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Nurseries

Find nursery advice from other Mumsnetters on our Nursery forum. For more guidance on early years development, sign up for Mumsnet Ages & Stages emails.

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Original poster

Pros and cons of using a childminder

31 replies

LindsayS79 · 17/01/2014 23:02

Hi all
I have a 6 month old DD and I need to start thinking about childcare once I go back to work

I've always just assumed I would look at nurseries for her, but a friend suggested looking for a childminder. I'm not quite sure why I've never considered this as an option, so I'm looking for more info on the benefits of using a childminder.

Is anyone kind enough to give me the pros and cons of using one? And where I'm best to do research on the suitability of individuals?

Thanks

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HSMMaCM · 18/01/2014 07:29

Pros

Same person can care for your child from birth to 16
lower ratios
home environment
days out In local community

Cons

sick and holiday cover

I'm sure there's more of both. Get a list of registered CMs from your local authority. Visit CMs and nurseries and see what your gut instinct tells you.

What is important to you? Outdoor space? Qualifications? Continuity of care? Experience?

BobPatSamandIgglePiggle · 18/01/2014 07:32

DS goes to nursery - i worried that if a childminder was sick we'd be stuck - nursery get agency staff in if they're short.

I also worried that he'd just get dragged around in his buggy to watch older children doing their activities

2014newme · 18/01/2014 07:38

My childminder has been sick or her kids have several times and often get no notice I.e rings in the morning to say sick. It his is for after school pick ups. I didn't use childminder for that reason I used nursery when mine were small. Nursery also they are fully dedicated to entertaining your child all day. Childminders are also cooking, going shopping, cleaning house etc. also get to develop relationships with large group of other children at nursery and you get to know the parents. They do forest school, have theatre groups in, etc etc

Judyandherdreamofhorses · 18/01/2014 07:40

We had a brilliant childminder for dd. She worked with a few assistants so had a sort of nursery set up in her house. There were always lots of lovely activities and dd was beautifully cared for and her individual quirks were taken into account.

We now have a nanny as DS is only 1 and DD needs school drop off etc. This is also great and he gets lots of individual attention as well as playing with family and friends.

Judyandherdreamofhorses · 18/01/2014 07:41

Our childminder certainly never went shopping or did the cleaning. I wouldn't have minded if she had, but she was far too busy with the children! Very professional and brilliant at her job.

fivepies · 18/01/2014 07:49

We hoped to send DD2 to a childminder. Found a great local childminder who we really liked, got days etc booked, deposit paid, all months in advance. Then two days before we were due to start settling in she emailed to say she couldn't take DD2. Cue massive panic, desperate search for nursery place in an area where good nursery places are like gold dust. Very distressing.
I'm sure that most childminders are professional and wouldn't do this. Our experience highlighted for us how childminders can be less reliable than nurseries. We also like that DD2 is now spending more time with babies her own age which she needs.

Quenelle · 18/01/2014 07:51

Our CM is part of a village CM network. They meet at each other's houses once a week and all the charges have been playing together for years now. Four or five of them started school together last September. They are also able to share resources and cover each other's sick days or holidays.

annieorangutan · 18/01/2014 07:55

I prefer nurseries as they are always there for you, no sickness, more pairs of hands etc.

I have one at childminder as a temporary thing but I like dd to have naps early but its inconvienient to the childminders schedule as they are out in the morning and she has others, although she tries her best, whereas in nursery they will do absolutely anything you want.

blackandwhiteandredallover · 18/01/2014 07:58

We had one childminder who was amazing- she kept chickens and the kids helped her collect the eggs, she had membership to all the local attractions so took them to the zoo, local petting farm, soft play etc. She started DD on phonics when she showed an interest. She was like part of the family and we are still in touch now.

We moved and had to find someone else- she was nice enough but DD seemed to spend an awful lot of time watching peppa pig and going to tesco.

dannydyerismydad · 18/01/2014 08:00

As a SAHM, I see lots of local children out and about with their childminders and nursery staff. I used to think I would send DS to a local nursery if I went back to work, but without exception, all the local nursery staff seem bored, disinterested and only wanting to chat to each other when they are out and about (of course they may be very different when in the nursery setting).

The childminders take their children to the same mother and toddler groups that the local mums go to. On the whole they are much more engaged and responsive to the children's needs and I've been really impressed with what I've seen.

I really recommend you draw up a short list of nurseries and childminders to visit, find out where they take the children on regular outings (parks, libraries, children's centres) and then drop in and do some covert observations.

BikeRunSki · 18/01/2014 08:01

With nurseries you go on holiday when you choose.
With CMs you go on holiday when they do. If they have their own school age children, or many school pick up/drop offs, they'll probably go on hols during school holidays.

Figster · 18/01/2014 08:03

It's funny as I never considered a nursery too impersonal, only play with kids their own age, too rigid in terms of pick up and drop, more expensive.

My cm is amazing she feeds him lunch and dinner, drops him off, he has children of all ages to play with both at hers and with other cms. They go to soft play, local farms, outside play areas, they've been to cinema, on trains, sure start centre for activities all for £3.75p/h. She and her family love DS and he loves them.

