Childcare

[SweetPeaPods]

I'm in the process of looking at nurseries & childminders for ds for when I go back to work after mat leave. How do you know that's the one? Was it instant? I've been to see 1 nursery and 1 childminder and have a few more visits booked in this week. Will I just know when it's the right one?

Once you see a few - I felt instant relief when I found the "right one", you get a much better idea of what you want for your child. For me I wanted good outside play and strong attachment with carers who care rather than watch iyswim.

I overlooked the jam sandwiches and the portacabin building

Yes, you do tend to know the right one pretty quickly. We loved the first one we saw and after that they were all a disappointment. Luckily we got a place in the one we wanted, but were down on the waiting list 3 months before DS was born. After that it was easy for DS2 as he already had a sibling there.

I would make a shortlist of places based upon the practicalities (location etc). After that it's more about the feel of the place and general atmosphere.

Excellent thanks.
I was sure I wanted a childminder but after the one I saw yesterday I'm really not sure. I just felt that DS would have more interaction and stimulation at nursery, which initially I thought would be be the other way round.

We looked at both nurseries and childminders. Interestingly, I found a bias in opinion towards childminders on Mumsnet and towards nurseries in real life.

I don't think one is better than the other per se - it just depends what is available in your area. We went with a nursery because we found a brilliant one with lovely staff, very low staff turnover, excellent key-worker systems (my DS has the same person looking after him every single day and has already formed an attachment to her), and (most importantly) was full of clearly happy children when we visited. It also had good reviews from friends of friends, and is Ofsted outstanding (which is not the be-all and end-all but is reassuring). He is definitely getting lots of stimulation and interaction!

We met a lovely childminder too who we may well have gone with if this nursery didn't have a place. Ultimately it's about the staff/CM and having confidence that they will look after your child well, and that can be done effectively (or not) in both settings.

Keep going on the visits, have a list of questions, read any reports available online eg Ofsted, ask around for recommendations locally (I got some good tips on the best childcare from asking around at baby groups), and then go with your gut instinct

Just to clarify, my list of what we liked about our nursery is just to explain what our thought processes were, not to big it up And yes we did know straight away. Good luck!

I think you'll know. The right one will tick all (or most) of your boxes and you'll think 'I want my child to go here'.

I was very lucky as I left things a bit late but a local childminder had a late cancellation so I got DS1 in. So, we only saw one childcare option, but we liked her right away, looked round her house, saw her with the kids she was looking after and she was able to do the hours we wanted with flexibility - which was great (I don't drive and rely on public transport, so wanted to know that if I was running late, it would be okay).

My lack of driving ruled out nurseries for me, as we live in big village/small town and at that time there were no nurseries that I could get to easily. One has since opened up, but as DS1 thrived at our childminder I've already booked DS2's place for when my mattie leave ends. She will also be taking DS1 from 8am and dropping him off at school when he starts in August, which is invaluable for us as we both start work early.

Visit all the ones on your shortlist, review and you'll be able to pick fine - in fact you might find the minute you walk out of the door of one, gut instinct will tell you that was the right one. Good luck :-)