Nurseries - how do you pick a good one?

[Elf1981]

I'm due in about seven weeks, and at the moment, due to circumstances, know that I shall need to return to work after about six months.

Does anybody know:

a) how soon do you need to get your child on the nursery list?
b) what kind of questions can I ask to ensure that we am picking a good nursery??

Unfortunately dont have many friends who have children in nurseries that I can travel to, there are a load around me but I dont know anybody who attends them.

I did find a website once with details to all nurseries in the area, but cant seem to find the site anymore and am feeling a bit lost.

Any help would be fantastic.

Hi Elf,
It depends about the waiting list. Some people have to wait months to get into a nursery, others get in immediately but I would put your childs name down now.

Go to www.childcarelink.gov.uk and it's great for finding nurseries in your area if you are in England, not sure about Scotland, Wales or Ireland but have a see anyway.

As for questions ask about staff; are they qualified/first aid cetified.

How many children per staff in your childs room

Ask to see a playplan which will show all the activies that the children will be doing that week then you can use it just to see expamples of things your dd/ds could be doing in nursery.

Ask if they go on outings, e.g. walks to the park

Ask if there is a keyworker system where each child is assigned to a certain member of staff, then that nursery nurse will keep an eye on your child, keeping records of his/her development and you can go to them if any problems.

Enjoy your pregnancy and let us know when the baby is born

1. Now

2. Look at the loos, and the kitchen, if there is one.

What do the nursery teachers look like? Do they welcome in the children with 'Oh, what a lovely dress?' Or something encouraging like that?

I only found out about a fortnight before dd2 was due to leave that our nursery teachers weren't allowed to wear jeans! Don't know the point of that, apart from raising their image!

If you visit a few places you'll soon get a 'feel' for what seems right. Good luck.

i had to go back to work when dd was 4 months, and we put her down for a nursery before she was born. (about 2 months before). I would get on the ofsted website, put your postcode in and see all the nurseries near where you live. They all have reports on them - and nurseries are ranked satisfactory, good or very good. I would not advise commuting in with your babe, which is what i do. If you are ever sick, it basically means you have got to go into work and drop yr babe off and then come home. best choose a nursery close to home. Also Ofsted is not the whole story - I would definitely go and visit about three nurseries and ask to watch what they do. See if babies are held when they are given their milk, if babies get good and loving eye contact, that sort of thing, what the staff turnover is (my baby has had four different key workers which i think is poor), and how much they charge if you pick up your babe late (60.00 if 15 mins late for me. . Waiting lists are also a good sign, tho' many nurseries have them now.

link is www.ofsted.gov.uk and click on the word 'parents' on the left hand side of screen. it will then ask for yr postcode and do the work for you (doesn't say what they charge tho'! and at mine you have to put down a 500.00 deposit, pay monthly in advance and give three months notice if you want to leave)

I rely on "gut" feeling a lot. Visit the nursery with your child and see how they treat your child and look at the other children. Do they look happy and confident? I ghave both turned down nurseries where evrything looks like chaos and where the children seems to quiet and just sit around.

1. Do they get fresh air every day?
2. Is it reasonable clean?
3. How do they discipline the children?
4. What do they get to eat? Ask to see menu
5. What kinds of activites are on offer.

Good luck!

When to apply depends on where you live. Having read online that many people book up before they give birth, I dutifully rang round all the nurseries before I popped, got laughed at and told to call back when the baby had been born! (Although I wasn't intending to use a nursery until my child was 5 months, and ended up not going until almost a year!). Where I live, it is typical to start thinking about it about 2 months before you go back to work... so I'd say phone up a couple of nurseries and ask them when you should start thinking about it!

As for your second question, I think a really important determining factor will depend upon what you will be using the child care for. I only send my dd to nursery for 12 hours a week (three nornings) and so I wanted her to have lots of different experiences at nursery - things I wouldn't be doing with her, the time I spend at home... so I've chosen a nursery where she does lots of visits, tomato ketchup play etc etc... it is very activity led. Not sure I would have chosen that if she had been going to nursery full time (might have been a bit much) but I think I would have put more importance on issues such as sleep (own cots etc), food (quality of), loving environment, stress free environment etc. As my child doesn't really sleep at nursery, or eat much food there, they weren't important issues to me. I do have a very anal list of questions that I asked when my DD went to nursery. I'll post them up for you, if I can find them!

Good luck with the search... and I think when you go to visit you'll just know in the end!

Elf, I think you need to visit as many as possible & as soon as possible. You'll be able to dismiss many of them straightaway just on "gut" instinct. There were several nurseries (& one childminder) that I visited & there was no way I would be prepared to leave my child under their care, or in some cases I just found their routines etc too inflexible & regimented. The one my dd is currently at had about a 3 month waiting list because it was quite popular. I think you also have to be prepared for the fact that, no matter how well you research them, you might still get it wrong. I did with dd's first nursery & withdrew her after about 6 months as I was quite unhappy with it - the reality was quite different to my "tour"