Help finding a nursery please

[olympia]

Hi

I am due to move to East Dulwich in the summer and am trying to find childcare for my son who will be 9 months by the time I am due to return to work. I have looked through a number of threads on this forum and this has got me started but I am still having difficulty figuring out which nurseries will take babies. I am going to look at My Favorite Nursery on upland road but was hoping to get a few more names/places for me to approach.

Any help and advise would be greatly appreciated.....it's a daunting task isn't it??

thanks

[katwhite]

Mother Goose (3) - off Wanley Road (behind the big sainsbury's on dog kennel hill) takes babies.

My little one is very happy there, she started at 10 months.

good luck!

[olympia]

Thanks katwhite, I will give them a call. How did you find leaving your little one at that age? How often does she go? As you can imagine I am very anxious about it despite thinking it would be a breeze before he was born...now I can't imagine handing him over to anyone!

[Pickle]

Hi Olympia,

It's worth doing a search (search box top right of your screen), as this is a topic which comes up frequently and you should find lots of good advice on older threads.

Good luck.

[olympia]

Thanks Pickle, will give that a go.

[SR]

Hi Olympia,

I used the ofsted site to get an idea of nurserys in the area and also a rough idea if they are any good. Also search the internet for questions to ask, there are things you might not think of i.e. take your shoes off at baby area, what food do they prepare, is there a baby sleep area, what is the outdoor area like. I asked the same questions at each place and then I got an idea of what was good. The main deciding factor though was good old gut instint :-)

ofsted inspections - http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/Inspection-reports/

good luck.

[Monkey]

I have only good things to say about Asquith Peckham Rye on Waveney Avenue.

[olympia]

Sr & Monkey

Thank you for you response, will look into both your suggestions.

Today I am actually feeling very anxious about leaving him at such a young age (he will be 9/10 months). Does anyone have any positive supportive things to say so I can feel better about this? I really have no choice as have to go back to work, although it will only be for 2/3 days.

thanks again

[Monkey]

Nurseries offer a happy, caring and safe environment for little ones, IMO.

I put my daughter in nursery full time when she was four months old without any qualms and we've never had any problems with her crying or being unhappy. She is now 18 months old and a complete delight. She loves other children and has bonded really well with nursery staff. She does lots of things during the day: including mark making, singing etc... which she probably would not do with me at home. My husband drops her off in the morning and she happily goes to sit down at the breakfast table and waves him goodbye. And she loves it when I pick her up in the evening, running to me to give me a big cuddle.

I hope our story makes you feel better! As your little one will be a bit older when you first leave him at nursery, he might take a bit of time to settle but all the babies in the two nurseries we have attended looked settled and happy. No reason why your little one would be any different. What you could do between now and then is take him to lots of playgroups to get him used to other adults and children.

I hope this helps. Don't worry. Just visit as many nurseries as you can to get a feel for what's on offer. Ask about food, staff turnover, activities, how long the manager's been at the nursery, is she good with the staff, does she know all children by names etc... and just look at the children: are they active and happy?

[olympia]

Thank you Monkey for taking the time to respond, your story really helps.