For those who have used a nursery and a childminder can I have your opinions please?

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After seeing a parent saying they wouldn't be able to leave their child with a childminder on a different thread I started wondering what everyone else's opinions are.

I've used both a great nursery and a great childminder (I know there are many that aren't great). My preference would probably be a childminder until 3/4 and then a school nursery.

What are everyone else thoughts?

Both my children were with a fabulous childminder, full time until preschool age when they went to school nursery when they switched to wraparound with childminder.

They both loved their time there, it was a home from home and a caring nurturing environment. Both had no trouble transitioning to nursery and school, probably as they had done the school run with the older children since they were babies.

As we had moved house with my younger one we moved her to full time nursery rather than find another childminder as she was 3 by then and we ended up moving her as we were very unhappy with that nursery. The second nursery was brilliant.

As with everything, there will be good and bad, with childminders or nurseries. I think you also need to try and find someone with some a similar style to you as it is a home environment.

I wouldn't take any notice of posters claiming that they wouldn't use one form of childcare or another.
Why would anyone want the opinion of someone so close-minded they're prepared to write off thousands of very different settings without ever bothering to view them?

This is an anonymous board. You don't know who these posters really are, nor when (if!) they last needed childcare.

Ive used both and worked as both! (But I've only used nurseries aged 3+)

You get good and bad of each.

I do believe a brilliant childminder is the best option for ages 0-2/3 personally as I know that the right key person to form attachment to when in childcare is best in an ideal world for development.

I always advise parents to go and visit as many settings as possible both nurseries and childminders in their local area. You get a better feeling of each place by visiting, looking around, observing interactions, asking questions etc.

If I had to work full time out of the house and was using early years childcare for a baby or toddler I'd be looking for a childminder personally. But it is such a personal choice!

My children are 9 and 10 and we have had the same childminder since I returned to work. And she’ll continue with my children until they are old enough to walk home themselves from school. IMO a childminder was a better longer term solution for us. Nurseries take kids only until a certain age. Not all schools offer wrap around after school care and these can often depend on funding and demand at the time. If you want one consistent form of child care then it would be best to get childminder. I haven’t seen the other post refer but I haven’t had an issue with my childminder. My kids are part of her family and as we didn’t have granparents helping I was keen they were part of a home environment when not in my care. There’s something that doesn’t sit right with me dropping young babies off at nursery institutions too.

We used a childminder (actually 2 who worked together) until DD was 2, then a nursery after that (the change mostly prompted by a house move). We were very happy with both settings at the time we used them; I think if we hadn't moved house we'd probably have looked for nursery/preschool at age 3 as she benefited from the bigger number of children and range of activities then. Having said that, my preference when she was very small was for a quieter, more family-like setup. So I'd say both have their place, and it's a case of finding the right environment for the individual child at their stage of development.

It really depends on your circumstances and how long you'll need the care for. Both of mine went to nursery until they started school which worked for us because after that we didn't need any wrap around care. If you needed care beyond school age it might be best to start a relationship with a childminder who can offer this.
Personally I found nursery more reliable as it's a whole team as oppose to one or two people who could easily be sick, on holiday etc.
Both of my kids loved nursery and it brought them on leaps and bounds in their development.
I wouldn't listen to anyone who says 'I'd never use/do xyz' when it comes to parenting. It's usually just their way of trying to come across as superior, which to me says that their are either insecure about their own choices or a judgemental twat. Either way their opinion is irrelevant.

We used both. Nursery from 1-4, then childminder around school drop offs.

We visited several nurseries and looked into childminders too initially but there weren't any that offered the hours we needed locally. I preferred the idea of nursery for when DD was tiny from a security and safeguarding point of view, so several people were around, rather than just one. We also thought that nursery offered more as DD had some time at home/going to toddler groups/library/park each week with me (I was working PT) and the childminder would have done much the same.

We couldn't find a suitable childminder in our area initially anyway but I was put off by some local ones at toddler groups who ignored
their kids and sat chatting to each other! But I also wasn't impressed with one nursery we viewed which seemed very disorganised and didn't have great facilities - no outside space, only two rooms so 0-2 in together, then 2-4s. You also had to provide everything like nappies and sun cream and the meal provision was haphazard.

The nursery we chose had five rooms with free flow outside space to each, did a wide range of activities and had a chef. We found having all meals, snacks, nappies etc included made life a lot easier. Ultimately we're really pleased with the choice we made - DD thrived and had a great time, it complemented home life well, nursery was open long enough to easily cover commuting. It was incredibly expensive!

The childminder was a great choice for reception onwards - meant some downtime before/after school in a quieter environment. We did use wraparound too - it was that awkward period in lockdowns when childcare availability was limited.

