Childminder Vs daycare

[Roseremi31]

Trying to get childcare organised before end of maternity leave. Which do you prefer between childminders and private daycares and why?

I chose a nursery.

The main reason was I wanted my child to get used to being in a slightly more formal setting and around as many children as possible.

It was also due to my own paranoia about safeguarding and I preferred the thought of my child being somewhere with more oversight than just one individual.

We went with a childminder. DS has thrived there. Absolutely loves it! I had to go back to work after 6 months and we didn't feel he was ready for a nursery at that age.

He loves it. Our childminder is fantastic. He Absolutely loves the other children, they go somewhere different everyday, she makes amazing food for them (honestly, I wish I was there for dinner)

It really is a matter of preference. I would visit a few different CM and nursery's and get a feel of them. The swing for us was a nursery they have gardens but dont really go out out otherwise. DS loves new places so it suits him.

Childminder of 12 years here 👋🏻

Nurseries and Childminders offer different experiences.

Childminders are as qualified as senior nursery staff, ofsted registered and inspected and are required to follow and plan to EYFS. They often operate on a much smaller scale although you can find childminders who work with assistants.

Nurseries can have quite large rooms, I worked in one that had 32 toddlers in the room. (2-3yrs)

Private day nurseries don’t tend to pay their staff very well. So that can lead to a high turn over of staff, or reliance on bank staff.

I regularly hear about children not having the same social skills after being at a childminder as opposed to nursery, but that’s not accurate. Children tend to mix with the same core group of 2-3 children, so even when put in a larger group they aren’t socialising any more.

The other regular complaint about childminders is sickness, I’ve taken 3 days off in the past few years, if I don’t work, I don’t earn, I don’t take days off Willy Nilly, I’ve also developed a good immune system.

Ultimately it’s your gut feeling. You can get outstanding, and terrible, providers no matter which way you go. I would suggest looking at lots of different types of settings so you understand what’s important to you.

I tend to have babies-3yr olds and then after that age children go to nursery. That’s what I did with mine and they are very happy and settled.

I preferred a childminder. My daughter was only six months when I returned to work and I felt she was too young for nursery, especially 4 days a week.

There are various studies about childcare which are difficult to interpret but from what I can tell nursery is beneficial for children over the age of 3 but is not beneficial for children under the age of 2. The jury is out for children aged 2-3.

Also, I preferred her being with one primary caregiver who was unlikely to switch jobs and for her to spend time with a small number of children in a home-from-home environment. She meets other children at playgroups etc but from what I have read exposure to large groups of children is not important until they're around 3 or so. Little children need to attach to adults not other children.

Anyway, there are good nurseries and bad, good childminders and poor childminders. Look around for what is right for you.

Thanks the responses going to visit a few places to get a feel for the set up

visit a few of each but at the end of the day we opted for a nursery as had more flexible hours (open 7-7) and we were able to swap days around occasionally which turned out to be extremely useful. Also no concerns about staff sickness as they would be open as usual.
CMs will be cheaper though and there are some Amazing ones out there (and some I wouldn’t send my kid with in a million years- I’ve worked for many as a subcontractor)

Nursery. With a childminder it's a single point of failure. Someone I work with is having a right nightmare with her childminder taking extended time off for holidays, taking sick days and other reasons for time off. My colleague is having to use all her annual leave to facilitate the childminders time off!

You don't have the same issue with nurseries.

There are good nurseries and bad nurseries and good childminders and bad childminders.

I didn't like the local childminders when my eldest was small simply because in our rural area, it meant a lit of time in the car to do school runs and go to playgroups etc... whereas the nursery was all in one place, and took them out daily around the local area.

Meant to add, round here it’s not too bad getting a nursery place but the good CMs have LONG waiting lists. As in, before the kids are born. I’d be suspicious about a CM that had immediate availability round here

Another childminder here, I've had 1 week of sick time in the past 10yrs of working which was due to Covid & rules meant I had to be off.
Smaller numbers of children - 3 pre schoolers at a time, mix with core group of friends. Family based, access many learning opportunities in local area (not just nursery garden for outdoor play). Childminders are qualified in early years education exactly the same as nursery staff, learning is just provided in a less formal setting - young children learn through play which fits perfectly in a childminder setting.

Oh and around us the local nurseries are closing room regularly at short notice due to staff shortages which is causing a nightmare for parents, who are begging local cms to take their children!

