Childminder or nursery

My daughter will be going to a childminder 🙂 Nursery is expensive, the ones around me had really long waitlists and I don’t like the thought of her coming home sick all the time. I’m sure she will from childminder, but it’s less children and more focused time she will have with the minder. Also helps her cousin will be there!

My little boy will be going to a childminder in June. I went to visit a nursery and just didn’t think it was suitable for him as I like to think of a childminders as a home from home especially when they are so young still .
Nurseries are also very expensive you’re right!

There are a number of reasons I choose not to use a childminder.
I need more reliability than some childminders can provide- if they’re unwell and close their setting, that’s inconvenient. If they choose to take their holidays not in line with term times, that’s also a problem as I work in a school. I also prefer the safeguarding aspect that can come from having multiple professionals working together- not a fail safe, of course, but my concern would be who is there to whistleblow on a lone worker? I also know children form relationships with preferred adults- if they don’t particularly like their childminder, that’s tough because they’re the only caregiver. At a nursery setting, there are multiple key people, so children can form attachments to the preferred adults. Mixed age group provision have pros and cons, I prefer the idea of the 2yos being together rather than a mix of tiny babies up to preschoolers. Due to extra staffing, my nursery could also do more to support my fussy….

Both my boys go to a childminder and they both love her, we visited nurserys and I just wasnt a fan.

Only downside to our childminder she doesnt work in school holidays so think thats why most people choose nurserys but I like the 1 to 1 suppport/time she give my boys

I never considered a childminder because of the safe guarding aspect like whos there watching them kind of thing when they are the only adult, if anything was to happen it would be down to the child to tell me if there speaking, if not I wouldnt know and that didnt feel right for me, also if they were off sick ect id have no back up (solo mum)
My son has been in 3 nursery's as ive moved house and they've always grouped the kids together by age, my son is currently at a school nursery and it is cheaper than the private nursery he was at, my son also has just been reffered for an autism assessment, and the school nursery picked up on it straight away and have allsorts in place to help him where as his other nursery's didnt, he is absolutely thriving now, so for me id suggest school nursery's all day long. But I just think its all down to preference at the end of the day

My daughter has gone to a child minder since she was 2 years old . The reason I choose this option as it was more flexible with my working hours and I only pay for the hours she’s there not ( a whole day fee ) I also prefer the home setting but that’s just my preference.

I didn't put my children with a childminder due to one of the reasons mentioned. Who is there to Whistleblow on a lone worker. I need to know that my child is in safe hands. I would rather pay more and know that my children are safe. Plus it's a home from home environment she might be DBS checked but how do you know the adults she invites into her home who are not other children's parents are safe to be around.

We thought about a childminder as I went to one growing up but there was zero space at any around us. I suppose some negatives we also considered were illnesses / holiday back up (we both work FT so any kind of last minute interruption would be very frustrating!) and him being around babies his own age whereas at a childminders they can have more of a range x

I never considered a childminder, I went to view 3 nurseries and the one I choose was just beautiful. Got a real home feel (prob coz it's a big old house!) the children were in 3 groups one per floor, they did flying up sessions when they were moving rooms. The staff all rotated so that the children all knew everyone and there was always cover for sickness. It was open all year except a week at Christmas, which was amazing. He still goes now to their after school club and holiday clubs

I’m also a teacher and I’m the opposite! Would 110% chose a childminder over a nursery!

I just put my child in nursery because that’s what you do…..
I mean obviously not, but that was my thinking.

As for illnesses, children who go to nursery vs homeschooled will get sick more at a young age, but less then HS kids once they start school, they’ve already started building up immunity.

It was logistics for us. We both work full time - if the childminder is sick or on holiday then one of us would need to be at home which just wouldnt work.

I feel like people doubt the love childminders have for their job, like I work full time as a teacher, my husband works away 4 out of 7 days a week (including sleeps) and we’ve only ever had one instance where she’s told us she can’t have her, and she was having chemotherapy, she was literally back to work 3 days later! In the four years we’ve used childminders we’ve had to find maybe a weeks worth of childcare in total!

