Nursery vs childminder

[Hann376]

It may be too late to change in time for when my LO starts nursery but I have enrolled her in a daycare centre which is less than 10 min walk from our house (Ofsted outstanding) for when baby is 1 but am now wondering if a childminder would be better as it will provide a more consistent caregiver. I’m a bit worried the nursery will be too big and she won’t get enough 1:1 consistent care (I’ve heard nurseries have a lot of staff turnover which means potentially a lot of change) and will find it a bit intimidating!

what are the benefits of childcare centre vs a childminder?

me and partner are both planning to drop at least one day in full time work so we would need 3 days in childcare. We would qualify for the free childcare hours and tax free childcare but im less worried about what’s cheaper and just want what will be best for our LO!

Hi,

I think it depends on the nursery and the childminder, and mostly the child!
My son was the kind of child who didn't cry when being left anywhere. I had no experience but childminders so we looked around nurseries. The first we looked around was huge and the kids looked a bit lost. It was a hard no. The second was a lot smaller and calmer. We went with the second one but it wasn't the best and the commute was killing me. In the end the local children's centre opened a new nursery and at 15 months I moved him there, 10 minutes walk from home. He was better there and stayed there until we moved house.
Pros of a nursery are that your child won't have to stay home because the childminder is ill...nurseries have lots of staff and can stay open almost all year round. Cons are that if your child is ill, they often will insist on them being honest, whereas childminder might be more flexible. A good childminder will give the same good experiences as a nursery.

Main pro of nursery is they are likely to be open 50 weeks a year whereas a childminder will have holidays and possibly sickness.
However a childminder setting is likely to be cleaner and fewer children there so your child will get less ill.
As you've already noted, the childminder will be one person you know personally who your baby can bond with whereas in a nursery your baby will have to accept care from multiple people during the day and have transitions between rooms, and you will probably not meet/know everyone involved in her care.
With a nursery your child will spend the majority of their day in one room, whereas with a childminder they will be out and about in the community or on trips - whether that is a positive or negative depends, some people like to know their child is in one place all day, others prefer they have a wider variety of experiences.
The other point to consider is cost, childminders are usually cheaper and you are more likely to get the funded hours for free with a childminder.