Childminder vs nursery

[Ellradford]

Looking for people’s experiences & opinions on sending their child/children to a childminders or a nursery (based in UK). I will be going back to work in October (unfortunately we don’t have the luxury of being able to stay home and look after her) & my little one will be 11months old and I’m in two minds which would be the best option for her as I hear good and bad on both nursery and childminders. Any advise would be appreciated!

I would pick childminder as its more homely for under 3

Childminder definitely for that age. She'll get way more one to one time

I would 100% say nursery from my personal experience. We sent our eldest to an ofsted outstanding childminder who had a really good reputation but if we finished work early we would turn up earlier than she expected us and we often found her leaving the children in a different room to go do things in her house including leaving my DC unsupervised eating a biscuit in a high chair at 8 months old. We also had a time where the childminder ended up in hospital for 4 weeks which meant we had no one to look after our DC for a month, we switched to a nursery and our DC thrived and loves going, also if somebody is off sick there is other people there to look after your child and also to make sure they are always supervised.

It’s a very personal decision. We went nursery so both of ours from 10/11
months and no regrets here.

A good childminder > good nursery > bad childminder > bad nursery

I am very happy we choose childminders we were lucky to find good ones i saw a couple i was faintly horrified by...

If the kids were a bit poorly she takes them anyway (much less strict vs nursery) and will tailor the day to them if they are ill / didnt sleep (slower day and few snacks and a bit of telly, keep it chilled in the garden)

We found them reliable and flexible in a way our friends with kids in nurseries didn't get.
I also think its a preferable environment for under 2.5/3 s

I would always choose a nursery over a childminder. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great childminders but there are some absolutely awful ones too, same with nurseries BUT It tipped it for me the fact that the childminder could have anyone in their house when my child is there and I’d never know.

Nursery 100%

A childminder has no worries if she lets the babies sit in a pushchair with the tv on for 2 hours as the kids can’t tell on her.
However a nursery would not be allowed to do this and if something was done wrong there is a whistleblower policy.
(many more examples).

I have heard loads of people annoyed their kids are getting dragged around on the childminders errands, going to the supermarket then popping to the bank then a quick stop at the park on the way home for some photos to show parents how the day has revolved around their child’s needs (not).
Whereas a nursery is focused on those children and their needs.

When I am at the local park - there are a group of child minders that meet up- all seem like lovely ladies.
However they sit chatting (some with their backs to the children) and the babies and toddlers in pushchairs near them with snacks to keep them quiet.
One time a little boy was telling me his details quite innocently but I could have been anyone. He was just stood chatting to me then following me as I went through the park with my dc and there are so many hedges/ dens - the childminder didn’t even notice. The park has 1 gate with a high top latch so I get they don’t need to worry about the kids escaping but still…

Inwould look at some nurseries and meet some childminders and see what you think.

We chose nursery and have no regrets. We have three boys, all went to nursery starting around 1yo (slight variation based on how I arranged mat leave), oldest two now at school but youngest still very happy at his nursery.

See them in person, ask lots of questions, think about how it would work for your family and your child.

I have friends who love their childminders too, and it’s quite a different set up with smaller numbers and often a range of ages which can work well including for siblings (if that becomes relevant). But I have seen lots of childminders at places like playgroups and parks who wouldn’t have been right for my boys (many of the ones local to me seem quite hands off and disengaged - I appreciate this will be different elsewhere), so for me it felt harder to get the right person that way.

The main draw for us with nursery was cover for 52 weeks of the year. Not having to take leave because the childminder has gone on holiday.

At that age I’d choose a childminder. I’m currently a childminder so bias but I’ve worked in nursery and I just couldn’t put my children through that so young. It felt like battery farmed children for the young ones.

vist a few and get recommendations. Some childminders are of course not very good. Ask if they go to soft play, toddler group not an issue but I’ve found some meet up at soft plays and it’s a social for the adults. Occasionally as a treat is fine but regular is lazy to me. And as a previous poster said stop by early to pick up occasionally to reassure yourself.

if you don’t want your baby taken on school runs find a childminder who has an assistant who does the school run or one who doesn’t do school runs.

I’ve seen nursery workers out walking children in buggies parked up next to a playground kids strapped in while the workers were smoking. So don’t assume because they don’t work alone these things don’t happen.

100% nursery.

I’ve seen some awful childminders at some of the groups I’ve taken DC to, I’ve also seen some good ones but I’d rather them be at nursery where there are multiple members of staff.

I also don’t like the thought of a childminder driving them round all the time. Nursery take them on local outings quite often where they walk or take the bus which I prefer.

We have chosen a nursery, mostly for reasons already mentioned above -

• There's guaranteed cover if staff are sick
• Nurseries are more heavily regulated, so better safeguarding/ whistle blowing policies
• There is more than one adult around most of the time
• Staff have less autonomy to do what they feel like - there are others watching, strength in the parent community etc. Less risk of negligence.

It just feels like a better and safer option all around to me, of course you have to check out the nursery carefully and the Ofsted etc.

Unless I knew an absolutely outstanding childminder who had personal recommendations and arrangements for sickness/ holiday cover, I'd always go for nursery.

We've gone for a smaller nursery that feels quite 'homely' so seems like the best of both worlds.

Nursery. There's always an adult to deal with the children.

Childminders can have anyone traipsing into their house.

Nursery every time. I couldn't get past the idea of dropping a child off with a stranger and the door closing. People that live at the property coming and going. No thanks.