Nursery or Childminder?

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Sending my first DC (DS aged 9 months) to childcare and have worked out our finances etc and can afford a nursery or a childminder which is great.

I just wondered, Is there either that’s better? With DS not having any siblings I’m wanting him to interact with other children and be stimulated and interested in different things. I don’t want him to be too used to being on his own anymore.

I know both providers follow the early years framework but I wonder, Will he get the same level of learning and stimulation from both?

As in, even though the finance isn’t an issue, is it worth spending the extra £40-£50 a week on a nursery if he can get just the same from a childminder?

Hope what I’m asking makes sense! Thanks in advance for your replies xx

We went with a nursery. I was much more comfortable knowing there was more than one set of hands there, so she was never left in a dangerous situation or left to cry herself to sleep or not given the attention I expected her to have. Childminders obviously only have themselves, so if two babies need to nap at the same time, one realistically might have to be left to cry if they are tending to the other, never mind what all the other children are doing while that's happening. Mine started at 9 months as well and didn't sleep well at all there the first few months. Someone literally sat and rocked her and held her for every nap for the first month or so until she was more settled and happy to sleep on her own. They could do that because they had 6 other staff there to help.

We also really liked the resources that a nursery had. Ours had a forest school, a mud kitchen, did a Christmas play every year, other special events, etc. They had a huge outside space with two different play gardens. I also liked knowing where she was. If we needed to pick her up a bit early for an appt or something, I liked knowing she was just down the road, rather than having to track her to some group the childminder had gone to like 30 minutes away.

Obviously, the reliability thing was also huge. We needed someone we could depend on. I have friends who have had all sorts of issues with childminders being sick or cancelling on them. We never once missed a day of nursery in 4 years because the nursery didn't have enough staff.

Babies are left to cry sometimes in nursery too, the staff only have one pair of hands and 3 babies to care for.

Having worked in nursery baby rooms, I would always choose a good childminder at least til 2.
I think that attachment bond and care is so vital and I like that they are out and about every day.

From 2-3 children benefit more from lots of activities and having other children to play with. Under 2 its the relationship with 1 adult carer that matters.

I think good childminders are probably worth their weight in gold but I would worry about illness which is rarely an issue in a well-staffed nursery. Also our nursery is able to be far more flexible than a childminder ever could be eg we can switch days etc no problem.

Also bear in mind a childminder will have set holidays- again a non-issue at a nursery.

I also like the fact that at Nursery there are several grownups looking after your kid- they are free to “bond” with someone if they want to but if there are one or two you’re not that keen on it’s not an issue.
I personally prefer to leave my kids with a team of ladies, the kid might like a childminder a bit too much

If he's going full time - consider a mix of both. When mine were that age they did 2 days nursery and 3 days childminder which worked really well and gave a nice varied mix of activity.

You will be in a much better position to decide once you have visited some childminders and nurseries, I just got a good feeling about the ones I chose!

Both mine went to nursery (at 12 months and 18 months respectively) because 1) during my mat leave I had been attending playgroups, parks etc and been horrified by the ‘care’ provided by some childminders and the fact that baby DS wouldn’t be able to tell me about it, felt more comfortable leaving him in a setting with several adults and supervision of care staff and 2) I loved one of our local nurseries, fab long serving staff, nice key worker, huge garden and toys, small ‘rooms’ etc. Never got that feeling about any other local nursery or childminder.

From another perspective.. I’m 28, I still visit my childhood childminder regularly, she and her whole family were a big part in my wedding. I genuinely credit her with getting me through some of the rough tween years!

I went to her full time from 6 months until I was a teenager, her children are like my siblings and her family are like an extension to my own! I’m also so incredibly close to my own mum! Best of both.
Won’t get that with a nursery.

My opinion was that a brilliant childminder would be better than any nursery, at that age, but how was I going to find a brillian

Oops... brilliant childminder. I’ve also witnessed some less than perfect behaviour by childminder and whilst not all staff who work in nurseries will be amazing, I like to think there’s enough good to up the standards.

DS1 started in a nursery and I moved him as I thought I could be better - I was right, and his second nursery was lovely. Sadly it wanted a thwacking deposit for DS2 (DS1 was at school by then) so I found somewhere else for him, and that’s also been lovely.

In my heart of hearts, I think an under 2 is better in a one to one situation, and not in a roomful of babies, BUT for me the reliability of a nursery won.

I personally prefer to leave my kids with a team of ladies, the kid might like a childminder a bit too much

Not getting at you specifically but I hear this a lot.
There is no way a child is going to think that the CM is a "mum replacement". It seems paranoid to think this. And actually slightly odd.

