Childminder versus nursery

My son was and is very sensitive, took a long time to warm up to new environments and had never been left with anybody but me. Also EBF very attached to boob/ feeding and never taken a bottle or dummy. He attends a mini nursery sort of set up, 3 childminders to 9 children in a purpose built outhouse. He settled from day 1, barely any tears we were all amazed as was expecting a rough start. Napped and ate from day 1 and 3 months in adores it there and has really thrived! It’s done wonders for his confidence as well. In our experience the smaller setting really helped x

Both my girls went to a childminder from 9 months old to 2.5 years old when they then transitioned to a nursery until strong school. I did it this way because a childminder was cheaper, more flexible and her set up was pretty awesome. I used the same lash for both my girls too. I have no regrets doing it this way ☺️

I've been team childminder in the past with my other kids, but this time I'm using a nursery. It's too stressful for me with a childminder, as I have no backup childcare (family) so if they're off sick or on holiday I'm screwed, whereas with the nursery I don't have to worry about those things. Plus, I don't have to pack a lunch for her, it's all provided. When you're going back to work you want as little to worry about as possible!

@Yasmin thank you so much for sharing your experience, that sounds like the ideal scenario. My baby is exactly the same and I'm worried about the same things 🤞

@Jade thank you for sharing! Sorry, what do you mean by the same lash? English isn't my first language...I was also thinking about transitioning her to nursery when she's 3 so she can get used to more children etc before starting school, but I feel it might be too much for her at this point. I'm glad someone else had the same plan and it worked out great for them!

@Rebecca that's a really good point to consider about sickness, thanks for raising that issue!

We've chosen nursery for our LG. She's not as sensitive to other people though, she absolutely loves other children! I was as a baby/child though, I used to be called a Koala because I'd hold on to my parents for dear life. I went to a playschool, slightly smaller than a nursery, and eventually I'd Koala to the staff there 😂 my mother actually kept me there an extra year bc of it so I skipped reception year. We've gone nursery bc of similar to Rebecca, we don't have back up if a childminder is off. We're very lucky that we have a gorgeous, fairly small, forest school nursery locally, that I fell in love with 6 years ago, so I didn't actually look at any childminders and only 2 other nurseries (because at the time my dream nursery didn't do extended hours but they announced it that week luckily 🍀) Have a look at a couple of childminders to see if its what you may want. Ask at the children's centres if any come to play with others (ours has a group of about 4 childminders that meet to play together each week)

I would’ve loved to have used a childminder with the smaller more personal setting however we opted for nursery in the end simply because if a child minder is sick and has to close we had no other family support to help with childcare at the time (we only have my husbands family and at the time his mum had terminal cancer and his dad was her full time carer). With both myself and my husband working in healthcare, working from home or just leaving work to look after our daughter isn’t an option for us

@Carys thank you for that. I was also a koala and still remember my parents deopping me off. I was a kot older though, 3 years. The forest nursery school sounds like a dream! Wish we had something like that. Our best option is what seems like a very busy and noisy nursery. It's perfectly fine, but I'm just not sure it's right for my baby...

@Ceri-Ann ah... several people have now mentioned that it was not possible in case the child minder gets sick... I also don't have anyone who could watch her then. I'm still hopeful to make it work though, but maybe I'm just naive

I prefer nursery. I’d rather multiple people be responsible for my child, I feel like the safeguarding and training is a bit stricter and it’s a more controlled environment than a childminder. Also if one person is sick it doesn’t derail my whole week lol.

Incognito - it might be worth doing a bit of digging, maybe post on a local Facebook page for recommendations of childminders or smaller nurseries. The one we've chosen I only found as a friend posted that question and it was mentioned by someone. I'm nosey (and interested in early years as a teacher haha) so I looked up a few of the recommendations. They don't advertise anywhere, just go by recommendations, and are tucked away in a small industrial estate so if it weren't for that post I'd be none the wiser about them.

My daughter is very sensitive so we decided on a childminder. However the childminder went out every day to different activities, this was too much for my daughter so we moved her to a mini nursery. It is at a childminders house where she has 2 assistants maximum number of children is 9. My daughter has thrived since moving her. I would definitely recommend something like this if there is similar close to you. We had a look at a couple of nurseries but felt it would be too overwhelming for her

@Carys thank you for your comment! I was recommended a small nursery that also doesn't advertise and is word of mouth only but we'd need a car to get there and we don't have one. But I'll do some more digging, maybe there are some others in this area

@Elena very good point! My husband and I will be doing condensed hours, so would need to be able to drop baby off early and pick up late... will definitely check with them. Thanks!

@Megan this sounds perfect! I found a childminder with two assistants so gonna check if they have space. I'm glad you found something that works for you and your daughter!

I would prefer a nursery setting (I used to work at a nursery) only reason being it will really help with her social skills there is a lot more children and staff in a nursery and you will be shocked how fast she will settle with a lot of distraction by toys and other people, also a nursery setting will help your little girl in future when it comes to going to school as a school setting has a lot more children than a childminder I personally wouldn’t go for a childminder I hate the thought of just 1 person being responsible for my child along with multiple other children, especially as childminders tend to do a lot of activities outside of their home eg soft play, school pick ups and drop offs etc and with it only being 1 set of eyes on multiple children it gives me major anxiety of my child going missing etc, but if your wanting a more home from home kind of setting for your little girl then a child minder would probably be your best bet x

@Kia this is actually another reason I’d prefer nursery. The thought of someone else taking my child out for little day trips and not having the right car seat, soft plays etc just didn’t sit right with me at all x

Apologies, that should have said ‘lady’. I used the same lady as a childminder for both my girls 😊

@Kia some very good points to think about. Thank you so much!

@Jade oh right, haha. Sorry, I should have got that

I chose childminder and she is starting in May, my reasoning being I’d heard too many negative things about nursery rounds where I live, they’re too big with not enough staff attention on children and not as flexible. The childminder I’ve chosen is lovely and I know her personally, there are more flexibility with the hours through the week and during holidays, she’s cheaper and the staff to children ratio is better. Btw all childminders should be safeguarding and first aid trained and I swear Ofsted registered (but not 100% sure about last one) just like a nursery so don’t let people put you off on the training side

@Leah thanks Leah! One thought that scares me about nurseries is my baby being upset and no member of staff being free to comfort her...

That was one of my big reasons for choosing a childminder!