nursery vs childminder - how do you decide?

[sjcmum]

AAGGHH getting stressed figuring out what childcare to use for my dd. She'll be just about 1 when I start working again part time.

Have found one nursery I like and a childminder who seems good on first meeting.... but I am finding it impossible to know which would be best for my daughter or make a decision.

Any tips, thoughts or advice from anyone on what they think??

I'm biased because I'm a childminder!

Personally I would prefer a good well-organised nursery setting to a childminder.

If you do go for a childminder though, make sure you read the small print and check thoroughly what you are signing up to. You don't want to end up forking out for loss of earnings because your child has given the CM a cold, for example.

i went through this when i went back to work. I'd always been quite adamant that I woul duse a childminder but then when it came down to it i wasn't sure anymore. In the end I chose nursery as i wasn't comfortable about ds spending most of his time away with one individual for attachement issues (more issue for me than him) but also he was a really sociable baby and loved other children and people and decided that a nursery environment would be better for him. I'm glad I did as he's always loved his nursery and thrived in it!! I think you have to think about the type of child your dd is, which environment do you think she'd be more suited to?

Didn't you get a strong feeling one way or another when you visited them, sjc?

I prefer childminder (though have used both) and, contrary to Count, beacause I wanted my very young children to form a comfortable relationship with one person rather than the many and changing nursery staff. Also I preferred a more mature woman and a homely relaxed environment.

Such a personal choice though.

I'm the opposite - I wanted my sons to form an attachment to someone who cared for them in a family environment. So have had a marvellous childminder for 5 years now who is like family to them, as are the group of children she looks after with them. Would recommend this every time!

As the first of my friends to have a baby, we didn't know anyone who could recommend a child minder and the only one we visited was terrifying for too many reasons. Was then that we decided to check out nurseries instead.

Before I get shouted down, REALLY don't have a problem with child minders, we just couldn't get a recommendation from a friend and ultimately leaving our daughter in the care of several complete strangers seemed slightly more assuring that just the one...sounds ridiculous when trying to explain but it made total sense at the time!

IMO a cm is a better choice. They get so much more one to one and will work much more closely with your idea of parenting than a nursery. Most cm take mindees to playgroups and clubs anyway, so they will still be mixing with lots of children.

I have been a nursery nurse for 6 years and just registered as a childminder ,I have worked for three different nurseries and enjoyed every minuet of it.
I personally wouldnt send my daughter to a nursery if it is a large setting. When you have 12+ babies in one room i dont think they get the individual care and attention they need .
I have decided to become a childminder because i like to care for a small group of children give them individual care and build a relationship with the child. But only you can decide whats best for your daughter.

See we were lucky and found a small nursery with very interactive parent/nursery management. Ds was managed to his own routine until it naturally adapted to the main nursery. There was only a max of 6 babies allowed and at that point there were only 4 so he got a lot of care especially as he was the youngest. I also knew that they would always be arranging activities and the day would be solely based around them. Friends had experiences with cm's whereby the babies had just accompanied them on their daily chores whilst the older ones had been at school etc and that also put me off a bit. I think it is a very personal choice and you've got to be happy that it is going to suit your lo.

When your child starts school wouldn't you have to find a childminder then anyway?

If you found one you liked now then you wouldn't have to go through the bother of finding new childcare in 3/4 years time.

Prefer a good childminder myself. I worry about staff turnover at nurseries and the effect on small babies/children. I want/ed my child to form a close consistent attachment to her carer.

I chose a nursery over childminder. DD started at 5 months, stayed there until she was 2.5yo. We then had t move her because of changes in my job and she went to her second nursery until 4.5yo when she started school.

I went with gut instinct both times and fell lucky both times. Never looked back and both nurseries were great, esp the second. Both were smallish settings in nice open buildings with plenty of outdoor space. DD loved it from the start and we never had a moment's separation issue or indeed any complaints on either side.

Would thoroughly recommend it.

I had to make this choice for DS in September whe I started a college course. DS was approx 10months old.

I decided on a childminder straight away becuase I just feel for a child his age the smaller more attentive setting was best. I was lucky enough to find the most fantastic childminder who DS loves.

It really is down to what suits you best and when you find the right setting for your dd you really will just know.

Round here CM don't have any less children per adult in terms of ratio so more one to one wass very unlikely.

I also didn't have any recommendations and I am afraid that I didn't want to leave my baby with just one person I didn't know that well, no matter how many checks they have had. The nursery gave me a little mor epeace of mind I guess. I know some people will have the opposite view on this take though, each to their own.

My 3 DDs all go to nursery. My older 2 are at school and the nursery has a Before & After School Club which is in walking distance of their school so is ideal.

CMs are fine if you have been recommended a good one but I worry about leaving them with just one person. You have to take your holidays when the CM does and what about if the CM is ill? It's bad enough having to take time off when the DDs are ill!

My DH helped with the decision because he was less hormonal & emotional!! Go with your gut feeling.

