Nursery or childminder

[WorthyOtter]

I'm super anxious about baby starting nursery next month, just hate the thought of being without him. I've had nursery lined up for a while now but I've been thinking that a childminders may be better? Can anyone give me some reassurance on nurseries or some pros and cons for both, and any personal experiences. First time mum and never been away from him :) not sure what my worries are about nursery, I suppose just that there's alot of people and it's all new for him

In my experience the staff at our child nursery are a mix of very experienced staff and of course young people starting out their career. Always very transparent on who is undertaking their training.
They also have a board up with each staff member, their photo and how long they have been at the nursery and some have been there for years.

I think it's a mix of what's available – whatever your natural preferences, better a good nursery than a bad childminder and better a good childminder than a bad nursery – and the individual child. DD2 in particular would not have suited a childminder setting; toddlers find nursery too overwhelming.

We liked the reliability of nursery and that a lot of the time, they'd be doing activities tailored to their ages, but mixing with all ages in the garden, so a bit of both. A childminder is more homely, one consistent caregiver (although a good nursery has fairly stable staffing), but with that comes with some of the compromises of one person catering for a wide range of developmental levels.

Childminders are also 'professionals looking after your kids'.

Childminders are inspected by Ofsted like nurseries. They have to follow the same statutory documents as nurseries and provide a curriculum like nurseries. They have to undergo regular safeguarding, first aid and other training like nurseries. Often a childminder will be more qualified than a lot of junior inexperienced nursery staff.

OP, at the end of the day there are good and bad nurseries and childminders. It is all about visiting lots of settings and seeing which you prefer or have a gut feeling about. Read the Ofsted reports and read parent references for both types of childcare. Ask lots of questions.

It’s funny you say that. My Ofsted registered nanny wasn’t inspected for eight years so they aren’t always. The nursery my kid was at - every two years.

I think the difference between professional childminders and just people looking after children is very different. I’m not saying professional childminders aren’t professional but not all of them are. You are right about the first ones but there are a lot who aren’t registered or follow the requirements. We know all about the requirements and documentation but I also know of childminders as they are sole operated who don’t follow this and won’t ever be found out. It’s up to the parents to check and ask for these things (which a lot will do as workplace child vouchers need this) but not every gets the vouchers and want a better price - so effectively glorified babysitters operate under this guise.

There are some great childminders, but I wasn’t impressed by the ones I’ve seen out and about. Nursery has been great for us. I chose one with absolutely loads of outdoor space. My children have attended three days a week since being a year old and both love it there.

@Rainingalldayonmyhead yes there are some unregistered people looking after children and it is infuriating as it gives all childminders a bad name and makes parents think they are not professional.

Nannies are slightly different as although the can be Ofsted registered they don't get inspected as often as nurseries and childminders.

At the moment it's a 6 year cycle unless there are causes for concern then they may come out more often. Even 6 years is a long time in my opinion as it's easy for both nurseries and childminders to become complacent.

Nurseries would only be inspected every two years if there were complaints or they were requires improvement.

I doubt there are many people childminding without being registered these days as they won't be able to accept any funding.

Ofsted registered nannies are on a different registered, so 10% of them are inspected every year - it's different to childminders and nurseries which are inspected at least every 6 years.

Nannies and childminders are not on the same childcare register and their inspections are very different. For nannies it's a voluntary register, for childminders it's a compulsory register. Cms also have their families dbs checked, can accept government funded hours, have ICO membership, keep registers etc etc

You get the gist!

Childminder-
home environment
smaller number of children
more opportunities for spontaneity
more tailored to individual children
range of ages in the setting

nursery -
closer resemblance to school/preschool
more children/socialising ops
less likely to need to close
range of staff
may have professionals coming in to work with children
larger setting

There is lots of useful information here and different points of view but it sounds like it’s the being apart that’s the thing. It’s a huge step but a natural step for both of you. It will feel horrible at times but your little one will get a lot out of it. You can start to get a bit of your former self back too. Good luck!

In my opinion, young babies don’t need socialising and they will be better off with someone who sees them day and day out.
Childminders will often use local playgroups when they are toddlers so they do provide social aspects too.

My kids did both nursery and childminder and by far the childminder was more suitable for their needs. You do get naturally introverted children who get stressed by nurseries but who thrive in a calm childminder environment.

