how do you choose a nursery?

[larena90]

Dd will be 8.5 months when she starts nursery mid May. I've taken her to visit 7 or 8 so far, having had no experience of nurseries they all seemed pretty similar to me.

Based on gut feeling and ease of picking up and dropping off during rush hour I've narrowed it down to 3 and we're going for a second visit with DH.

So what questions should I be asking and what should we be looking for in order to choose between the 3? (I know about the inspection reports and have had a quick look.)

I posted a thread on here prior to my choosing. General consensus was that you get a gut feeling (which I did).

I would say the major points are do they provide nappies, wipes, milk or do you have to supply.
Drop off and Pick up times (if you have to drive is there a chance of traffic delaying you at these times?)
Where do the children sleep?
If staff are off sick how do they cover the absence for child/staff ratios (do they use agency or have there own staff?)
When are they closed for holidays etc?

If you're equally happy with them (friendly staff, happy children) go for the most convenient. DD is on the same business park as DH, 5 minutes from me and every time I'm sprinting in at 1.05pm I'm glad we didn't get one further away!

Them providing nappies is also very convenient, and have a look at the menus - it is really nice to know 4 days a week DD has had a full cooked lunch with veg, so I don't need to worry about just doing beans on toast.

Although price shouldn't be a factor, there's no denying it is a big part of it - my favourite nursery was £10 a day more expensive than the one we use. It wasn't £10 a day better, so it got vetoed.

I think the staff are the key to a nursery rather than the facilities, especially for younger children. I would see what the staff attitude is like: I visited one where several of the staff looked really bored and unhappy to be there and I thought that was very poor if they couldn't even make an effort when someone was visiting.

The Ofsted report might be handy for flagging up any major safety concerns but I would definitely take good vs outstanding with a large pinch of salt. Also look at when it was - if it was four or five years ago there might have been a complete change of personnel since then and it might not be very meaningful.

As others have said, go with your gut feeling. Also don't just focus on the baby room, look closely at the others rooms that your dd will eventually move to, its easier to stick with one nursery than to worry about moving later. Check each stage has the right provisions and happy and engaged staff and children.