I am lucky enough that within my group of friends I have teachers, childminders and nursery nurses who could tell me some of the things to look out for when choosing a nursery, and viewing it. Leaving your baby is tough enough, so you need to be sure that you've chosen the right place to have some peace of mind.
Here are my top tips, but please bear in mind these items are all open to interpretation. We're all looking for different things from our caregivers, as are our babies.
1. Administration
Consider the first contact you made with the nursery. How did they come across? Did they care about you as a potential parent? How organised were they and how quickly did they get the brochure etc to you-these people are going to be monitoring your child's development so you want them to be totally on it.
There are other little things that jump out at you. Once of the nurseries we viewed didn't give me the prospectus until we went to view it and it was littered with spelling and grammatical errors. Now, I am not perfect but I think as an educational body this should be something they ARE good at. Or at least running a spell check on!
2. Security
When you visit, how easy is it for you to get in? I know some things may seem like a palaver but I don't want just any old Tom Dick and Harry being able to get into the nursery to access my child. I believe showing I.D. and having the door closed on me until it's checked is a necessary mechanism to protect my daughter.
3. Adhoc baby caring
There are some situations you just can't set up, but during my experience of different nursery visits the following happened.
-Minnie had a nosebleed - She was twelve weeks old, so I immediately went into panic mode. The nursery staff were incredible, reacted quickly, administered first aid and calmed me down. I saw first hand how my daughter would be dealt with.
-The Head of the baby room looked after Minnie while I had my tour. She settled well with her and was very interested in the other babies. However, she asked me if she could feed her a breadstick knowing she was twelve weeks old.
-When my daughter was crying while I was asking questions, a staff member came and took her, keeping her entertained in order that I could obtain the information I needed.
4. How were the children behaving/appearance
If they are all sitting on the carpet having a story and some are trying to get away, it's likely they don't do this often and it's a set up activity for your visit.Are the children's clothes and faces clean and presentable? Do they have runny noses that need to be wiped?
Are the children interacting happily with all staff? Not just the practitioners, but the administrative staff too?
5. What are the staff ratios/qualifications
There is a minimum staff to child ratio depending on the age of your child. How far above and beyond this do your nursery go? What do they do to cover lunches and breaks? Or unexpected leave?
Similarly what percentage of the staff are actually qualified? You want it to be a good proportion, not that just one staff member has a degree.
6. What kind of facilities were there?
When I say this I don't mean who had the best toys. What I am getting at is what setting was the most in keeping with your own home, and what your baby enjoys. For example, Minnie is an incredibly tactile baby. She's never been interested in the 'normal' toys, seats or cribs. The nursery we finally chose uses a lot of sensory play and the room is full of fabrics, natural materials, plants, vegetable and so much more.
For us this also meant we were able to continue her play and development at home easily and, dare I say it, cost effectively. If we're told she's been enjoying exploring the vegetables, we can easily replicate this for her. If on the other hand we'd been told she's been enjoying the jumperoo, it's not so easy to achieve!
7. Do they follow your routine/methods?
This might seem silly to some, but when you've worked for nine or twelve months to get your baby into a routine, you don't want someone mucking it up. In fact if they do you're likely to have a crazy Mumma moment.
Also, if you've decided you want to rock your baby to sleep will they follow that? Or conversely will they do that if your baby struggles, when actually you're training them hard to self settle?
8. What will your baby be eating?
Again this is more about keeping things in line with what you offer at home. I don't agree with giving children one (or two!) adult sized chocolate biscuits for their afternoon snack as I saw at one nursery. This doesn't mean that's right for everyone.
I also didn't want to have to prepare and bring my own meals. I chose a nursery that freshly prepares home-cooked meals on a daily basis and would serve them in the manner I wanted - pureed or finger foods. I also wanted to see the menus that are offered and know how frequently these are updated.
9. What's included?
This might have a knock on effect to number 10. If a nursery seems to cost less overall but you have to bring your own nappies, food and formula how much are you actually saving?
10. Cost and payment
For me, cost wasn't much of a consideration as I would eat beans on toast for her to go to the right place. But, for some this is a real factor, as in the difference between it being worth going back to work or not. Just because somewhere is more costly, it doesn't make it the right place for your child.
With regard to payment, how does it work? Some places like a term up front, which can be a bit of a shock when you've been on maternity pay for the past several months. Do they accept childcare vouchers if this is something your employer is offering you? Do they need payment by a set date of the month and, if so, does this fit in with the dates that you and your partner get paid?
11. What policies do they have?
Read these thoroughly before making a decision. Points to consider:-
Do they close for school holidays?
Do they charge you when your child is sick and for holidays that are pre-planned.
How long do you have to keep an unwell child away for?
When do they update their curriculum?
How often do they review development?
12. Waiting list and booking procedure
For some of the nurseries close to me you need to put your child on the waiting list before they're even born, and I know that this is the case for some areas of London, Surrey and Kent.
Also check the booking procedure and what days would be available for your child.
13. Communication methods
It's best to check how you're updated on your child's day, not only at the age of entering, but throughout their pre-school years. It's also good to ask questions about how frequent parents evenings are, how you can find out what they're studying and whether the nursery will flag any developmental concerns to you.
14. Access to outside
Finally, for me it was important that Minnie wasn't always locked away inside a room and that she had access to outside space.
15. Practicalities
Things like opening times in relation to your shift times, vicinity to work for pick up and drop off also play a really important part in deciding where can work for you.
The nursery we chose was Reflections. It has turned out perfectly and really does suit our daughter. However, if it hadn't I would have happily considered moving her to another setting.
You can learn more about our nursery here.
Please let me know of any tips that you found useful during your nursery hunting, and whether there is anything you would change doing it for number two (or three, four and so on!!).
Lucy x