In general a childminder is better because they provide a home-based service and small children are designed to be in a home setting. They're not really designed for group childcare, it's not in their best interests.

But obviously it depends on the individual nursery and childminder at to what is best. A good nursery is better than a bad childminder. A very small nursery can actually be a more homely environment than a childminder setting where they work with multiple assistants and have loads of kids etc.

If it were me I would start by looking at childminders and if I couldn't find a great one (and couldn't afford a nanny or nanny-share) I'd start looking at nurseries next.

Several classic posts here of the "calling a nanny a childminder" that tends to trigger people! As some previous posters have explained, the law and requirements between the two are quite different.

Anyone can be a nanny, you don't have to be qualified, you don't have to be registered. You are employed by the family you are providing care for, and care for the child in their own home. If you register with Ofsted it's on a voluntary basis, and you are rarely if ever inspected.

Childminders care for young children in the childminder's home - usually from more than one family. They are self-employed and decide their own fees and work arrangements. There are strict registration requirements, with Ofsted or a childminder agency. Your home will be visited first, your family have DBS and social services checks, you are asked about your health and your GP has to give information. You are inspected, and if Ofsted get any complaints about you they could turn up unannounced to check on things.

Nurseries are group childcare for babies on up, run by private individuals companies or organisations from "non-domestic premises". They can be anything from a converted house with a dozen kids to a large purpose-built nursery building operated by a multinational company with dozens or hundreds of nurseries. You can get forest nurseries, ones that offer French and yoga classes for babies, or ones run by local councils. There is a lot of variance and it's worth with all types of childcare talking to or visiting a lot and asking around for experiences and recommendations.

Hi all :)

I am a new user and I haven't read all the comments so please forgive me if I say something someone has already mentioned.

After working in a nursery from the age of 18 - 24 (baring in mind i'm now early 30's), I can say with confidence, childminder is a better option! Seeing the "behind the scenes" of nursery work, would shock you. The staff are underpaid and overworked, the paperwork overtakes how much time you actually spend with the children, staff turnover is quite high as a lot of younger people start and quit as it isn't what they expected, it's massively overpriced for what you actually get.

A childminder has willingly adapted their home to provide a safe and nuturing place for your child/ren to be, they've received all the training (if not more) that a nursery worker would have and they have much smaller numbers.

This all could have changed mind you, but having seen how nurseries operate/the prices vs the care given, childminders are your best bet.

Again, this could have changed, so don't take is as gospel. Just wanted to share my 2 cents being from that background.

K x

We opted for nursery but some friends have had great experiences with childminders. For us nursery made sense with regards the carer being ill or on holiday or even deciding to retire or move away. We don’t have family back up so one of us would always need to take time off, at nursery this is reduced to us only needing to be off when the baby is ill and all being well the nursery itself will be around while we need it! I also feel a bit more comfortable with their being numerous staff around, more pairs of eyes etc both keeping the children safe and in the unlikely event that a staff member was a danger.

The nursery we picked they stay in the baby room until almost 2, then move to toddler room, then pre-school is a separate room again, so the very littles are not being trampled by the older toddlers. Each room has its own outside area, sleep area and dining area.

@Rainingalldayonmyhead childminders absolutely can't work from the child's own home that's a nanny. There are so many more differences than simply 'how they are paid'.

Lots of Nanny's can't accept childcare vouchers etc as a large proportion of nanny's aren't ofsted registered. Some are of course but the registration varies wildly between a cm and a nanny.

To the OP I would visit some and see how you feel about it. I'm a cm and have had so many people leave nurseries and try a cm and even if I do say so myself, they have been over the moon that they've tried and wouldn't have thought of looking prior to their bad experiences at nurseries. For clarity we have to follow the same framework as nurseries and have the same/similar hoops to jump through with regard to ofsted. Children still get the socialisation aspect but with it being a smaller group they come across a smaller germ pool. This builds up their immunity slower so they don't get poorly as much in the early days. With my setting the children are out and about in museums/galleries/parks and meeting the wider community every single day and we get comments every day about how happy and well behaved the children are. The only downside is we would have holidays and (extremely rare) sick days. The fees would be reduced accordingly for this though. Cm fees are generally cheaper and reductions may also be made for your own holidays.
The feedback from parents we've had recently who have left nurseries unhappy is that they don't get to know staff well, sometimes aren't let into the building at all so have no idea what's going on, there aren't regular updates on the child's day (personally I send several photos and updates most days as well as a decent handover chat at the end of the session). Nurseries sometimes don't send any pics or they're few and far between. Obviously not all nurseries are like this, this is just the recent comments I've had from people who have came to me recently (from all different nurseries).