My childminder has never been ill in 5 years and takes 3 weeks holiday a year. Now the children are at school she continues to take them in the holidays so there's continuity of care there. Yes - it's best to get a recommendation if you can but I don't know why there is this general suspicion that the childminder will somehow secretly not be doing a proper job because they work on their own . Saw a thread earlier where a nursery had been consistently feeding an allergic child cereal that made them ill. So swings and roundabouts, horses for courses etc etc. But I like the flexibility of a childminder as well - if my train is late there's no problem or extra charge. She also takes them when they are ill and need a day off school. Maybe I've just got a paragon but I couldn't be happier with her.

The advantage of a (good) childminder is that you will be getting home-based care, which should be closer to that which a small child would get at home.

I offer individual care to each of my minded children - I really get to know their likes and dislikes, recognise their moods, go out and about, and are really like a huge, big family.

Continuity of care is something which some minders are able to offer, seeing children through babyhood/nursery/school. I have children who are now at secondary school who started with me as babies!

I'd love parents to see that their child bonding with a non-relative could appreciate it as something positive, but I've met people in RL who say the same thing, and I don't know how to change their minds!

I think recommendations and word-of-mouth are obviously an ideal start (for both childminders and nurseries) - I would ask anyone and everyone.

If you do consider using a childminder, ask to speak to current and previous minding parents. Visit more than once, you don't need to decide who to have after one meeting.

Thank you so much everyone - it is really helpful to hear different opinions, even if I still can't decide! The trouble is I can so easily see both sides of the argument... I think next step is to take husband to meet childminder and see what he thinks... and then decide for definite which we are going for nearer the time.

We went with nursery for our three children largely for the same reasons as Hulababy. Most of the childminders I visited looked after so many children of different ages that I couldn't really see how a little baby could fight for her attention in the midst of boisterous older children. I rather go with a nursery where my child was with similar aged children and the toys, activities and routines were tailored to their needs.

Childminder every time, especially for a one year old. The close relationship formed with one main carer (apart from parents obviously!) has been proven to be better emotionally for very young children. As for having older children arouns, babies LOVE them, and vice versa. I have just had an NVQ student doing a placement with me (to compare nursery environment to cm), and she made some very interesting comments. One of which was that the babies and toddlers in the nursery didn't get to go out every day, where as by 9.15, we'd already been out for a walk in our community (school run!).
I know some nurseries to take the children out, but is it really every day, and more than once a day?
As a rule, cms have very little time off sick. I have had about 8 or 10 days I think, in 16 years. And my cm friends have covered those.

Childminder for an under three; they need to feel secure and know who their carer is. A childminder can have no more than three under fives (usually), whereas in a nursery your child could be put in different groups or find that he/she has a different carer every day, due to staff shifts. Also, staff in nurseries tend to move on quickly.

For an over three, I would move to a nursery environment, especially if you can find one with a built in pre-school. After 3, social skills, interaction, independence etc become more important in preparation for school.

But a childminder can take over 3's to playgroup for large group socialisation, pick them up at lunchtime and still have a 'cosy' afternoon. All day institutions come soon enough at rising 5 IMO!

Childminder gets my vote. DS goes (two mornings a week) and it's great because the CM has a son the same age (more or less) so they play, he is in a nurturing home environment and I get to do work from home.

Personal choice.

I had a CM from 7 months old who was fab then she stopped and the other one was well - odd. This was aimed at me, she had a right go at me when I knocked on the door 3 minutes early and said 'sorry i'm a bit early hope its ok' (had pnd at the time too) Lectured me about our contract and as I was saying 'fine i'll wait in the car then' she made me feel really guilty as that wasn't fair on my daughter. Yes we had a contract but its give and take and had helped her out with times on a few occasions - its the way she did it. Also got arsey about payment and sent me a full side letter about it quoting the contract again - phoned her up, asked her why she felt it necessary to give me a letter and she had got it wrong anyway.

After a few months, used a nursery as I felt a bit put off and loved it. I feel it is safer in that you know where they are at ALL times, it is more reliable generally and more structured and they tend to mix with more children.

I think a childminder is good in that they experience the same as you would probably be doing if you were at home but theres the risk of them being out and about and on the road doing school/supermarket runs etc. Plus they are usually cheaper. On the downside they have the upper hand on the terms and conditions.

If you get a good childminder then its fantastic but I personally wouldn't go back to one now, despite the additional cost

We went for a mix of nursery and cm for our dd when I went back to work full time. Really for all the reasons listed below. We wanted her to benefit from a home-from-home environment but also have some chums of her own age to socialise with.

Unfortunately the cm didn't really fulfil her side of the bargain and never really did anything with dd except for the school run. She also kept forgetting to give her a bottle of milk in the afternoon and other details.

So we changed to full time nursery, and are really very happy with it. Sure, its not my ideal but I know that DD is safe, happy and well stimulated.