Which nursery to choose?!!!

[OhWhatToDoAboutThis]

I’m really struggling with choosing a nursery for DS. It’s out of two which I’ve used before with my older children. The first one my DD has just left (the other didn’t have spaces hence why using two different nurseries). It’s very modern, huge huge rooms and an average outside space. Management team are quite young- have moved up quickly from being in the rooms with the kids but are familiar as are some of the other staff. The rest seem to turn over quickly. it’s convenient for parking and very flexible in terms of hours and adding extra sessions if needed. Very relaxed approach in terms of learning. Definitely more focused on play. But the kids all seem happy. Good ofsted.

second one is a lot smaller, looks more grubby but a typical nursery in terms of colourful etc (first one is minimalist and everything is wooden). A lot of the staff are the same from 7 years ago. Again the rest have changed. Trust the manager completely and the staff that are still there. A lot more focused on learning outcomes etc for the pre school room and very policy driven. Again average outside space. A lot less space in the rooms. Kids also seem happy. They only have one space for the days I need so wouldn’t be flexible if I needed to add extra hours. Parking will be a nightmare at times. Excellent ofsted.

If I don’t go for the second one soon the space will be gone.
The first one I feel will always have a space. But I would feel really awkward going back to it if I choose the second one as they’ve already spoken to me about DSs potential place and are waiting for me to confirm.

How do I choose?

It depends on a few things really I'd say.

How likely are you to need to book an adhoc session? Do you have family or friends that could look after your DC if something cropped up that you needed childcare for?

Good parking would be a very big pro for me but again it depends how pushed for time you are in the mornings, whether there is an option to walk etc if you prefer the smaller nursery.

Another thing is whether your child would benefit from a more relaxed play based approach, or are they the type of child that prefers that stimulation and thrives on learning new things? I know this can be hard to tell as presumably they are not yet preschool age but often you can get a feel of their character.

Ultimately if you feel properly comfortable with both teams of staff then it would depend on whether I would need that flexibility for additional sessions and how tight the schedule is for parking for drop off in the mornings and getting to work after etc.

Thank you for replying. I’m still very unsure.
I suppose I don’t need extra sessions, it’s more that it would be nice to have the option if say me and DP wanted a day off together. Due to him travelling for work we don’t have the option to do that other than the days she won’t usually be in nursery. So I guess that shouldn’t really be a deciding factor if the other nursery is better. I think I feel more comfortable with the second nursery because I know the majority of the staff. The first nursery I don’t know the staff in the baby room but I love the rooms in general just because of how clean and spacious they are. Would it make a difference to you if a child had less space to play? I think that’s the main thing putting me off, yet it didn’t concern me when my first child went!