Childminders love their job, they dont gain anything from saying they don’t want your children x

I never considered a childminder as we needed more reliability - if that person is sick or on holiday then you have no childcare. We also preferred the idea of our kids being with other kids of the same age as them more than a mixed group. From a safeguarding perspective I think the more people in and out the better as there are more people to raise any concerns. I also like the different activities from messy play and painting to running around in the garden, book time, etc. Nursery have more equipment than a home setting.

If I had to go back to work super early (say 6 months) then I may have wanted something more like a home environment but my kids were both walking and talking (I mean, not full sentences but talking) by the time they went. The have a key person at nursery anyway so they get a main person to build a relationship with.

There's not really a bad option - it's just personal preference. For us nursery was a no brainer.

We prefer nursery. To be quite honest, although nursery is slightly more expensive, the childminder wasn’t much cheaper. They also didn’t provide fully cooked lunches like the nursery do. I just prefer the structure of nursery and have more trust in multiple staff being present than putting my sole trust into one person with no other adult supervision. In terms of age groups, the nursery rooms are grouped into similar ages, but with the childminder they had older children with them after school hours and that was a big no for me. Then there’s also annual leave, I’m not prepared to take my time off work around the childminder and then what happens about childcare if they are sick. I have a friend who uses a childminder and she doesn’t have issues but we just prefer the nursery better. When he’s older and at school I will feel more comfortable with a childminder for a few hours wraparound care but not below the age of 5. X

Preschool teacher, I choose s childminders . It matches more our needs as I am working school hours and have half terms off.
The childminder is OFSTED registered, and I am well aware about safeguarding, so not worried about it.

Tbh I didn’t like the idea of a childminder. I need the stability and reliability of a nursery being open 51 weeks of the year and if a member of staff is off the whole nursery doesn’t close. I wasn’t keen on a mix of ages all together all at once from small babies to older primary school children (if they provide wrap around care too). I also felt that nurseries were completely “built for purpose” as such, where as someone’s home is exactly that and as nice as it sounds “a home from home” it just made me feel uneasy that that was someone’s personal space not a childcare environment. Obv they are regulated and everything but I’ve just never liked the idea of them I can’t really put my finger on what it is but I just felt nursery was much more suited for us!

I’ve worked both in nurseries and as a childminder, for my own child I preferred a childminder until they were 3 and then they joined a forest school nursery (granted I was the childminder with my partner, and then I worked at the forest school too 😇) but as I work in the sector it seemed silly to pay other people to care for my child

I’m due again soon and hoping to return to childminding after mat leave so number 2 can have a similar experience 🤞🏼

I didn't choose a childminder because the of 3 we had been recommended,2 had shut down due to rising costs (2022) and 1 was full

The 2nd nursery we viewed we really liked and had others in other locations doing well so chose that

Nursery was more suited hours wise for us (8-5 with option for 7.30 start when needed once a week)

I also like that there are more adults in a nursery for them to socialize with and also to do this with children of similar age (rather than a mix at a childminder).

The activities have also always been aimed at his developmental age. It is easier to scaffold learning for eight 3 year olds at roughly the same learning point than it is for eight children ranging from baby to older toddler.

Nursery leaders/managers/some staff (some) need EYFS L3 qualifications definitely and I personally prefer that

If a childminder is ill, we'd be screwed.Nursery have more staff.

I think you know your child and what environment will suit them best so they can thrive - personal choice

I chose a nursery purely for thr fact I need all year round care thats reliable. The one my daughter goes to they keep pre walkers seperate from the toddlers. And down stairs in preschool which they go to anytime between 2.5 and 3 depending on their ability. The toddlers do mix with downstairs outside and usually for the last 15 minutes. Which is quiet nice as they get to know the room over a period of time.

I know I had a childminder as a kid. Its one of the few early memories I have. I wet myself and got shouted at the. told to sit on the toilet until I learned how to use it. I just remember sitting on the toilet crying until my mum came (i asked my mum about it years ago and the house still gave me chills And she said it was the last time I went, she was fuming). But it kind of put me off childminders. The fact one snapped at me when I was only just potty trained so I was about 2 and that memory has stuck with me Im like nah I need more then one adult there