Nursery choices.....

[tinkerbell13]

I will be returning to work when lo is a year old and in order to get him a place for then I need to book the place now (this seems like madness to me considering he's only 4 and a bit months but apparantley long waiting lists locally).

Anyway...I've viewed 4 local nurseries and have got 2 more to view next week but oh my gosh how did you all select which nursery you wanted your lo to go to? 2 of the nurseries I've seen are very new (in terms of facilities and technology - amazing sensory rooms and cc tv for parents) for both nurseries I was very impressed with the baby rooms (0-1 yr) but not so much with toddler rooms but both said that my lo would go straight into the toddler room as would be 1 when he starts, also the number of children is about 18 which I think may be quite overwhelming for him. Out of the other two I ruled one out as I didn't get very good vibes whilst there, I can't put my finger on why though. The fourth one was an independent nursery (the other 3 aren't independent)and the facilities weren't as impressive as the others but they have 9 babies (which they class as 0 - 18 months) then 12 toddlers, I liked the fact that lo wouldn't be straight in with the toddlers and also there's a lot less children in whole nursery. I got really good vibes from this one. I'd be interested to hear people's opinions on how they chose the nursery for their lo and what your deciding factors were?

Thank u in advance for help

 

[littlemonkey]

I think it's quite hard to choose right now because your LO is so little and you don't know what they will be like when it's time to move. I know youve mentioned you don't like the idea of him going straight into toddlers at one, but if he's up and about walking by then the toddler room may be better for them. To me there is a massive difference between an 18 month old and a baby in terms of needs andy development etc.

My personal situation was different in that I left my son at six months and I hated the idea of him being at a nursery and it being like a little school in my eyes. I chose a childminder in the end. However, now LO is nearly two, I think a nursery would be just as good for him. It is so hard to decide. I just remember the first nursery I looked at almost having a nervous breakdown thinking I wasn't ready to leave him yet!

 

[T84]

The one thing I would say is go with your gut. You defo get vibes from places. List your top priorities of what your looking for and what your willing to compromise. You can also view care commission reports for each nursery but nothing works better than motherly instinct as for the CCTV - I working get any work done watching it lol. And then worrying if I seen lo crying!

 

[Kiagirl]

I didn't do nurseries for that reason. I went with a childminder. I just knew when I met mine, others I just had a feeling they weren't right. Keep looking and I'm sure you will just get that feeling!

 

[tinkerbell13]

Thanks for advice everyone. Little monkey - although they cater for 0 plus currently the youngest 'baby' they have is 1 so the age gap shouldn't be more than around 6 months. Yep I think you've hit the nail on the head saying that it's hard to choose as he's so little but I guess I've just got to chose one and hopefully it'll be the right one for when he is 1.

T84 - yes I will defo be going by gut and ofsted report.

 

[Allthingsgirly]

I'll be putting mine into a school nursery when the time comes & if I get this house there is a really good school not too far away that both my neice & nephew are at & also my cousin went to.

Before then I'll attend groups for babies/toddlers etc so that they are getting to mix with other children as I belive to me that it's important that they integrate with other children & that I'm not just throwing them in "at the deep end" when they go to nursery @ 3.

I can only do this though due to personal circumstances at the moment but that could all change nothing is set in stone at the moment but I do dread finding the right nursery/childminder for my child where they will get the best possible care! I've worked in nurseries, school nurseries & schools sadly the few I may have sent my child to no longer exists.

 

[Ella1979]

You may find a nursery that won't put your 1 year old into a toddler room. My 15 month old is currently still in the "baby room", which caters for babies aged 3 months to around 18 months. They have a max. of 6 babies in that room at any one time. They have an intermediate room, which is for babies that are 13 months and over who are walking well; and then a toddler room from around 2 yrs to 3 yrs; and a pre-school room for 3-4 year olds.

Do go with your gut. We saw an Ofsted outstanding rated nursery but felt the rooms were really crowded and cramped. They had loads of stuff (including a kitchen for pre-schoolers), but I hated the lack of space - I think toddlers need room to run around, not constant activity, but that's a personal preference. We went for a good rated nursery with loads of space, indoors and out.

Deciding factors: how the staff interacted with the children (the baby room staff are amazing) and the overall feel of the nursery (looking at other children to see if they were playing happily, whether it was clean - one nursery we visited smelt of wee!).

 

[iWitch]

Chose ours because of its ofsted report, the staff, the meal plan & the fact they have a separate room for them to nap in. The baby room here is 0-2 which I like!

can't really speak for nurseries but don't be fooled by newly done out nurseries or set up. A care home nearby was the new, lovely inside, waiting list & everything...within a year they had an embargo for not following safeguarding procedures :/

 

[Pumpkin9]

As others have said list your top ideals and then go with what you thought as well.

At both the nurseries i had on shortlist they only moved babies or children to the next room when they had the ability to cope, I'e they could walk etc..

Meal plans was high in our agenda, plus how they reported back to us. Conveniance of location and also neither nursery was full so I asked what days were quieter as I only need 1 day a week so I picked from there too.