Why did you say that about the qualifications? It's absolutely not true. The qualifications to work in a nursery are very in-depth (2 years full time with placements to be exact) and there are no formal qualifications needed to be a cm. A senior member of staff in a nursery will likely have more experience and qualifications. Obv this is not the same for everyone but it's important to be accurate. Childminders often provide a completely different type of setting which suits many children and families better than a nursery. I've done both and much prefer a cm setting but you have to obv find the right one. A brilliant childminder is better than a mediocre nursery and vice versa. Visit a few, you'll know when you know

A good childminder is worth their weight in gold. Our DS was initially at a nursery that was locally regarded as good while we were waiting for days to become available at our chosen childminder. When we got place at the CM and dropped nursery it was like night and day. Having a single attachment figure as caregiver for 8 of the hours of each of 4 days (basically most of the awake day) really suited our DS much more (he was 1 when started nursery and 1.5 when we swapped from nursery to CM).

We kept him fulltime with CM from 1.5 to 3, after 3 he did 2 days outdoors nursery and 2 days CM till 4.5. Worked very well.

We went to waiting list with the same CM for our yet unborn baby when I was 3 months pregnant and have 2 days secured from when she turns 9 months and for the other two we might have to wait 6-12 months more... Good CMs in our area have really long waiting lists and can also afford to be really picky about the families they take on.

Having written all of above, with a CM you are putting a lot of trust in a single individual. So it is a risk and I'm sure a bad CM is worse than any nursery...

I think it depends on your area to what's available and also personal preference.
I have 2 in private nursery and they are thriving well. It's a extremely good nursery though who pay staff well and doesn't have a high staff turn over (most staff are 5 years plus 3 in the baby room are 15 years now)

Childminders in my area there is only 4 available and 2 of them I wouldn't touch after attending the some of the same sessions with them for a while. The other two had huge waiting lists so we went private nursery.

We went for childminders (two diff because we moved house and had to leave the first one - was v sad!)

Ours lived near the school where they did pickups so when ours were babies / preschool they did the school run in buggies / walking. They then went to that school themselves when they were old enough - it was lovely because they already knew the playground and a bit about the school from the older children there.

Also when our eldest started school there was no change to wraparound care - we dropped him and his little brother at the CM as usual in the morning, and picked them both up together at 5.30 ish, but she’d taken the eldest to school and picked him up after. So the kids spent time together at start and end of each day, which I really liked. And they went to CM in the school holidays as well.

It was like having a lovely auntie down the road who knew and loved the kids; they still see her around with “the littlies” now they’re enormous high schoolers and always say hello.

She was also v v rarely off sick, the only thing that needed planning for was holidays as she took some holiday of course, and it wasn’t always coinciding with ours - she had several mindees so of course couldn’t line it up perfectly and why should she. But she told us at the start of the year when her leave was going to be (always in school holidays) and we either took ours at the same time, or put kids in a diff holiday club.

I have three kids. The eldest did nursery but it didn't suit the second so he and my third had a childminder. I preferred that for all the reasons above but they all went to nursery from age 3.

The only issue in my experience is finding a good childminder that you trust.

My kids loved the home environment and still had plenty of socialising.

I chose a nursery because DD is an only child and we have no other children in our family. I wanted to get her used to being around children.

I also feel safer with her being in a locked secure building. I think I would not trust a CM to take DD out in public, having seen some childminders out and about.

A private nursery also has more resource.

You have to visit in person and meet the staff to get a feel of the place. I look for a bright clean setting and happy enthusiastic staff.

Mine started nursery at 3 months, he's 8 months now and I'm so happy with his care. He's so well looked after.

I went with nursery over a childminder largely because the one we went with is open 7-6 but also because I like it is more than just 1 person for safeguarding reasons and due to sickness and holidays.

I've done a mixture of childminder and nursery with my children and much preferred nurseries. I found it got the kids more school ready, they were better socialised and they weren't attached to just one carer. My childminder also hurt her back when I was in a busy period and I was completely stuck for childcare. Not her fault but a complete nightmare for me.
I've been lucky with nurseries though as I use smaller ones and the staff turnover never seems to be high. My daughter is just going to school and has had the same staff since she was 9 months old. Only 2 have left in that time.