It is much better for children to have a very small number of adults they are attached to and comfortable staying with (2 parents, CM, GP) - a larger number is not good for a child's development.

Babies can be left to cry in nurseries. It's very naïve to think that they are not.

There are good nurseries and not so good ones, and I have seen nurseries where the staff are 'supervising' children instead of playing and interacting with them. They just chat to each other basically. Also, most nurseries will be in age groups, so under 1, walking up to 2 years old, 3+. Your baby will be with other babies most of the time, for some this is seen as an advantage, but in a childminder setting children of all ages will play together. This can also be a very positive thing.

Ratios have to be the same anyway so one childminder will never have more than 3 children under 5 at any time. Nursery has the same ratio but there can be loads of babies and staff (mine had 15 babies - they were left to cry themselves to sleep. In the 4 settling in session we went to there was often one member of staff trying to get 5 babies to sleep)

Honestly OP I didn’t want a childminder Initially either. Then I met her. I think you just know, you’ll feel better when you’ve done your visits I think

My older DD started with a CM who was lovely but I had an issue with her being sick/taking holiday as it completely threw my work life (no family near me). Moved her to nursery when she was 2 & lived it. Wondered if I should’ve even bothered with the CM? So for DD2 I started with nursery, only to have her fall ill every week (every single week!!) in the first 3 months even though she was going only part time. Couldn’t cope with seeing her so unwell so moved to a CM - luckily found one where there were 2 of them operating together so no joint holidays or sick days plus more children (6) to interact with. Moved to a nursery when she was 2.5 and loved it. If I had my time again I’d start with a CM and move to nursery around 2-2-5 during summer months when they are less likely to catch bugs and hence settle better. I visited around 20-30 before I found THE ONE..you’ll know when you find her!

We have gone for a mix of both. I have found nursery provides better interaction with children his own age which has helped him developmentally. Childminders have restrictions on children per age so he doesn’t get that there. Nursery also do a lot of messy okay, exploring outside, they have a veg patch etc. The day he spends with the childminder is more homely. He gets a lot more 1 on 1 attention and she takes him to a playgroup or to a play centre it probably closer to what I would do with him if I still worked part time. I think at 9 months they need a blend. Nursery is intense it’s very tiring and full on and most children I know don’t nap so we’ll at nursery too so the Nic works for us. How many days will your little one be in childcare?

Frazzled2207 .....I'm glad you said you were worried you LO would bond too much with a child-minder, I do think this is a fear for many mums which is a real shame for the development of a baby (I do get the if I cant be there I don't want my LO t love someone else). In reality baby doesn't love you less and even with securely attached confident children they love it when mummy comes (they may not want to go home but they want mummy to stay). Research shows that children with a close bond to a carer are more confident learners who settle into new situations well, the EYFS tries to support this by the Key worker idea. Unfortunately it is rare in a nursery for this to be a real bond and not just a division of paperwork.

Child-minder settings can have more than one adult (not that numerous adults have stopped the abuse and deaths that have occurred in recent years in several nurseries).
They can have loads of equipment - set out at mine - home corner, book corner, threading, puzzles, free access paint, glue, drawing, junk box. dressing up, messy tray (today is oats, tea, an star rice with scoops, funnels, pots, scales) free flow outside with balancing bikes, tented play for puzzles, music and craft. We will be going on a nature walk and the children will be taking photos to print cut stick and talk about. 2 other child-minders and 2 assistants will accompany us and then we will do group story and singing.
All the children have a wide circle of friends and are happy to separate from me to ask for support from other cm's just like in a nursery....but they will get lots of individual time to. They all get to sleep as they need to when they need to and how they need to and because we can only have 1 under 1 if baby needs a cuddle they get it now....and they are fed one to one not like in nurseries I've worked at with 4 high chairs 4 bowls and spoons and one worker who gets distracted while talking and feeds the wrong baby.
25 years 2 closed days for funerals and 2 for surgery worked through chemo and got a second outstanding the same year.
Nothing better than the old families visiting now they are 13 and over and sending the next generation to me.

We chose nursery for the reliability - neither dh nor I have much flexibility in when we take holidays, and didn't want to have to take 2 weeks in August to fit in with child minder etc.

We found a lovely nursery near my work which we had a good feel for. Both dcs went there from around 1. It worked for us but now they are in school they are with a cm and that works really well.

It sounds like you have good options locally so I'm sure once you start looking you will get a feel for what's right for you.