How to choose nurseries that feel identical!

[Emskies]

We are choosing a nursery for our (will be) one year old in November. We have it down to 2 from 6 viewings and CANNOT figure out how to decide. Any advice based on the following would be much appreciated!

Both:

• have space
• equidistant from our house and tube stop
• give a good vibe with nice and attentive staff
• follow similar approaches and “curriculums”
• seemed to have happy kids in our 2x viewings of each

nursery 1:

• arguably 1-2 mins closer to us and tube stop
• the kids seemed to LOVE the staff
• good outdoor space
• clean and newer looking
• may have had a slightly happier vibe for the kid
• good Rating (reasons pretty minimal to not get outstanding - didn’t give kids enough time to figure out a question and respond and didn’t encourage home language enough)
• amazing reviews online
• part of bigger conglomerate

nursery 2:

• better outdoor space with climbing area and animals and a waterfall
• outstanding rating
• No reviews online even though been around ages
• more local (one of only three of a brand in the area)
• clean but a bit more dated
• met with the coordinator and was impressed with how she runs things

these are the only things that separate the two - any advice on this appreciated! We’d usually go with our gut but both myself and husband equally like both and have zero gut feeling towards either!

Thanks again everyone!

So both offered us places and one has messaged this morning revoking the place as “someone else has taken it” - we were not told it was being offered to multiple people and would be given to the first responder! So that alone puts a sour taste in my mouth and means nursery 1 it is!!

Thanks for all your advice everyone it really helped steer our thinking ♥️

Check how each nursery will allocate your 30 hours funding. Some have surcharges and some only allow you to use funded hours between 9-3 for example. If they cost the same, ask about staff retention. Good nurseries have happy staff who stay put. The final decider for me is the outdoor space, I want my kid outside as much as possible.

Thanks we don’t get the funding unfortunately!