Gut feeling is important so I'd meet a few and ask around for reviews etc.

My experience too. You sound a lovely childminder ☺️

I was a childminder from 2020 to 2022. The amount of work that goes into becoming one makes them professional too! Really wish people would see that! They aren't just glorified baby sitters!

Ive worked in nurseries.
I wouldnt put any child of mine in one unless they were at least 2 . 5

And it would be a small or medium setting - not a huge 1 .

That’s a bit worrying. Can you explain further?

I agree that some nurseries have lots of young staff

I was an Early Years teacher (in schools) for many years and went into a lot of nurseries in that time. I also did a bit of holiday/ supply work in nurseries during a period where I was caring for a terminally ill relative and wasn't able to work full time.

There are some good nurseries, some great ones. But it was very mixed, some are awful. And you can't always tell from the Ofsted reports (I'd say the same for schools on that!) nor what they chose to present to parents. We also had a really horrific story happen in a nursery very local to us (one we'd actually considered when we were still deciding what to do) and that I think pretty much made my mind up for me.

I also had an incredibly clingy Covid baby who I felt needed a bit more of a family feel, home from home type environment - and I was right it worked fantastically for her, she settled so well and she was then ready and super confident for school nursery at 3.

I visited a few childminders, and very much went with gut feeling when I met ours. I did all the necessary checks and asked right questions etc (and as it happened she had also recently been rated Outstanding by Ofsted, but like I say - pinch of salt!) but really I knew within the first ten minutes of meeting her it was the right fit.

I agree there are some dogy childminders out there too, I've heard some stories from fellow parents and also seen a few out and about that have been concerning. There's one I would see at a number of different baby and toddler groups and I did check out her facebook page out of interest because I thought surely she must present differently to parents looking for a provider - but nope, that was as full of glaring red flags as encountering her in person was, and I remain completely baffled that anyone could have met her and willingly handed over their child. I do feel so lucky that we found the right one, and that I had the flexibility to take the only hours she had available and work around that until she had more space. I know not everyone has those options.

Ultimately entrusting your little one to someone else's care is always going to feel a bit scary - once they are there and thriving you get to breathe a sigh of relief that you did the right thing! I would say really think about what's important to you about the kind of care your DC is getting, and make sure you ask those questions and get the answers you need. Like I say, there are fantastic nurseries out there, and amazing childminders too but either way you have to be quite thorough in your research.

For me - the pros of a childminder were that DD got individualised, personal care and attention. She was in a home environment with only one or two other children for the bulk of the day (more before and after school). I've head some parents not like them being on the school run, but I quite liked that she was doing that, as well as getting out and about every day. Our childminder took her to a toddler group, to the soft play, to farms, museums etc as well as just to the post office and normal daily activities. She cooked lovely, healthy home cooked food. She could tailor things more specifically to the few children there on a given day. If DD was a bit under the weather for example they'd have a more chilled out day. She gave lots of cuddles! DD really benefitted from seeing the older children before and after school too, her play really came on and seemed quite advanced for a while, because she was being exposed to that.

There weren't many negatives for us. She wasn't flaky, didn't have time off sick and didn't leave us in the lurch but I understand this is a concern because a childminder is only one person (although some do work in groups/ with an assistant so there are ways round that).

If we have a child
( currently doing ivf )
Im considering them doing 2 days a week with a child minder when they are 1

I used a nursery for my first 2 and was very happy with it, however it was a single owner nursery that got taken over by a chain and I didn’t like the changes. For my third everyone kept saying a childminder was better - more home and from home - so I found one and it was a disaster! I only went back 2 days a week but it seemed that almost every week one of the days there would be a reason why she couldn’t take him - she had a headache, her daughter was ill etc etc. the trouble was as a teacher I could not work from home and so it was a complete nightmare trying to find cover. On about the 4th or 5th time, we ended up having to use an emergency nanny through my husband’s work and I was done. Another lovely nursery my older 2 went to that did wraparound care for school nursery became licensed for 18 months old and he was the first one that age they took. I felt he was much happier there and it was so much more reliable for me.