Which nursery would you pick?

[PuppyDogTails]

I'm in a real quandary (DS will be almost 12 months when he starts):

Nursery 1
Been for a couple of visits, kids seem happy and active, environment seems fine.
Open 8-6 which is fine for me dropping off DS
Manager seemed a little 'odd', not very warm
DS would be the youngest in the 12-24 month room.

Nursery 2
Main problem - nursery not yet open so I can't see how the kids and adults interact
Open 7-7 which is useful if DP has to do the drop, he won't be late for work
Manager seems very nice and chatty
DS would be one of the oldest in the birth-18 months room.

Other than that there's nothing between them, both of them are the same size. I can't decide though whether

1. I should avoid a nursery that I haven't seen in operation
2. Whether he would be better in a baby room or a toddler room

I really don't want to have to move him once he's in a nursery, I don't want to unsettle him twice.

What's your gut feeling?

Should add, Ofsted has nursery 1 as best rated in the area, new one hasn't been inspected yet.

Neither i'd go for a childminder (but I'm a childminder and a bit biased )

Personally I feel children under 3 are better suited to homely enviroment with 1 carer and learn a lot from mixing with children of different age groups (with a chilminder he would be one of the youngest if not the youngest for a while depending on the ages of the children she already has)

Fwiw I used a nursery for dd1 when she was nearly 3 and I didn't get on with the manager and I hated sending her there for that reason alone (There were no local cm's with spaces and I had no car so it was that nursery or don't work) I had a cm'er before that, before we moved house and she was brilliant, now I'm a childminder myself and I think we do have lots of advantages.#

What's your gut feeling? I think instinct plays a massive part in parenting our children, if you don't get a fab vibe from either i'd start the search again even if you don't choose a childminder

other bonus point is that with a childminder he can stay with them until he is old enough not to need childcare if you choose someone who is planning on doing it long term.

I've recently taken on a baby and both me and his mum are hoping he will stay for a very long time, I'm planning on doing this for at least 15 years.

hi puppy how you doing?

I'd go for number 1, go there again once or twice before making a decision, manager may have been feeling a bit rubbish or had a bad day, she might be lovely next time.

I rate nurseries. It is impossible to compare these 2, becasue obviously no 2 is not yet open, so we have nothing to go on. Do you have a good gut feeling bout 1 ?

I would go for #1 because

1. you can't assess nursery 2 as it isn't open
2. when nursery 2 does open there is likely to be a 6-12m+ transitional period until all of the 'rooms/age groups' are set up as intended to be (having experienced this). There will also be a period of staffing flux as the nursery goes thru a period of recruitment and shuffling of staff/keyworkers as the team gets built up.
3. If #1 is assessed best in area it must be v good anyway and it would take a lot for #2 to beat it - although obv. what you think is as important if not more important as what ofsted think anyway 4)He is going to be the youngest in a given group at some point in his nursery career. In fact I think it is better to be amongst teh youngest. He will learn so much from the older ones quicker and if he is amongst the oldest he may be stifled by the fact that the activities/requirements are too 'babyish' for him - especially as it is a birth -18m room. You consider what he was doing 6m ago and it is a world away from his current developmental abilities.

IF when #2 opens and you can it far exceeds what #1 offers then consider moving him. If he is settled and they are equivalent and you are happy stay as you are.

Hi Flowery, things are going well thanks. I'm actually looking forward to work now that I have it sorted.

LMG I am a bit biased against childminders I'm afraid because I'll be really stuck if the c/m is ill or on holiday, I have no family locally who can help out.

I think you are all right, the only real advantage of number 2 is the extended hours and it's highly unlikely that we'll ever really need to use them. I also feel slightly nervous that they don't have their team in place. Number 1 has been run by the same woman for 30 years, she must know what she's doing by now! The toddler room of number 1 is at the front of the building so I peer through the window every now and then, they always seem to be doing interesting things. They were painting last time >.

Just to clarify my comments about having a team in place.....

My DTDs started at a nursery 3m after it opened. It was a large nursery with a capacity of about 70 children divided into about 6 age based rooms.

When DTDs started they should have been in gp3 based on age, but because they only had about 30 children at that stage they only had 1/2 the rooms open (e.g. 2, 4 & 6), so DTDs were physically located in room 4, and were in a mixed age group of room 3+4 children. At this stage they had enough staff to work in 3 rooms - thats all they needed at that stage. Over the next 6-9m or so the other rooms gradually opened as they gained more clients, and employed more staff as appropriate.

We did notice that as they opened a coupleof rooms there was a significant staffing shuffle a couple of times. There shouldn't be any disruption associated with that and DTDs didn't notice really as once they were due to move to gp4 anyway (so would have experienced change). However I can imagine that if your child doesn't like change this could be a potential issue and unsettling time for him.

Depends entirely on the set up of the nursery of course, and how many children/staff they have on their books at teh time your child starts. I was just putting forward an issue which you may not have thought about.

OTOH if nursery #2 is the Fabulous KatyMac's eco nursery I may reconsider my recommendation

Nursary 1 and if after a while you think its the wrong place then number 2 would have been open and ofsted would have visited ect you can always move him.

SMS - you made me cry

Don't be stupid Katy - you big softee

No really. I've had an awful day & I was feeling so low & I opened it & it made me cry

no. 1.

do you get on with teh staff in the 12-24 month room?

he won't be the youngest for long!

if hte manager isnot directly caring for the kids it is more importatn that she is efficient and a good manager.