I have used 2 different nurseries, a childminder, and also BEEN a childminder for 5 years. I found the first nursery very impersonal. My baby came home dripping wet in dribble every day (he dribbled a lot) even though I provided many bibs daily and asked them to change them and put wet ones in a bag for me. He once came home wet through for water play, literally wet through. They regularly gave him food he was allergic to or splashed him with other kids milk, and had to have his allergy medicine every other day. I once arrived to he told he’d “had a bad day with his asthma”. He was literally turning blue. I grabbed his inhaler. Gave him 10 puffs and drove for A&E. I left there soon after.
the Second nursery was much better - never needed his allergy meds as they were careful. A great key worker who made my childcare feel personal and lovely.
once my first went to school I switched to a CM. She was amazing. Day trips out in the holidays, fun activities after school, reliable, warm and caring. I left 7 years ago as I became a CM myself and she will still grab my 9 and 11 year olds from school for me if I’m in a bind.

I spent 5 years as a childminder. The children with me were treated like family. I had 3 max. So plenty of attention. We had a great routine. We would go out in the mornings - park, play groups, farm, library etc, come back for a hot cooked dinner then they would nap. afternoons was free play in garden or house. Holidays we went father afield and spent whole days out with picnics. I used to do kids hair, have kids overnight when parents were in labour, I used to teach kindness and empathy and the children were lovely to each other and good at sharing and turn taking. Their speech came on much faster than in nurseries as I was talking to them constantly and had done speech and language training. Rather than them just talking to other kids during play.

in conclusion there are good nurseries and good childminders. But for the personal approach I’d go childminder.

I used both but preferred nursery as was more reliable. If a childminder is sick you've lost your childcare whereas in nursery they are always open. Drop off and pick up was more flexible at nursery and could also use their holiday clubs for school holidays once at school age.

I liked all the different opportunities at nursery too and the social aspect as they really were so confident with other children as dealt with such a mix.

Childminder until child reaches preschool age ( 3+ )
A 12 month old doesn’t need endless activities and wonderful resources - they need nurturing by a kind & dedicated individual who meets all their needs, and this is done best in a much smaller setting.
Once a child gets to about 3 - bigger setting yes, absolutely, they’ll be more ready for it then.

This is of course just my personal opinion.
I used a wonderful c/m until my son started school nursery and it worked really well.

Different settings work for different children. Some children really come on in a busy nursery setting, others prefer the slightly quieter home from home setting. There are good nurseries and bad nurseries and good childminders and bad childminders.

Ive worked in lots of day nurseries (used to be bank staff for our LA) and some were fantastic, well run, great staff who really cared for the children, fantastic areas and provision. Others were dire with awful staff, poor provision and poorly run. I highly recommend any of my friends looking for a nursery to go round every one in the area and judge the vibe.

I've encountered lots and lots of childminders too an many baby and toddler groups. Again, there are some really amazing childminders (they are usually the ones fully booker with waiting lists around us), they take their charges out and about, really caring and engaging with the children, they tend to have mindees of similar age. There are also some really poor ones who really stand out. One who barks orders at her charges, dumps all the kids off at playgroup then sits at the side chatting to her cm mates, she has recently got a 9 month old who she plonked screaming in the middle of the room and said, she's screamed and cried every day this week, I'm not comforting them any more she can scream (she has done this every playgroup session for the last month, it has been reported). There is another on the school run who leaves the 2 babies she minds in the car whilst she walks the 2 older ones into school, due to safety and severe lack of parking (school built on main road which has huge lorries thundering past almost constantly) the school arranged for parents to park at the local football club which is a 5 minute walk away across the recreation ground (football club is attached to the recreation ground) so she locks the babies in the car and leaves them for a good 15 minutes - i know because her older mindees are in reception so same door as DD and we often get out the car at the same time. She does this twice a day at pick up and drop off. I mentioned it to the head as I'm not sure who the cm is. I'm hoping the head can find out and report it.

My brother and I were abused when we were in primary school by the childminder who used to pick us up after school every day. She made our lives miserable and we were too scared to tell our parents what she and her children and her mother were doing to us. Thankfully one day she slipped up and she hit my brother outside school which another parent saw and reported her to the school, so finally our parents stopped sending us to her.
She now works at our local hospital St Helier and when I went there for work experience some 10+ years later, there she was sat there and I was meant to spend 3 of the 5 days sat with her. I had a full on panic attack and couldn't complete my weeks work experience.
I dread seeing her or her daughters in our area now and I'm almost 40!
Because of what she put us through I will never ever use a childminder of any kind. I'm sure that's very unfair to most childminders and that we were a rare and unfortunate experience, but the idea of someone being able to look after children with no other adults to supervise or help them makes me really uncomfortable. Who knows how much longer we'd have been abused for if she hadn't been seen hitting my brother, as it was all going on behind her front door!

I was set on nursery...
I found a very well regarded one which we liked when we toured....Then i witnessed quite a serious safeguarding issue there weeks before i went to work. 🙈🙈🙈
I was scrambling and looking at plan Bs and managed to find one childminder nearby who had a space. We met her and she was just lovely....

Its worked out really well for us and we hope to continue with her when our children go to the nearby primary.

