Childminder V Nursery

[runikka]

Hi there

I dont know whether you can help me at all. Our little boy currently goes to nursery but is very unsettled there at times, getting upset when we leave him and sometimes continuing to be very clingy to the minders there. We feel that he might fare better with a childminder as he'd have a constant in who cares for him but would still gain independence from us and meet other children. Has anyone changed from a nursery for similar reasons and did a childminder help? Or has anyone used both types of childcare and found one to be better than the other?

Many thanks

Hi, we use our wonderful childminder from 7 months through to 2 and a halfish and then nursery for dd. We'll do the same for ds. I feel that they get one to one when they're little ie consistent and loving person and then can move to nursery when they need a bit more interaction. Our childminder takes them to some groups too so I think it's the best of all worlds. Others I know have great experiences of nursery from early on. You have to go with your gut instinct and do as much research as you can.
Good luck.

did i not post on this thread?? [puzzled]

anyway I meant to say i really like childminders up until about 2.5 then nursery

I always used a nursery for DD, and it was definitely the right choice for us. DD thrived and loved her time at nursery, even from being very small. Luckily we never had the crying phase.

How long has your little one been going to the nursery? Has he got better when leaving at all? How long does it take him to calm down after you leave?

Hi

Many thanks for your replies. He has been okay on occasions but is generally sensitive to change and the nursery has increased in size quite a bit. He has been attending for six months and on average takes about 1/4 hour to settle down. However, our decision to look into childminders were prompted by leaving him for a four hour session to be told he had been upset for the duration. We just felt it not right that he should be left in a state that long and that maybe we should have been phoned to make the decision to bring him home or not? We are really stumped at what to do for the best as we have a baby girl as well who will definitely be going to the childminder. Since looking into childminders we told the nursery of our decision and they have done their upmost to make him happier there hence dilemma!

Sorry, forgot to say I also posted on childminder/aupairs discussion as well hence "deja vu"

Best Wishes
Kirsty