What's your priorities when choosing a nursery?

[Lucy1977]

Hi

DD was on the waiting list for a nursery but last wk they told me they wont have a place for her when I go back to work.
I'm panicking (go back to work in 6 wks time) and so next wk I'll be looking at other nurseries for her but it's been months since I looked into the one we decided on and I've forgotten what the most important things were.

So, what do you look for in a nursery? I've found my old list of things to ask about: Opening times/holiday pay/differenct rooms for different ages/what meals they provide/no of nappy changes per day etc. but so worried that I'm doing this quickly and will over look something very important (DD is out first and currently only baby).

Thanks in advance

Lucy

[ipodthereforipoor]

ask for an hour to sit in the room while they play with DD.

I did this after i thought I had decided on my nursery and it was very telling - much more so than just looking around and asking questions.

Changed my mind after this hour - thankfully they hadn't prepared my contract to sign on that visit so I just phoned out of hours and left a message to say I didn't need the place!

Have ow found new nursery and DS starts tommrrow

hth

[puffling]

Hygienic e.g. no shoes rule
Friendly kind staff without too many v. young trainees.
Home from home environment.
Quiet place for sleep if possible.
Generally somewhere where you won't feel worried about leaving them.

[BrummieOnTheRun]

agree with ipod. I'm about to change choice of nursery following settling in sessions. Had a good ofsted report, but i think standards haven't been maintained. Poor management structure. kids spending too much time in mixed age groups because it's 'quiet'. If I was going to list:

1. Obviously safety!

1. Hygiene - definitely. you'll be off work looking after them every time they catch something.

1. Activities - scheduled interesting activities, even for the 1year olds. for the older kids (mine's now 3), I'm horrified how little they were going to push them on reading, etc. don't expect boot camp, but really! personally i think it's a good sign if they are doing non-standard stuff with them (baby yoga, spanish, french, cooking) because it shows they're taking devt seriously rather than just babysitting.

1. Quality of the management. Do they have high standards, good procedures.

[Mumpbump]

I think your gut instinct is important. I had a look around a national nursery and the environment was so clinical, I didn't like the idea of ds being there. The nursery he went to is much more homely, but in a converted church so roomy as well.

In terms of real concerns, enforcing the ofsted requirement that no shoes are allowed in the baby room was important to me - the same national nursery didn't ask me to take my shoes off! Turnover of staff, I guess, and how many people will be looking after your dd and who her key carer (can't remember proper term) will be.

[aDad]

yes, gut instinct i think - good impression of place and staff
do the kids there look happy?
you know better than anyone what your child will like

[BettySpaghetti]

I very much agree with the gut instinct thing. When you visit you will know, at the very least, which are in short-list.

When looking at nurseries for DD and DS (4 yrs apart) I opted for the ones that I had thought, before visiting, I wouldn't like.

Pre-visit, I thought that the one DD went to would be too big (70+ children) but that was the one that had loads of space indoors and out doors, did lots of art and craft and invited DD to join them in an activity when we went to visit. In contrast the nursery I thought I would like was too clinical and too hung up on tidiness (no evidence of messy play, painting etc) and had a small impractical garden.

So, yes, visit and pick up on the atmosphere.

[BrummieOnTheRun]

Each to their own, pamina, each to their own! that's what this is all about

[LunarSea]

How much chance they get to spend time outside? We chose one which had loads of outdoor space, and encouraged them to be outside and active as much as possible, over one which did French at 2 but had no outside facilities at all.

[Marina]

Staff turnover
Special Needs Policy (you can tell a lot about a nursery from its SN provision even if your child is unlikely to need it)
Look closely at the menu and ask how much of it is freshly prepared on the premises.
Our priority was always a play-based, child-centred approach, with guided activities from about 2.5. Ds got to aged four with never a bored moment at his brilliant nursery and had not learned any reading or writing at all. He picked both up at school in weeks.

[jellybellie]

-Health & Safety
-Staff turnover
-Freshly prepared food and varied menu
-Happy children
-If we are talking about babies rather than toddlers, a separate quiet room for sleeping
-again with babies, an understanding that they will follow any kind of routine you have established re sleeping and eating times etc to maintain continuity
-Lots of opportunities for messy play and interesting activities for all ages
-Lots of space to play outdoors

this list could go on forever...

[Marina]

Definitely the separate quiet room Jellybellie. Essential for babies.

[jellybellie]

I was amazed that some nurseries don't have this even for 6 month old babies - my ds has always slept well at nursery and I know its because of the environment - there's no way he'd sleep if there was other more interesting stuff going on around him!!

[Lucy1977]

Sorry everyone, been offline for ages and forgot about my post.

Thanks for all your replies.

Puffling - do some nurseries have a no shoes policy? I wasn't asked to remove mine at any of the nurseries I've looked round!

Quiet room - none of them had that either and they sleep in pushchairs.

Yikes, I thought I was quite happy with the one I found today but the points you mention have made me realise it's probably quite crap!

Lucy