Nursery or childminder?

We had two childminders who both became pregnant. I was already starting to look at nurseries as my son was speech delayed and needed more social interaction. It took the stress off knowing I could take holidays when I wanted to. Think the calmer environment would depend on the cm as a few do school runs and have older kids.

This time last year I would’ve said childminder because we had an amazing lady for our eldest for 2 years.
But then she reduced her days so we had to find another for our second child, and we had such a horrible experience, I still feel so sad that he was in her care for two months.

Even though the nursery isn’t the homely experience I loved from the first childminder, they are still broken down into smaller groups (in line with the staff to children ratio) so it’s not completely overwhelming.
And he really enjoys himself there so I’m happy with nursery.

Whichever is closer /easier for you with timings. And some nurseries are smaller than others.

We’ve gone with a childminder for my son. He started with her at 9 months old and will stay with her until he starts school. We opted for a childminder because it’s cheaper than a nursery but I also like that it’s a home-from-home environment, they get to go on outings, he gets to socialise with children of varying ages, and there are less children so the childminder can spend more time with the ones she does look after. She follows the same learning and development programme that a nursery does and we get a progress book that she completed every day so that we can see how he’s learning and developing.

I would’ve loved a childminder as it’s a much more personal setting but realistically we went with nursery as we can’t run the risk of not having childcare if the childminder is sick or goes on holiday. Nursery will move staff around to cover sickness and holidays

My some has gone to a nursery (I think it’s quite a smalll one) since just before he turned 1. He settled really quickly and has loved it ever since. He has learned so much since being there and his ape ch has come on amazingly. So much better than friends children who go to a childminder or are in daycare for fewer days a week. The activities are so varied and so think it’s been brilliant for him.
The hours are also wider than childminders I looked at which has made going back to work full time possible and less stressful.

We have just taken my son out of nursery and switched to a childminder, lots of kids thrive in nursery but I feel a childminder environment is better suited to him, smaller groups, 1 adult, more of a “house” setting. For a few weeks now he’s been very upset at nursery drop off and at collection can’t wait to leave. Just his taster sessions alone at the childminder he settled in no problem and actually cried to leave!! I think there are pros and cons to both personally and it’s about what works for your family. We know we’ll need a childminder when he starts school anyway and are due a second baby in Jan and just felt this suited our family better now, I want my 2 children to be in childcare together. It was clear there were certain adults in nursery he wasn’t very sure of, constantly picked up illnesses, felt like he was just a number to them. Sometimes I’d ask at pickup how was he today and be told “oh I wasn’t with him today I don’t know”.

Childminder you will have to find cover or have days off work for their holidays or sickness.

My son LOVES his childminder and it fills my heart with joy. She’s an older lady with years of experience and is so kind and caring. I love the homely environment and she has 3/4 children in her care at a time. I love that she runs errands with my son and takes them on outings to the garden centre.
She takes 4 weeks off a year which she told us with a year’s notice so myself, my husband or grandparents will have him on those weeks.
When my son goes to school, the childminder will pick him up and have him for a couple of hours until I finish work.
Although funded hours covers us. Her rates are very cheap and include consumables and snacks.
This is just my opinion but I’ve worked in a nursery so I wouldn’t send my son to one 🫥

Nursery for me, they're in a room with children their own age and have activities that are aimed at their age and development. They're open even if your child's key worker is ill, if you have a private one they're open all year apart from usually a week at Christmas.
With childminder your little one could be with different ages of children so it's hard to do activities that suit them all, if they're ill they're shut, they can have other adults in the house (granted they should be checked, but if they have teenage sons, are all their friends checked?!)

In the end you'll go with your gut feeling, I knew as soon as I walked into the nursery I picked for my son that it was the right one!

I went with a nursery for my almost 2 year old. I wanted to always have childcare covered, staff sickness, holidays where I’d need to take time off if with a childminder wasn’t an option for me, I wanted to get him used to moving up classes like he would in school and play with children’s his age like he would in school.

We went for a local independent nursery and I’m really happy and my little boy is thriving.

Do what works best for you and the setting you get the best vibe and feel for.