Choosing a nursery

[sazzerbear]

Sorry if this is an old chestnut - probably been answered many times before! If you have to commute to work, is it best to choose a nursery near work or near home? I know both have their pros/cons. Also, how long should settling in sessions last when you first start going? One final question - how flexible are nurseries on changing your hours week by week or are they pretty rigid? Many TIA!

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For me it was best to choose a nursery which was near home. I work in London and aside from possible greater expense, trying to take a baby on a packed commuter train was enough to put me off regardless of any pros.

I am lucky in that my DH leaves for work at the sameish time as nursery opens so he drops her off and I leave for work over an hour earlier. I negotiated flexible working so I leave work early and am able to collect her around 5pm. If I couldn't do this the latest I could collect would be 6 - the opening and closing times may be a big factor for you.

There has been the additional benefit that when I am ill on one of her nursery days or even take a days leave I don't have to trek all the way to where I work.

I would be interested to hear if others have found the same. I have a friend who chose a nursery near her work and she found it best because she was nearby if needed and could pop in and visit at lunchtime. Personally the thought of leaving DD twice in one day does not really appeal, and I enjoy my 'adult' days where I only have to think about myself.

My DD nursery is inbetween work and home, although work is only a 10 min walk away, so not a problem! I think if I worked further away I would probably be more inclined to choose nursery closer to home.

My DS's nursery is near home - it means either me or DP can pick him up. The only disadvantage is that is closes at 6pm and I finish work at 5.30pm so if I get stuck at work or in traffic I sometimes have to sprint in at 5.59pm and he's the last one there!

IMO near home is the best option.

Commuting with a grumpy baby is hell on earth in my experience so would avoid it at all costs especially as I use public transport that is frequently subject to delays, signal failures etc.

It also means that I have people around to collect her if for any reason I am struggling to get back and when my Mum has the week off she will often go in and collect her and have her for the afternoon.

My DD's nursery often have summer fairs, farm trips etc that are optional for the children to attend on a weekend which are nice to go to from time to time, I certainly wouldn't bother if I had to go in to London to do so.

I guess it depends on where you live, how close to work you are, whether you drive or use train etc.

Oh and settling in sessions for my DD took two weeks and we had no problems at all.

Regarding flexibility of hours, they are flexible in that you can pick up and drop off early or late but you have to pay regardless. For example my DD goes to nursery 4 days per week, so she is booked for 4 full day sessions. She is almost always in nursery for less than that but it's not always the same day so I can't not book the session.

Our nursery does two hour-and-a-half settling in sessions, the first one you stay there and the next one you leave your DC there for some of it. But they will let you have as many as you want to make sure your DC is settled (and you're happy leaving them).

Ours is quite rigid with hours/days though - you can't really change each week as they have to have a certain ratio of carers to children so can't really fit in an extra child on a day they don't normally go.

Brilliant advice, thanks ladies