Am I mad to consider the further nursery?

[DrawerofMystery]

Trying to choose between two nurseries for my 2.5-year-old and going round in circles.

Option 1 is only an 8-minute walk away, which sounds ideal as I don’t drive. BUT it’s term-time only and only 9am-3pm. It’s attached to a school and the facilities are pretty minimal/small.

Option 2 is a 25-minute walk away, but it’s 9-4:30, open outside term time, and has much bigger indoor/outdoor space.

Complicating things: my child gets horribly carsick and can vomit within 5 minutes in the car 😭 I also can’t reliably use the buggy rain cover because she absolutely hates it. On bad weather days my husband would probably drive us, but that means he has to skip his lunch break and make the hours up later.

I genuinely can’t tell whether I’m underestimating how exhausting a 25-minute walk twice a day will become, especially in winter, or whether the flexibility/longer hours of the second nursery will make life much easier long-term.

Would really appreciate hearing from anyone who chose either “closest and easiest” or “better but further away” and whether you regretted it!

I don't think 25 minutes is particularly long. Our nursery was about that distance. It wouldn't have occurred to me to drive.The only time we didn't walk was when it was snowing a lot once and DS didn't like it, then we got a bus one stop!
I would absolutely go for the further one.

If you are spend 2 hours a day walking to nursery, does the extra 1.5 hours of time really matter?

Are you needing the nursery so that you can return to work or just for your child to socialise?

if it’s to return to work then you need the one further away, I don’t think 25 minutes is an excessive walk. If it’s just for socialise and meet new friends before school then the term time one is for you.

personally I’d always go with resources and facilities over anything else.

That's encouraging to hear! The only thing I need to think about is what to do on rainy days as my daughter refuses rain cover & there's no bus available 😭

Do you work, or plan to return to work?
If no, go for the nearer nursery, as you will get sick of the walk in winter, going there and back twice.
If yes, go for the further away one as you will need holiday cover.

What hours of childcare do you need for work? Can you get cover in the holidays? A term time only nursery wouldn’t have worked for us, which would have ruled out the closer nursery completely.

Although on the other hand it’s worth remembering that a 25 minute walk one way is fine, but I assume you’ve still got to get home again making it nearly an hour round trip. We also couldn’t have made that work every morning and evening.

Just to add re. the rain cover - for the shorter distance she could just walk. For the longer distance, I'd get one of those ride on bike style buggies or pull her on a scooter once she is a bit older. Then just put her in waterproofs.

That's a good point!
To be honest I'm more concerned about how to survive the school holidays when the nursery is closed if going with the closer one (like the 6 weeks summer holiday without nursery, grandparents or car?)😥

Is it just pre school or do you need the childcare? If it is preschool put her in the school nursery , walking for 25 minutes is fine in the summer but imagine the trudge on a cold January morning! I don't drive my dds nursery was the sameish distance .so we walked or got the bus,but you have no buses it might become a total pain.

Rainsuit and hood up but your buggy might get soaked.you might just have to tolerate her objections, what do you do now when it is raining and you have to go out ?

Can you get a bike? 25 minute walk would be less than 10 minutes

I used to walk 20 minutes with a baby and a 2.5 year old. The 2.5 year old walked (which seems to be an option you have not considered). So it's perfectly doable - but my work was only 5 minute further away. So it depends how far you are then travelling to work (do you wfh??).

For wet weather days, can't you just dress the child in raingear? They will need it for nursery anyway.

The nursery I went with would be linked to hours/logistics of working rather than distance. If you need more than term time hours, you'll have to see how the 2nd nursery will work.

A bike with a buggy for you both perhaps? You can get tow style or up front seats for kids.

For me it would depend on whether your child will start school in the school that's attached to the nursery and how old they will be eg: summer born and basically starting Reception having just turned 4 or are you looking at a 2 yr stint to manage before school starts.

If it's a short period well you are going to need summer arrangements anyway. Speaking as someone with a summer born, most of the daycare kids camps won't take a child until they are 5 so it's all a juggle. You may be better looking for a childminder that will do wrap around and cover holidays while your child attends the school nursery. Then you'll have longevity and will only need a camp if the childminder is on holiday.

If school is TBD I would go for the nursery with longer hours. Raincover is non negotiable. Start putting your foot down. Or literally [which is what I did] buy your child a scooter and a helmet now and start accelerating your speeds so a 1 hr round trip is cut right down. I used an adult scooter but I was getting on a train rather than coming home again so it was more practical. If you are just heading straight home, buy a bike and a seat on the back and two helmets obviously.

Thanks all, really helpful perspectives.

A lot of you are confirming my fear that the issue isn’t really the 25-minute walk on a nice day, it’s the combination of doing it twice a day in bad weather / with a tired toddler / during winter etc. Using trikes/scooter + waterproof sounds like a good idea when raining!

But equally, reading these replies has also made me realise that the term-time-only aspect may actually be my bigger worry long-term.

We don’t have nearby family support, I don’t drive (yet), my husband works from home full-time, and a lot of the toddler classes/activities near us also seem to be term-time only and fairly car-dependent. So I’m now trying to work out whether I’d cope better with a harder daily routine, or with having to fill 13+ weeks of school holidays every year with a toddler/preschooler 😅

I think that’s the bit I’d slightly underestimated before posting.

Also, I'm currently not working but thinking of starting to work freelance at home, so I'm not sure what to do if I have to look after my daughter at home for like 6 weeks during summer holiday🤔

What will your childcare arrangements be after 3pm? What about school holidays?
I’d say go for the closer one if you don’t need the childcare right now, I think a 25min walk twice a day 5 days a week is a lot. Also it only gives you an hour extra time if you need to pick up at 4.30 but it’s 25 mins walk.
You can think again when it comes to starting reception.
Maybe find out about holiday clubs in your area (they are usually from reception age though), also lots of parents use childminders for wrap around care and holidays

School nurseries can be deceptive in terms of resources. My DCs went to one and they had full use of the school playground when it wasn't break/lunch, had PE in the school hall and even school lunches. So I wouldn't write it off for that reason without talking to people who go there.

I'd DC is going to that school, I would choose the school nursery mainly to become part of the local community.

The walk isn't too bad, but I say that as a dog walker so I've normalised it. Both options will be fine and it will fly by.