Nursery vs childminder

[Ging78]

Hi

I'm sure this has been asked loads but I'd really appreciate advice.

My lg will be 13 months old when i go back to work in August.

We have met at least 1 lovely childminder and today we visited a lovely nursery (excellent reviews, graded good with Ofsted).

Any opinions on which is best for little ones?

We would pay more for the nursery as i work term time more or less and would end up paying for weeks i didn't use.

Thanks!

Ging

I used a childminder because I wanted them to be in a setting that would be more like being at home - normal routine, with only a few children. There's plenty of time for structure when they are at school.

Hey 👋🏻 CM here but I have also been a nursery manager of an outstanding nursery a few years ago.

It’s a personal choice, no right or wrong, just right or wrong for you.

I have always felt that the nursery routine for under 2s can be very restricted. For example, just one nap after lunch isn’t enough for a 1yr old. (I appreciate not all nurseries do this but lots do)
There is also the inability to just get out at the drop the hat, it’s a lot harder to organise a larger amount of children to get to the park. Whereas as CM I’m out 2-3 times a day.
I also truely believe my practice is much more child led, it’s a smaller group of children, therefore what we do and when is very much based around them.
In regards to sickness, I’m rarely off, I think in the last 7yrs I have had three days, but if I am ill, I have a network of childminders and nannies That my children know because we socialise with them, so should we need emergency cover that is there.
My husband is also registered as my assistant so again should we need the extra cover he is here, my parents know him, and he has safeguarding training and first aid.
For me I wouldn’t put an under 2 in a nursery, and I didn’t with my daughter. She is 4 now and attends preschool but I wouldn’t have put her in a nursery setting when she was a baby.
Being in the home is a much more familiar environment, it’s a lot calmer. Nursery can be dog eat dog.

However you need to look at more than two settings,I would suggest seeing a couple of more childminders and nurseries. Good luck

My childminder didn’t do school pick ups and drop offs.... not even for kids she had taken care of and moved on.