In almost 2yrs she's never let us down and only takes 2wks hol a year when her husband is off (apart from Xmas) when he goes to another cm which she arranges.

We might be lucky but I would go cm everytime.

blackandwhiteandredallover · 18/01/2014 08:04

Oh, and as for where to find one, the coumcil website should have a list of registered childminders. Word of mouth is always a good way too.

barleysugar · 18/01/2014 08:06

It's essentially home from home care, which I like. You get a close bond with a good childminder, and so do your children,

Some are more structured than others, yes I know of a couple that take the babies shopping everyday, but others do lots of activities and gentle learning.

RegainingUnconsciousness · 18/01/2014 08:10

We have a mixture of CM (majority) and nursery as the cm chooses to have one day off a week to study.

This means that DS gets the benefit of being in a family setting for most of the week, they also go to all kinds of groups, he's visited the local primary schools doing the school run with her older children. He's currently an only, but has the experience of being in a mixed age group.

Our cm rarely has a problem, but if she does because he's already registered at the nursery they can usually accommodate an extra day/afternoon. There he's getting the pre-school elements of similar age group, classroom type routines etc.

It works beautifully for us! I would recommend it.

RegainingUnconsciousness · 18/01/2014 08:13

For info, DS was with cm only part time for a year from 5 months, before he went up to full time and added the nursery day.

RegainingUnconsciousness · 18/01/2014 08:16

You know that saying about it taking a village to raise a baby? That's one of the things I think DS gets from the cm. We're off at work elsewhere, but he visits the library, cafés, the shop, etc and he knows so many local people. When we go out to these same places they all come to say hello! I love that so many people in town know him, I feel like people look out for him. And he wouldn't get that bein in nursery all the time. (Some people might find it weird, though. And granted, it's usually women of grandparent age!)

Chopsypie · 18/01/2014 08:17

I choose a CM as my MIL was one and still is very close to some of her previous charges (she's retired now). I wanted someone more caring and emotionally invested, which I think nurseries sometimes don't offer (agency staff, high staff turnover) although I accept some CM may be like this too.

I'm very happy with ours, she genuinely enjoys being with the kids. She's also part of a small group of CM who do outings etc together and often cover the odd day of sickness. Although both mine and DH work is very flexible so I wasn't overly concerned.

I think it's best to visit and see which you like best, and see what option fits your child best

annieorangutan · 18/01/2014 08:20

It does depend on the nursery. My nursery nurses are like my childrens parents and close as family. I am only doing cm for a couple of months due to a setting up thing but cant wait for it to go back to normal.

Smudge588 · 18/01/2014 08:21

I have a cm and have had a previous one too. I prefer it as DS is in a home environment, mixing with kids of different ages, just as if he had brothers and sisters. My cm does do cooking (not shopping) but so do I and that's part of being in a family. I fell that both our cms really love my DS and that outweighs all the disadvantages of them sometimes being unavailable if sick etc. Also both of mine have taken my DS when he wasn't feeling 100% but not sick and I don't think a nursery would have.

JodieGarberJacob · 18/01/2014 08:25

For us it was institution vs home life and so there was no contest. Even a cm who does a long school run and goes shopping frequently has benefits. Our baby experienced sights, smells and sounds of a normal life and learned to live with the vagaries and squabbles, affection and protection of older 'brothers and sisters'. I would thoroughly recommend a cm but she has to be someone you feel you could trust 100% to care for your child in a way that you would be happy with or could compromise on.

Another thing about CMs is that you know her, at a nursery staff could be changing frequently, have unknown agency sick cover or could basically be youngsters who don't have a calling but are there because it's a job. (Our local one).

Gook luck, hope you find your ideal childcare.

annieorangutan · 18/01/2014 08:26

Pick a nursery where no one ever changes and most staff are lifers. There are also plenty of nurseries that do from 4 months to school together.

Sirzy · 18/01/2014 08:34

There are good and bad of both but for DS when I looked nurseries won hands down for a lot of the reasons mentioned above. But also DS has quite bad asthma and non of the childminders I spoke to were very confident in how they would deal with it, what would happen if he needed to go to hospital etc whereas the nurseries have been great and they hve enough staff whereby when he isn't well one can stay with him for as long as it takes me to get there which isn't really possible for someone working alone.

A lot of comments about not getting to know the staff, things being impersonal in nurseries - in my experience that couldn't be further from the truth!

Cindy34 · 18/01/2014 08:34

Look at both, see what you and your DD prefer.
Look at total cost over a 1 year period, every provider has different terms & conditions so it can be hard to establish full cost without knowing all that is charged for and what is not. Do not assume that if they are closed you do not pay.

Childminders are a home setting, so see it like being part of a family, older siblings (other minded children and CMs own children).
Nurseries vary in size, some are very big, others may be very small.

annieorangutan · 18/01/2014 08:37

Its definitely not true sirzy best thing about nurseries is the family feel as they are the ones bringing up your kids for most of the time.

What is nice about our local nurseries is remembering that some of the same staff looked after all your kids, your cousins, your nieces and nephews and sometimes even your mum or dad.

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