Nursery vs Childminder

Hiya, my little one started at a childminder (Ofsted outstanding) back in November - unfortunately she's still catching all the bugs but we have absolutely no complaints with the childminder and service provided, we get regular updates and they use the baby's days app to track and log everything. They're super flexible with timings and can usually accommodate an extra day when needed with notice. I love that my daughter is getting more of a home from home experience - she's settled in really well and is always happy when we arrive ☺️

We are using a childminder and I feel we've made the best decision for us. It's such a laid back homely environment, he gets all the cuddles and affection. It's very flexible with timings. We get updates all day long and pictures on an app. Yes we do still get the bugs and you have to consider things like the childminders holidays and if they are ever ill and need to close, but the pros outweigh that massively for us. Maybe contact some childminders and see what vibe you get. I do feel we have got very very lucky as I know some have a reputation for just dragging the kids around doing their daily chores etc. Ours is like a mini nursery provision 😊

It’s such a personal decision and I’d reccomend you visit a couple of settings for each type. For us it depended on to two things. The personality of our child and logistics. Our first child is super confident, chatty lived other children he had thrived at nursery and the childminders we saw I felt he would have got bored / out grown them by at 2.5/3. A more reserved child may benefit from a smaller childminder setting. For us the major hurdle with a childminder was our work. We don’t have any family help so if the childminder was unwell or simply taking her annual holidays we would have really struggled with childcare / getting time off work (in addition to our children’s illnesses!). It’s something to consider when looking into it. Obviously this depends on area but our nursery is small (6 children in the baby room, 10 in toddlers, 16 in preschool) and we feel like we get a really great personal service and have done since he went there at just a year old.

I think it depends on the nursery. We took a while to pick the one we went for and we're so glad we did as despite it being a nursery, it sounds like it's similar to a lot of the childminder experiences people have mentioned above. Our nursery has loads of space, a little garden for the babes, a mud kitchen, a chef and nursery workers who are super warm. We receive daily photos and updates via an app, so I know at all times when she's napping, when she's eaten, when she's had a nappy change. I've had some friends tell me they get no updates from their nursery whatsoever and that feels too impersonal for me. So, I don't think it's a straight up nursery Vs childminder. You get the best and worst of both. ..but yeah, they get ill regardless so don't let that be a decision maker!

Hi @Vee @Bethany @Naomi @Annem thanks for the responses really appreciate it, tbh the illnesses is a major factor, we were thinking smaller setting with 5 or less children might be a better hope and with sometimes only 1 staff member they will need to be much stricter and stringent re illness policy?. so interested to hear if that's the case with your responses.... we don't mind bugs etc I know it's normal but our little one has been back to back since she started and some very long and severe requiring multiple dr/hospital visits which is a mare in itself. so much to consider and worried about pulling her out of nursery losing the place then childminder not working

Tbh the first winter was pretty awful for illness. My son had enlarged tonsils (born with) so every illness ended in a hospital stay with tonsillitis. When he had those out last sept and we went into the second winter it was Much better, we had a few colds, HFM and one sickness bug I think. This winter has been great. Only one virus type this that wiped the whole family out. We are in chicken pox season so expecting that sometime soon but it’s been a million times better. In fact I can’t remember that last time I bought a bottle of calpol!