Nursery - near work or near home

[crumpetsolo]

I'm in a quandary - I will be commuting about 30 miles to work (45 mins door to door) and have the option of either leaving the children at a nursery in the village where I live meaning it will be pretty tight getting into work for 9 and getting back to pick them up for 6 with my commute OR

taking them with me a bit earlier (and hopefully missing the traffic), dropping them at a nursery 10 mins drive from work (which I think has a better reputation), then picking them up after work and driving home. This will mean a 50 minute drive in the morning and evening for them, but no stress about getting to work/to nursery for drop off and pick up.

Not sure what to do and wondered if anyone had any experience?

Thanks

Near home. You'll be thankful when your off sick and they can still go in.

THey'll probably make friends, who they'll be able to see without an organizational nightmare.

You're probably more likely to change job than move home.

2 hours a day in the car with DC would be a nightmare for all concerned.

Good point re the off sick thing, hadn't thought of that. Yes, I was erring towards the near home nursery, when kids are grumpy in the car it's pretty rubbish.

whichever is the better one. go and look around. talk to the staff. you don't want to have ANY doubts in your mind about the place they are spending so much time.

so whichever is the best nursery for your kids - that's the one they should go it.

if they are both the same, then i would also say near home. they will mix with kids they will probably end up going to school with. and you will have this drop off start - pick up finish problem when they are at school anyway, which is but a short few years away.

I agree with Hetty - plus

• Kids sleeping on commute home then not being ready for bed at a reasonable time.

• If you have another you can still use the one near home when you are on ML.

However, I do know that others will say that there are advantages for the other one - mainly...

• Being nearer the kids in the day in case of illness or accidents.

• Spend time together on the commute.

• Sometimes can visit for lunch etc.

• Easier to arrange a time to speak to the nursery if necessary.

Personally I think the one near home 'wins' though - but each to their own :)

I would also say go with the best nursery since it is where they will spend the longest amount of time.

Also, does your husband work? We both commuted when the children first went to nursery, but in opposite directions, so one of us did the drop off (and the other went into work early) and then the other one collected (whilst the other worked late). It therefore had to be "in the middle" which was near home. A few years into it, my husband now works quite close to home so he still does the drop off and I collect, but if there is an emergency, he can be there quickly. I also agree that it makes sense for them to go to a local nursery so they can meet children that they will ultimately go to school with.

In our case, we also had a time where we moved house but they only had a few months left before starting school so we kept them at the same nursery, despite it being a 25 mile trip from nursery to home. It was OK in the mornings, but coming home was a nightmare - trying to keep them awake at 5.30pm ish after a full day at nursery but knowing if they slept they'd never go to bed!! Sounds insane now but I used to be driving trying to tickle their feet in the back seat to keep them awake - obviously not ideal!!