exposed to other kids. What I found difficult about childminders, although I did meet really lovely ones, is the hours. In my area at least they pretty much all seemed to have families of their own and wanted the baby picked up by 6. As I don't start until later, I really needed a 6.30 pick up with the option of 7 at least SOME of the time, which would have been right in the middle of their kids' bedtimes. They also weren't crazy about the concept of me going on business trips and occasionally needing an early start. BUT in our area they were a lot cheaper than a nursery and certainly than a nanny, and you may well find one with flexible hours. It really all does depend on what your point of comparison is. We use a combination nanny/nursery now. But there is NO WAY I would leave Coco in this current nursery five days a week, especially as a baby. The staff just aren't switched on enough. But we are not spoiled for choice around here - I used to bring her into town with me. I only use this nursery now because it means I can work from home, and I don't acutally make use of the full two day allocation, so even though it's not great, she's not tehre a lot. And I thought the tube might also have been making C sick too. My advice to you would be go round to as many nurseries as you can and childminders too and get a feel for the situation. Please think carefully about how long the journey takes in the am and the pm in addition to costs, because rushing around is a huge pain and will only increase when your daughter is a toddler and you're negotiating about what clothes to wear, breakfast to eat, pushchair vs walking etc. Good luck!

Everyone wants different things for their children so go see lots of nurseries and childminders and go with your gut instinct!

My DD went to a nursery from 2 yrs till school, and she loved it (most of the time). But when contemplating going back to work after DS I wanted a childminder cause he would only have been 5 months or so.

Only thing with nurseries (IMO) is that there is usually a high turnover of staff, and most of the staff are generally quite young without much previous (or personal) experience. Not that I am knocking nurseries, my DD thrived in hers!

As it happens am now a childminder myself and as one know that I provide the same level of care that I would want my children to receive! So would therefore, if it ever came up again, always go for a childminder in the future!

When I went back to work we did the whole nursery/Cm debate, and went to visit both. We decided on the cm.

In the end this is what we thought.

Ds has a key figure in his life - not a variety of women/girls, so therefore feels much more secure.
A lot of the girls we saw in the nurseies were young workexperiences who think working with children is a bit of an easy ride (sorry - don't mean to offend just our observations)
Our cm is VERY local and convienent.
Doesn't have as many children.
Provides a higher quality of food - organic and fresh. (unlike the crisps I observed 1 nursery giving their toddlers .
More flexible
More personal
Time to chat am/pm if need be

and (I think this was the decider)

Ds has the run of her quite large house and is taken out nearly every day - to the park/library/pram club etc. NOT stuck in a tiny room every single day.

However - despite saying all that, my friend is very pro nursery, and does make the quite valid point that if anything happened to the cm (took ill, had an accident etc) we might be left in the lurch or there would be noone there if, say, the cm fell downstairs and broke her leg/knocked herself out.

Also worth bearing in mind is that it took us a long to time to find the right cm for us. But it was worth all the agony to found our cm, who is wonderful!

Our nursery in London cost nearly £70 per day. So, it doesn't surprise me now that we're paying significantly less for the one near us, there is quite a difference in quality. Of course money isn't everything, but the point was the place in town could afford to hire and retain better people. I recognise in the other comments here the behaviour of the nursery staff at the place C currently attends - they are very clearly less motivated to do a good job.

If you go with a nursery, you need to take a good look at who is managing it, how long they've been there, and who the owners are. There was a high turnover at hte place in town initially but that is because the owners were really involved in the place and did not tolerate dross. If someone wasn't up to it, they got rid, which might sound really harsh and was disruptive until things settled down, but necessary. I look at this place now and think none of the girls would have lasted a week at the place in town. The owners of the place where we are now used to be very involved in it - by others' accounts anyway - but they've now decided to take jobs in the city again and leave it to the nursery manager who is not especially competent.

I'm obviously biased towards childminders (because I am one), but there will be plenty of mumsnetters who use - and are happy with - nursery care for their babies.

However,I agree with what the others here have said - I believe that a home environment is far more suitable for babies. However, you obviously have to visit a few to find the person you feel would be best for you.

Childminders tend to go out and about more - during my normal week, we go to a music group, soft play session at the local sports centre, a toddler group and visit the library, go for walks and so on. We go swimming, go out for whole days to farm parks, for picnics and so on.

Some parents prefer nurseries as they don't like the idea of their baby forming a close attachment to another "mummy figure" - but a baby does not ever see us as mummy, however long the baby might be with us during the day. I'm just part of their extended family!

Childminders are usually more flexible than nurseries - both with early starts, or unexpected late pick-ups (don't read all our moaning threads here!!)

There can be superb continuity of care. I have children who started with me as babies, and continued through the early years to nursery and through school.

Visit some childminders - you can find those near you via the Childrens Information Service here . It may help you decide if that's what you want. And visit some nurseries too (I'm saying that but don't really mean it!)

I would clarify how many children a childminder CAN look after theoretically and also how many they are planning to have in their care. I've just seen something on another thread which has got me thinking about this.

Hi - how old are your children? I would definately recommend childminder for under 2.5 as they will get trips out to the park and still benefit from 1 o clock clubs and other children but a small number at the childminders. I do childminding with my own 2 kids and have over the years often had to take children that have not had a good experience at a nursery more because they are not ready yet for that level of independance without a main contact and they did not get on with so many children around. Let me know if you want more ....

Diana23 this thread is 3 years old

Genidef childminders can only look after a maximum of 6 children aged 0-8 INCLUDING their own childre. Of these only 3 CAN BE UNDER 5 and only 1 under 12 months. The only time there are exceptions to this are for continuity of care, for example siblings or twins. Even then its only by approval from OFSTED, a cm cannot just decide to do this. Rules vary slighly in Wales,Scotland and N.Ireland

hth

We went with a childminder when DD was 7.5 months & I returned to work. I was very lucky to love the first childminder I interviewed (a friend of another childminder a woman at baby clinic recommended who had no availability). DD loves her to bits - she is still with her today - 1.5 years later. for DD the childminder is like a 2nd Mum. She has always been so happy & secure with her & has a lovely network of friends through the drop-in's etc they go to.

Best of all, I trust her implicitly, and the whole return to work time was a doddle.

I looked at a few nurseries but couldn't see myself being happy leaving a baby there. With a childminder you really get the one on one relationship.

rust your instincts & good luck

We chose a nursery, as this way we don't have to worry about the CM being ill, or wanting holidays etc. All the nursery nurses working there have been there for a while. I first enquired about the place a year ago, my daughter has been going there since september and the first person to leave will be going on maternity leave in a couple of weeks.

My daughter is happy there and well looked after and even carried in a sling when she wants it.