When to apply?

[Thatyoungmum]

Hey everyone my DS is 18 months and at 2 years old I wanna get him into a nursery. He needs socialising with other kids his age and I think he would really benefit from it.
So my question is- when should I sign him up,is there going to be a long waiting list?
Also I wanna know what do I look for in a nursery. Obviously I want to know my DS is looked after and is having fun, you hear horror stories of kids being neglected e.t.c. Any advice?

I've just been through this process myself, it really depends on your area and demand. My friend half an hour drive away couldn't get into any nursery's as all fully booked whereas in my area they all had availability. I would contact all your local nursery's and ask for a visit. It's good to look around as many as possible to get a feel for the places and you'll find you'll learn what you want in a nursery and what you don't like etc. I wanted a place that had a lot of space and different rooms so my DS wouldn't get bored and a large outdoor space. I googled what to look for in a nursery and made a long list which helped when looking round them and asking questions. Good luck

You need to ask the nursery.

My dd nursery has an 18 month waiting list, others only have 6 months

It depends on where you are and what setting. Most private day nurseries and childminders around me have a long waiting list of full term to a whole year whereas the school nursery classes don’t have much of a waiting list.

For my son to start at a nursery school class in the January term next year we only applied in September this year as we moved to the local area at that point. Still waiting now a month later for the forms which are due to be posted soon but I rang this morning and he is definitely going in January.

For the previous nursery class at a different school that he’s currently at and due to be moving from, we applied for that in June/July for a start in the January term as they only had four 2yr old places.

Now.

Our preferred nursery had people on the waitlist since pregnancy.

Always go for taster sessions or take your child to visit them with you to get a feel of how they will settle in. When we were looking around last year we visited a few different places and we could tell where he liked the best. Also it gives you a decent gauge on what the staff are like with them too. We went to one and 3 months later it had to be shut down. Plus they focused more on the older children 3-4’s than the 2yr olds and I knew I needed more for my son, I wanted someone that was going to work on his speech vs just letting him play with the other children for the whole time. This is why we chose a school with a nursery because they had key workers who did one to one to develop his speech through different ways.