I think my daughter would have found nursery too much and i like that she goes to playgroups and CM meet ups but has a quiet home environment too.

I recognise we are fortunate to find someone who is a. So good and b. Has such a nice bond with my DD.

We used both - started with DD1 at a fantastic nursery, when it closed we tried another nursery that wasn’t so great although they did try their best.

Then I was on mat leave and during that DD1 was mainly with me until she started at school nursery and eventually DD2 started with a childminder I had met during mat leave, and she did wrap-around for DD1

That arrangement then continued as home from home until we had to move away

I wouldn’t write off either settings - see what you have available and what it looks like / feels like for you

If I could have got a good personal recommendation for a childminder then I’d probably have used one. As it is, I couldn’t, so felt much more comfortable using a nursery. It was the right decision for us to use nursery but everyone’s circumstances are different. I also didn’t want a childminder where my child would be in a car with them twice a day going to pick older kids up from school and that’s what the local ones all seemed to do (despite being walking distance from loads of schools) but that might just be me!

As a general rule though I wouldn’t use either kind of childcare without talking to parents whose opinions I trust who actually use the setting.

I agree with you OP, my daughter is now 4 and a half and has been at a childminders who used to be a primary school teacher since she was 8 months old. In that time she has absolutely thrived from the amount of attention she is given when there are only three other kids, she is very confident and social- a reason why some send them to nursery- my daughter certainly doesn’t have that problem! - my childminder meets up with the other childminders and their kids in the park a couple of times a week so she gets to mingle in a bigger crowd, she also goes to things like messy play. I prefer it due to the attention and care she gets but also I find she is now being well prepared for school, in terms of self care- zipping up coat, putting her own shoes on, she also being prepared learning wise, so sitting and listening to stories and playing a board game for a longer period of time, learning about numbers and doing some very simple phonics, I really don’t think a nursery would have the staff to do that. My daughter can now count to 30, and knows about half the alphabet and loves playing words games with me - so rhyming words for example or counting games. I also from a selfish point of view like it- it’s cheaper and also more flexible- If I want an extra hour here or there I can get it and also if I give 24 hours notice that my daughter isn’t coming in that day I don’t get charged. Lastly I think being in a home environment is so important at a young age- I didn’t want her in a diet of school setting so young , I want it to be a home away from home.

I think I was that poster OP! Like I said, I prefer the age grouping at nursery, and don't like the idea of leaving DC with a solo stranger when they can't talk. Different if you already know the person obviously.

We're very lucky with our nursery though, they're fab.

I’ve used all forms and combinations as the children were different ages plus au pairs as the kids got older and wanted to be in their own homes. All had their pluses and minuses. I can’t say one was better or worse because it was child, age and circumstances dependent.

Personally we wouldn’t use a childminder. Not because we don’t like the idea of them, but we have absolutely no back up childcare so we couldn’t take childminders sickness or holidays, we need to know our DC will go to childcare unless they are unwell themselves. We’ve used a nursery for 3 years now and been very happy with it. I would say before 3 years it probably doesn’t matter which, but a nursery/preschool would be preferable from age 3 as it’s a good step before school and they get to be with a big group of children their own age.

I’ve used both. I also think it depends on the dc. One of mine adored nursery and got loads from it. The other one really didn’t and was far happier with a childminder (& a bit of preschool when old enough).

The other plus point about nursery was the reliability, which you don’t always have if you’re relying on one person for the care.

I forgot to add to my post about why I use a childminder- is that my daughter goes out everyday on trips- animal farm, wacky warehouse, messy play in church halls, park, picnics, museums, I doubt a nursery does that everyday. Just this week, she has had a big meet up in a picnic with other childminders and their children, she’s gone to a messy play session at a hall, she’s gone round a country park, they have played in the garden, read stories, made crafts, worked on numbers in a fun way, writing letters with shaving foam on walls, water play, baking, literally everything- things that I just can’t offer on the weekday as I’m working then too tired.

I used a childminder for a bit when oldest was in early years of Primary School - I was going to send youngest to her before he started school but then she started only doing over 3s.

Nursery was a good start for both of my kids but a good childminder can also be. As people have said, nursery is a bit more reliable, though I was never let down by the childminder over a couple of years either.

My first child had three settling in sessions at a nursery which all my raved about.

I saw babies lying on the floor crying, too young to turn themselves over. Toddlers sitting crying being ignored. On the final visit as I got out of the car, a kid opened the door of the building, which should have been locked, and let themselves out.

We went with a childminder instead and it was wonderful; my kids are now teens and she's still part of our lives.

I think its best to be open minded. When looking with DD1...
The local childminder was lovely. However she needed to do the school run, which was 20 minutes drive away. We decided we didn't want DD in the car that long. Every toddler group etc required driving
Whereas the nursery it was all in one place, butvthey took them out on foot most days to places around the village.

Same as you OP. We’ve used both and my absolute preference would be a childminder 1-3 and then a school nursery for the pre-school year (preferably not full time for either though).