Struggling to decide between a nursery, childminder or other childcare setting for your little one? We’re here to help.
We caught up with educational psychologist Dr Alison Gurney to find out about the different childcare options and the questions to ask before making your decision.
Types of childcare available
There are five main childcare options to choose from. These are:
1. Day nursery
Nurseries take children from babies up to school age. They are usually open all year and have longer opening hours than preschools or creches. Nurseries can be privately run or attached to schools or your workplace. Your child will be given a key person and will be in a room with children of their own age.
2. Childminder
Childminders will look after your little one at their house, usually alongside a small group of other children. They look after children from babies up to school age and often beyond as they start school. Their hours are more flexible than a nursery: they may only work during school term times or offer slightly shorter hours. Childminders are OFSTED registered and have to do certain training and qualifications including first aid.
3. Preschool playgroups
Preschools usually take children from two-years-old. They might be privately run or attached to a school. They are usually term time only and have shorter hours to match the school day. If your child is younger, they might just do a morning or afternoon session.
4. Nannies and au pairs
Nannies and au pairs will look after your child in your house. They are employed by you and sometimes will live in your home too. They can look after just your child or you can do a nanny share with another family. This means they look after all your kids at the same time, or on different days. Nannies don’t have to be OFSTED registered.
5. Creche
Creches only take children for a couple of hours at a time. They might be attached to your gym, your work or a shopping centre.
Remember that not all childcare options may be registered for government support, or you may only be able to use certain offers.
For example, while you can’t use 15 or 30 hours for working families with a nanny, Tax-Free Childcare might be an option, if you’re eligible and the nanny is registered. Be sure to check with your preferred provider to confirm which support they accept to help you to pay for your childcare costs.
How to choose the right childcare
Deciding where to send your child can feel quite overwhelming. To help you make the right choice, Dr Gurney suggests thinking about:
Where the childcare is
Think about the logistics. How far away do you want your childcare to be? Do you want it to be closer to your work or closer to home?
How much it costs
This is a big consideration and will depend on where you live. Sometimes childminders or nannies might look cheaper than a nursery. But when you’ve added up all the extras you need to provide like food or nappies, they might not be.
Each childcare provider sets up their own fees and you’ll need to speak to them to find out more about their arrangements. Try these GOV.UK links to find a nursery school place or a registered childminder.
The government has recently updated their guidance to make sure parents are protected from reported instances of expensive additional charges or ‘top-up fees’ on top of the 15 or 30 hours childcare. To find out more about this, head to this guide from the Education Hub.
What government childcare support you might be eligible for
Government-funded childcare support is expanding, so families who weren’t eligible before may now qualify. It might be childcare hours to help balance costs, Universal Credit Childcare, or wraparound childcare to help juggle early morning school drop-offs.
You can check your eligibility on the Childcare Choices website.
What happens if someone is sick
It’s worth thinking about how reliable the care is. A nursery is usually open all year round and if your child’s key person is off, someone else will step in. If you have a nanny or childminder and they call in sick, do you have a Plan B for childcare?
What happens when you’re on holiday
If you have a childminder, you may not have to pay them when they are on holiday or when you go on holiday. At a nursery, you have to pay for your child’s place all year.
Does it fit with your routine?
Think about your own routines before making a decision. If you start work at 7.30am a childminder might not always be the best option but a nanny or nursery might be better.
Do you need term-time childcare or all year round? It has to fit in with your family’s routine.
Tips for when you visit the childcare setting
You’ve got your childcare shortlist and now it’s time to look round before you make your final decision.
Don’t be scared to be nosy. Ask as many questions as you want when you go for your visit.
Here are her top tips on what to ask, and what to look out for:
Is it a safe place?
You’ve probably spent time baby-proofing your own home. So you want to be sure that wherever your little one goes is just as safe.
Dr Gurney says, “If you’re thinking of a childminder, ask to look round the whole house including where your child will be sleeping. Is it a safe place? And what about the outdoor area at nursery or preschool?”
All childcare settings (apart from nannies who work in your home) have to be OFSTED registered so you can also read their childcare inspection reports.
What training have the staff had?
You want to make sure you’re getting quality childcare for your little one. So ask about the types of training the staff, the childminder or nanny has had - and is still having.
“You don’t want someone who did their initial early years training and then years down the line hasn’t done anything else”, says Dr Gurney.
“You want to be certain you are sending your baby to someone who is really experienced. Ask how much training the staff have access to, including first aid training and health and safety. You can also ask whether they have any accreditation. For instance, a lot of nurseries might work towards accreditations in speech and language therapy, nutrition or social and emotional wellbeing.”
What are the staff ratios?
In England there are safeguarding requirements for early years providers, based on the Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework (EYFS).
These include minimum staff-to-child ratios which sets out how many children one adult staff member can look after, minimum staff qualification levels, and minimum space requirements.
To find out more, visit the GOV.UK website.
Will they work around your baby’s routine?
You might have spent months getting your child into a nice routine and they are sleeping through the night. But a lot of nurseries might not stick to it, says Dr Gurney.
“Maybe you want your baby to have a nap at a certain time but that’s not the time the nursery puts children down for their naps. A childminder might be more flexible, so it’s another thing to weigh up”.
What does your gut say?
This is the most important thing to bear in mind, says Dr Gurney.
When you visit, what is your gut reaction? Does it feel like a place where you want to send your child?
It might meet every single one of your criteria but if you walk in and don’t get a nice vibe, you should take that into consideration.