Childminder all day long the only down fall for me is that she goes on holiday I have to find alternative care (I.e nanny/my mum) but it’s much more personal only one person to trust. They go on days out all the time. I also worked in a nursery which put me off nurseries. My almost 2 year old has been going to a childminder since 10 months old and we love it. It’s also cheaper I pay £35 a day rather than £70/80. £680 I paid this month not thousands.

And also they go to childminding groups she meets up with her friend who is another childminder and she is the best I know of been doing it for many years. I get photo updates all the time. I like the fact it’s only a small amount of children but enough and she’s learning and coming on leaps and bounds all the time .

It depends on whether you can find a really good childminder and what you want out of them.

I had 2 childminders for my son. The first one literally never took him out because she was scared of covid (this was after the lockdowns). She then quit with a week’s notice due to health reasons and changed career, leaving me in the shit. My second childminder was a total hypocondriac, didn’t help him with his speech to using cutlery, and had the tv on all day. She took him to toddler groups, but in the school
hols when these didn’t run, she only ever took him to the park. She also didn’t provide any meals, and quite often got our invoice wrong. Also remember a lot of childminders do school runs so my son was taken out in a pushchair twice a day when he preferred to walk.

At 2 and a half, we moved our son to nursery and they are great. A lot more expensive, but much better for him. They help him with speech, they brush his teeth, they help him with cutlery, they have so many more resources and do a much wider range of activities. The kids are also in with their same age group, whereas childminders could have a 2 year old and a baby.

Also remember you have to take your holiday when the childminder does.

I’m pregnant again and would still prefer a childminder environment just for the first year, then i’d move my child to nursery age 2. But that’s only it we can find a good childminder. Otherwise we will go with nursery.

Hello
sorry to correct you but I was right.

Childminders need the following before they start;
PAEDIATRIC FIRST AID (within 3yrs)
SAFEGUARDING (within 2 yrs)
DBS
OFSTED REGISTRATION (not legally essential but very important) An inspector will then come round to make sure the childminder as all the above and to check property is suitable.

Once you have passed that, the local authority will also inspect you, and go through the EYFS, buisness management, tax, food hygiene and how to write policies and risk assessments. (Childminders shouldn’t open for business until this point) If you have no prior qualifications in early years, aside from the ones mentioned above, then you will need to attend a course, depending on LA, it may be evenings, weekdays, and will last around 6 weeks. This has to be completed. Childminder agencies are good for people who have no prior qualifications in childcare.

Nursery nurses can be taken on at 16 and qualify on the job. It’s also cheap for the business owners so that happens a lot.

Really irks me that people believe childminders aren’t qualified. You have to put a lot of time, effort and money into becoming an ofsted registered childminder.

Some childminders run a setting that has a more formal nursery feel. Ours has assistants (long term employees) and 7-8 kids at a time. A portion of her home and the garden is entirely given over to being a childcare setting, and she has a curriculum (for want of a better word), takes them on pre-planned outings and has outside activities organised in house (e.g. toddler dance classes). I literally didn't know this existed before we were linked up with her.

As previous posters have said however, there's a lot less flexibility with a childminder. Ours does a shorter day compared to a nursery, only works 4 days/week and takes 3 weeks holiday during term time. I can't imagine this would work for teacher parents relying on this as their sole childcare, for instance.

I was a childminder for many years.

My qualifications were : 1st Aid, child Protection, Behaviour Management, NVQ 1,2,3,4, EYPS.

Not all CM's are qualified to this degree, but ongoing qualifications are encouraged by Ofsted. Very few are under NVQ 3 level.

All CMs have to follow EYFS and do the same planning and production of EYFS as a nursery.

Most work evenings and weekends to fulfil planning and such, as well as updating childrens records, Tapestry out put for parents, qualifications, play qualifications, tax and invoicing.

Shopping for resources, shopping for food, nappies, hand-wash supplies.

I worked on average a 60 hour week, with 6 children. Three under 5 and three over 5, most staying with me till they aged out and went to High school.

All this for £4.00 per hour per child before expenses ( which can be heavy with little ones, things need replacing regularly. Think how much a double pushchair and quality car seats are) and tax. It is not a well paid job.

Now to the question. I've worked as a CM, ran a Nursery and been a Nanny.

All have there uses and time and place.

For me I woukdnt put a under 2 in a nursery, but feel they benefit from the other options. Over 3, definitely a nursery.