Nursery vs childminder

[Anabelle80]

I am shortly going back to work and have the dilema of putting my 6 month old with a nursery or childminder.
I have had issues with both with my first child and struggling to decide the best action to take.
With the nursery I sent her to (trial only) I over heard the staff saying to a crying baby 'oh shut up will you' so I left and never returned. Took her then down the childminder route, which seemed great at first, but then cracks where appearing such as anytime of the day I picked her up all the other children where in high chairs in front of the tv. And never went out anywhere or did crafts etc, which was what I was told was why her prices where high In comparison to others in the area to cover this.
With nurserys you do get the stability of holiday being covered etc, but it's a daunting thought with any stranger taking care of your child. So how do you decide the best route and ensure you pick the right one?

There is no "one size fits all" answer when it comes to childcare, visit several nurseries/ childminders and follow your instinct. There are going to be godd ones and bad ones in either setting. I personaly prefer a nursery but everyones opinion on the mater is going to be different.

Agree you need to follow your instincts. We went for a nursery because it was only 2 days per week. Pfb was a fairly tricky customer - she didn't sleep and had lots of energy. We wanted the staff to be able to pass her on to someone else.

We might have gone for a CM if it had been 4-5 days as then we would have wanted a substitute parent figure and they wouldn't have been in a nursery for days at a time and would have a more varied childhood with trips to town, park etc.

My job changed after 2 yrs and no longer needed it. You don't say how old/ what happens with older child but one of the nice things about a CM is that older dc can still go with them so they see them after school/ in holidays. I have subsequently seen some lovely CM who I would happily leave a child with, and a few whom I would not.

I prefer nurseries, but so much of it is individual choice. We did have a lovely CM once though.

We chose nursery, as ours was open all year apart from Christmas and new year, we chose when we took holidays rather than planning ours round when the childminder wanted to be off. Better hours for shift workers. We are lucky with the high quality care on offer in our area.

There are pros and cons for both.
With the horror stories you hear I opted for nursery until children were old enough to be able to speak well enough to be able to answer about their day.

I figured it is harder for things untoward to go unnoticed in a nursery as there are more people involved where a childminder is alone.

I needn't have worried, I found an absolutely amazing childminder who has become one of my close friends. Feel very lucky to have found her and to have her in my life

The nursery I ended up going to when children were small was one I hadn't actually found and booked an appointment for, we were driving past so.I went in to rewuest an appointment for a tour. Lady said "why don't you just come round now if you are free." Showed me they don't have anything to hide and are happy to let parents see what is going on whenever.

Just go with your gut instinct and read reviews as well :)

I initially wanted a childminder, and went to see quite a few in my area. I just didn't gel with any, and found that most had large numbers of kids (which I hadn't expected). I also had same concerns with TV on a lot etc. I saw a few nurseries too, and the one I went with had the worst ofsted report! The baby room had only 5-8 babies and 3-5staff at all times. I popped in at a funny time and asked for a viewing, and it was no problem. There was a 12month old being cuddled to sleep and all the children seemed really happy. It's turned out to be a great place, suits DD well. She is happy going in, happy being collected, eats lots there and goes on outings. She is very attached to the staff. And it was upgraded from needs improvement to outstanding by ofsted not long after.

As most of the posters seem to be pro nursery just an alternative for my ds a childminder was the best solution. He was/is quite clingy and made a really good bond to his childminder. When he first started if he wouldn't settle in cot for sleep she would take him for a walk like I would have. They spend time every day going to baby groups and soft play which ds loves. He gets lots of attention and cuddles and I get lots of photo updates through the day. For us it is definitely a great option whilst he is so little. When meeting see how the other children are and how childminder interacts with them, I also had worked at a lot of nurseries as a student which put me off that option

Thank you all for your responses. My oldest child will be at nursery, so no longer needs childcare. So it is just for the little one. when looking for childcare for my oldest child i visited a lot of childminders, but scrapped the idea of nurseries after what happened. I also found with the childminder because she was mixing with older children as well, she started to get a little nasty hitting etc. it's so hard because you find somewhere think its good, then when you have issues you are worried of taking your child out and unsettling them? So it becomes really difficult. Also us to annoy me that the childminder is self employed but has terms like they are employed by you? Such as paid holidays and basically telling me not to bring my little one when their child was sick, but not refunding?
You just want your child to be happy and cared for really well don't you and the price does not always dictate the standard, probably best to get word of mouth from other parents in the area?

Is there any possibility you could do a nanny share?

(posted too soon) went back to work, so I was really panicking. The nursery I chose had a breastfeeding counsellor as the head of the baby room so she was fantastic at talking me through how they would manage and reassuring me. So it suited us, but wouldn't be right for everyone!

If you don't feel comfortable with a childcare provision, look else where.
A friend of mine has a student who was looking for babysitting type job for £8 p/hour, you could get cheaper outside of London. She doesn't have any formal experience but is fantastic with her LO, and I have observed her many times in action.

I do a mix of CM and nursery, 2 days at each. But then DD is with the best childminder I could find and at the best nursery in the area.

Makes a huge difference.