Nursery or childminder??

[GeorgiaC11]

My daughter has been in nursery since August 2012, I love the nursery as its always very clean and they have good activities throughout the day, but I worry with all the kids they have she doesn't get enough one to one attention. What are everyone's views on nursery or childminders?? Thankyou!

How is your daughter behaving? Sounds to me like you have a gut instinct about this. Usually these are right. If your daughter is under-3, I would be tempted to use more one-on-one or one-on-two, less institutionalised care. Could you ask one of the workers that your daughter has bonded with to nanny for you?

Are you unhappy with the actual nursery, or just the ratios?? I went through this with my second - and looked at moving him from nursery to childminder. I actually went and looked round another nursery and moved him as it was/is a better environment for him. More caring, more personal, and he's really happy. Can you talk to other Mums/Dads at nursery? Look round nurseries/child minders and see how you feel. As long as the staff are good then nursery ratips should be fine.
Good luck!

I agree with waddamess - to me it's more about the age of the child. Pre-schoolers generally benefit from being part of a group, and a kind of halfway house between home and school, but tiny babies I was always glad mine went to CMs. Much more of a home from home environment.
However you only have the choice of the care that is available to you locally, with spaces when you need them, so it's not about comparing all CMs vs all Nurseries, it's about comparing what is actually available to you and seeing what you feel when you go there and chat to them.

I actually have put our DD in nursery for only one day a week to make sure she's getting enough socialisation. If your DD is going full time then i understand your concern. I would look at another nursery with less children or a childminder/au pair/nanny share who will take her to lots of activities (play groups, swimming, story time at the library, local parks etc) so that she has the best of both worlds. This is what i will be doing when i return to work.

Thankyou for your all your advice, I'm considering just changing nurseries now I think as I also believe she really benefits from being around a lot of other children. And I think your right waddamess it is a gut instinct, can really tell the difference in her behaviour from the days she spends at nursery. The place seems lovely at first glimpse but I'm really questioning the care she's receiving. Just confusing as she doesn't seem unhappy there.