Childcare options

[Tresfren]

Baby only a month old but already looking into childcare as its hard to get in. We live in a small town in a more rural county in UK and have two nursery options for when Baby is 8 months old early next year:

Option A
Most expensive one in área. £8 more per day than option B (can still afford)
Large setting with places for 150 children
Have an app that let's you know what child has eaten/ done
Dedicated Baby área up to 18 months of age
Went on a tour and it looked very organised but tour felt a bit 'functional' and like reading from a script almost. I felt reassured that it was a good setup though
Sessions with children seem quite structured and planned out for week
Location is a bit out of the way - 10 min drive from house but out in country side and opposite direction to our work

Option B
Located in our town, not out of our way and could even walk there
Slightly cheaper option
Dedicated Baby and toddler área- our 8 month old would be with children up to two years old
No app that I'm aware of although I didn't ask
Child- led approach - children aren't forced to do set things or follow strict plan
Smaller setting with 50 spaces in total
Tour felt a bit more personal, nice stories about some of the children and questions about our baby. Advice to take our time in choosing etc
Setting felt a bit more messy and 'lived in' while option A was a bit more pristine

I can see merits of both but can't decide. Never done this before so no expertise.

As our baby will still be quite small I like the idea of an app that let's me know what she's eaten etc and option A seemed quite rigorous and detail oriented but I did like the vibe and convenience of option B.

Any thoughts?

I wouldn’t choose a nursery with an app. Who is looking after and playing with the children whilst staff are updating the app with 15 children’s info multiple times a day?

I had exactly the same dilemma - well not about the app (!) but about the very organised/tidy/modern/structured nursery v relaxed/messy/older building/kids can do what they want nursery. We went for option b and love it. it’s really child centred and the staff know the kids so well and it just seems like a lovely happy environment.

I guess an app would be convenient but my friend’s nursery has one and she’s not convinced they input the information properly. If ever I want to know how my daughter is getting on during the day - say she hasn’t slept well or refused her breakfast in the morning I just call and ask how she slept at nap time or did she eat her lunch. They don’t mind!

Our nursery is small and homely, no app. It’s absolutely brilliant, the staff know all the children by name regardless of what age room they’re in, and all the parents too. Handovers are great and whenever I go in the children and staff all look happy and engaged.

As great as a structured large nursery can seem sometimes that is just way too many children.

My son’s old nursery had room for 150 children and all staff were in ratio but it was too much for them to handle. My son ended up with 2 major incidents. 1 involving his head being glued because staff weren’t keeping an eye on the 2 year old playing in the corner. A lot of the staff were really young too on placements. I’ve nothing against younger staff but they just didn’t have the experience. I complained about one because her attitude ordering some children around was disgusting!
after that I pulled my son out. The manager made promises of change but I couldn’t get past it. If she was speaking like that with parents around how was she when they weren’t?
parent’s meetings were- read this on the app and look at these pictures.

My son’s new nursery has room for 50 but the max in each class is 15. No incidents, no app but handover is great because staff know what they’ve been up to instead of reading off a sheet. It’s a community nursery but it’s lived in and the children love it. Massive play area too.

go with your gut. I was sucked in by the shiny of the 1st nursery but the 2nd one is our village now ☺️

At the one we left it was normally updated after the children had gone home and very very occasionally something was added at a lunchtime. I used to feel very sorry for the staff having to upload stuff to the app when they were inevitably finished for the day and unlikely to be being paid. Also it was plainly clear they just made stuff up or gave the most generic updates because how could they possibly remember.

My kids nursery didn’t have an app until about a month ago, which nicely coincided with my twins starting (as well as the three year old who is already there). And it is brilliant because I don’t have to remember three lots of handover information (as in, when I get them home I’m not trying to remember who woke when and who ate when etc.) But I definitely didn’t need it with one child. I don’t look at it during the day as I’m working and it’s nice to hand over childcare completely.

I vote B.

8 months… she won’t be that young in comparison. As in, quite common for working mums to take 9 months of mat leave including a month beforehand. But I appreciate it’s the only baby you personally are handing over. It’s always hard leaving them at first, I’m sure whatever age tbh, but IME they generally love it so it gets so much easier.

To me, you sound like you like B best but for some reason feel like you should like A.
Maybe some perception of prettier and newer automatically meaning better.

Apps to record observations etc are really common now. I would be surprised if they don't both have one.
My son has just started at a new nursey and they didn't mention it but they have an app. It's lovely to have the updates but I'd rather the staff be interacting with him than updating something online.

B

Not least for the fact you will grow to hate those extra 20 mins, going 10 mins AWAY from work and then back of course, every morning, then again every evening.. Presumably that will be 10mins on a good day, not the snowy days or the days you get stuck behind a tractor or a flock of sheep being moved?

But everything you say in each of your posts, makes me warm towards B

Go with your gut otherwise you may end up changing your mind which is disruptive for some children. My son was 8 months when he started nursery and he was absolutely fine. However, my gut told me not to send him there but the only other nursery had the same response. I only kept him there for 9 weeks then I pulled him out.

B - child led, smaller, closer.

10 mins out the way is a extra 20 mins on your journey to work. Believe me, in months and years to come, you'll be grateful for those 20 mins.

Thousands of children have been through nurseries without an app! We used to get a little daily report with what they'd eaten, nappies, sleeps etc with was handed over with a little chat and a smile.

We went for the homely small nursery with no app or tech stuff over the bigger pristine nursery with apps and things and it was the best decision we made. DD1 has thrived there and DD2 is just starting.

Go with your gut - I knew within the first 5 mins of looking round that it's somewhere I wanted my child to go. The previous nursery we had been to see had been very organised but it left me feeling cold, the staff didn't have a great vibe, it just didn't feel warm or nurturing.

Oh our nursery does now have an app but it's a learning outcomes app, not a 'Isaac did a poo at 10.20am' one. We just get a daily update with pics and a description of what activity they were doing and how that feeds into the early years curriculum, etc.

Second by far.

I think option B sounds more personal and homely.

As someone who works in a nursery, if it was for my child, I'd choose B.

Don’t focus on the app. Our nursery has one and tbh I think it’s quite stressful. Yes getting photos of what our toddler is up to is great but in the beginning I found myself constantly checking it. Stressing throughout the day if I saw he hadn’t eaten much or not napped well. Plus they don’t have time to update it the second things are done so again I’d worry when I couldn’t see a nap recorded, things like that.
I’ve relaxed a bit over it now but I would definitely say there are downsides to an app like this and getting a more detailed report at the end of the day from an actual person is much better. If there is something wrong they would phone you not put it on an app.

Just here to say take the app out of the equation - just because they have it, doesn't mean they use it. We get one or two pictures through it during the week which I quite like but meals, sleep and Nappies is all told to us when we pick up. So just because one nursery doesn't have an app doesn't mean you won't get the same information each day.

Also it's soooo much more convenient having one close enough to walk to from home

You're really selling option B to me!