Nursery vs childminders

Only thing that puts me off with a child minder is that most have no cover when they are unwell or take annual leave. You might find she comes out of herself more when around other children having fun. You ultimately know your child best. Visit both settings and see what you think xxx

I personally prefer a nursery because of the lack of consistent cover in terms of sickness/holiday.

Also cos at nursery they are with children their own age whereas at a child minder they have children of different ages.

I've been to a lot of local groups with child minders and they seem to just let the kids run wild, I've personally had to tell them that a child with them has pooed and needed changing. Apparently another parent told them 40 mins earlier and they sighed cos they had to do a change.

I like that other staff are around at nursery too whereas you don't actually know who's in the child minders house when your child is present.

My son went to nursery 13months-19months, personally we didn’t have the best experience but I do think that was nursery specific and staffing issues so we were looking to move him and came to the decision that we would need a childminder in future when he went to school as we’d need wrap around care. I found he was overlooked a lot at nursery, he was often quiet and reserved. The smaller setting at the childminders has been sooo much better for him, his confidence has come on massively since he started and he’s now 2.5 (obv could also be down to his age). We’ve had one occasion where she was sick so had no childcare however at nursery there was always staff off sick and different cover etc or understaffed, my son has got on much better with the consistency of having the same adult there everyday. I think you have to choose which will work best for your family set up and which you think your child might thrive in but also if you pick one and think she’s get on better in another

My toddler loves going to nursery as she can play with her peers and also watch the older kids and the babies in the garden.

I imagine there would be less spreading of bugs at a childminder’s though, as there’s fewer kids who can bring in illness.

My child’s nursery only closes 7 days a year, yes, but my daughter is off 2-3 days per month with some kind of nursery plague 😓.

My daughter is shy and reserved and we were worried about her being overlooked at nursery, however we felt the structure and being around a larger number of children would be best. She has come out of her shell so much since starting at 1 (she’s 3.5 now) and I’m sure this is down to being around lots of children.

Her nursery has all ages in together and because her language is so good, she spends most of her time playing with the children that are starting school this year. She also learns to be gentle and thoughtful of the younger ones.