How many nurseries did you look around?

[CreamRose]

Hi, my baby will be starting nursery full time so it’s important to me. How many did you look at before making a decision? And what sort of things did you look for?

Do you have a local fb page you can ask on?

We asked for recommendations and they were overwhelmingly positive for one particular nursery. We liked it because it had a nice family feel to it and a low staff turn over because 3 of them were family.

I looked at 2, had 3 lined up, but the 3rd had to cancel, we went with the first one I viewed. Took dh for a 2nd viewing and he didn't even want to see the other one or reschedule the 3rd. Ds has been there a year now bar the shut down last year.

I'd suggest narrowing it down to nurseries close to work (in case you need to get to baby quickly) and look for reviews online/ask on a local parent toddler Facebook page, they usually are really helpful, especially when you tell them where/what nurseries you're looking at.

Good luck

Don't forget to look at ofsted reports,

BUT

A good report doesn't necessarily mean they're good. However, a bad report usually means they're pretty bad. And sometimes they're so bad they shut down so the owner opens a ""new"" nursery in exactly the same place.

4, of which three were really nice and we chose mostly based on convenience.

Unfortunately the nursery went down hill after a few years, so we had to look at other options. That time I looked at one place and liked it a much that we signed upstraight away. However that time we knew exactly what we were looking for and had our old nursery for comparison.

I looked at 20 different ones - I just didn't like them all and went with a childminder instead

Two, the one I actually wanted to use and visit didn’t reply to my emails or phone calls so I gave up and visited a childminder who has been perfect.

Thanks. Nursery is preferable to a childminder as we have absolutely no backup so if the childminder was unwell or on holiday we’d be stuck.

One. It was the only nursery local to me so I went with it: it was perfect.

When I had toddlers starting nursery part time at age 2-2.5, I looked at three or four settings but for DC3 who started nursery full time as a baby, I think I looked at 7 or 8. Babies can’t tell you anything verbally so I think you have to feel really comfortable with your choice.

Compare as many as you need to to feel comfortable.

I am a childminder and I would recommend to look at at least 2 so you can compare, I would also think about location close to work or close to home, I find people choose me as I am close to there home so if they have a day off their child still comes to me and they don’t have to travel across town etc just for childcare.

Four. The only three options in the town where we live and one close to my work for comparison.

Firstly we looked to check they had the basics covered: all of the fundamentals on food, sleep, following EYFS, outdoor space, size of rooms, resources, first school, trips etc.

Then more important were the staff - the ratios they used, the fact they have their own bank staff who get to know the children and don't use random agency staff when they need cover, how the staff engaged with the children.

And finally there were some practical considerations in terms of car parking for drop off/pick up and traffic to each location.