Childminder, nursery, nanny or grandparent
There is no best option, only the one that fits your child, your hours and your money. Here is what actually differs between the four — including the things nobody mentions until you have already signed.
Who wrote this, and why that matters here
This site is written by a registered childminder. On a page that compares childminders with the alternatives, you are entitled to know that before you read a word of it. We have tried to be genuinely even-handed — including about the real disadvantages of childminders, which are set out below alongside everything else. If you think we have failed at that, tell us and we will fix it.
In short
- A childminder cares for a maximum of 6 children under 8, of whom no more than 3 are under 5, and usually only 1 under 1.
- Nurseries are room-based and larger, with ratios that loosen as children get older — up to 1 adult to 5 two-year-olds since September 2023.
- Funded hours need a registered provider. Childminders and nurseries qualify. A grandparent looking after your child at home does not.
- Sickness and holiday cover is the difference people notice most, and think about least. A nursery is always open. One childminder is one person.
- Ofsted registration tells you a setting meets requirements. It does not tell you your child will be happy there.
- The right answer often changes as your child grows — and moving is normal, not a failure.
The four options, honestly
Childminder
Registered, self-employed, working from their own home with a small mixed-age group.
Works well when
- You want the same person every day, in a home rather than an institution
- Your child is young, or finds big rooms overwhelming
- You need flexibility around unusual hours
- You like the idea of siblings and mixed ages together
Genuinely harder when
- They are ill or on holiday — there is no cover unless they have an assistant or a buddy arrangement
- You want a large peer group of the same age
- Your child does not click with them — there is no other room to move to
- Good ones are often full, sometimes a year ahead
Day nursery
A registered setting with rooms grouped by age and a staff team.
Works well when
- You need reliable opening every working day
- You want a large peer group and a structured day
- You want more than one adult who knows your child
- You value on-site facilities and specialist staff
Genuinely harder when
- Staff turnover means the person who knows your baby leaves
- Your child is easily overwhelmed by noise and numbers
- Hours are rigid, and late pick-up charges are steep
- Illness spreads quickly in the first year of attendance
Nanny
Employed by you, in your own home. You become an employer, with the payroll and legal duties that follow.
Works well when
- You have two or more children — the economics change sharply
- Your hours are long, irregular or unpredictable
- Your child needs one-to-one care, or has additional needs
- You want no commute and no drop-off
Genuinely harder when
- It is usually the most expensive option for one child
- You are an employer: contracts, payroll, tax, holiday, sick pay
- Your child gets less social contact with other children
- If they resign, you have no childcare at all with little notice
Grandparents or family
Informal care by someone who loves your child. Enormously common, and frequently what makes the sums work at all.
Works well when
- It is usually free, or nearly
- Your child is with family who adore them
- It flexes around illness and emergencies
Genuinely harder when
- Funded hours cannot be used for informal family care
- Disagreements about food, screens, sleep or discipline are awkward to raise
- It can be physically demanding, and people rarely say when it has become too much
- There is no formal comeback if it stops working
Group size, and who actually looks after them
This is the difference that matters most for a young child, and the one that is easiest to check.
A childminder may care for a maximum of 6 children under 8 at any one time, of whom no more than 3 may be under 5, and usually only 1 under 1. Those limits come from the EYFS statutory framework, and there are defined exceptions — for siblings, and for the childminder’s own children. Whatever the arrangement, it is the same adult every day.
A nursery works to the same framework but is organised by room and by age, with staff working in shifts. Ratios loosen as children get older: since September 2023, settings in England may operate at up to 1 adult to 5 two-year-olds. A room of three- and four-year-olds has considerably fewer adults per child than a baby room.
The question worth asking a nursery
Not “what are your ratios?” — every setting will tell you they meet them, and they almost certainly do. Ask instead: “Who will be my child’s key person, how long have they been here, and what happens when they are on leave?” The answer to that tells you far more about what your child’s day will actually feel like.
Money — cost and funded hours
Costs vary enormously by region, so any national average will mislead you. What is worth understanding is the shape of each cost.
- Childminders and nurseries charge per session or per day, and both can deliver government funded hours because both are registered providers.
- Nannies are paid a salary, and you carry employer costs on top — National Insurance, pension, holiday and sick pay. The quoted hourly rate is not the real cost. Funded hours generally cannot be used for a nanny.
- Family care cannot be paid for with funded hours at all.
The other thing that catches people: for two or more children, the ranking changes. A nanny that looks unaffordable for one child can be competitive for three, because you pay for the person rather than per child. Do the arithmetic for your actual family rather than in the abstract.
Our funded hours guide covers what you are entitled to, when it starts, and the top-up charges that surprise people.
Sickness, holidays and the things that break
People choose childcare on the good days and then live with it on the bad ones. This section is the bad ones.
Unless they have an assistant or a formal arrangement with another childminder, you have no childcare that day. Ask what their cover arrangement is before you sign, not after.
They will take some, and it may not align with yours. Ask how much notice they give and whether you are charged for those weeks.
Notice periods are short and replacing a nanny takes time. This is the single biggest risk of the nanny route.
Every registered setting will send them home and most exclude for 48 hours after sickness. You are still charged. Budget for it, and work out in advance who takes the day off.
A nursery can move a child to a different room or key person. A childminder or nanny cannot. That is the honest trade-off for having the same person every day.
What Ofsted registration does and does not tell you
Childminders and nurseries in England are registered and inspected. That registration means requirements are being met: suitability checks, safeguarding, premises, the EYFS.
What it does not tell you is whether your particular child will be happy there. A setting can meet every requirement and still be wrong for a child who needs quiet, or thrives on bustle, or is not ready to be one of twenty.
Inspection reports read differently from September 2026
Ofsted’s framework changed on 1 September 2026. The single overall judgement — Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement, Inadequate — has gone, replaced by a report card covering separate areas. An older report and a newer one are not directly comparable, so check the date on anything you are reading. There is more detail in our guide to the changes.
Read the narrative rather than the grade, and weigh a visit more heavily than either. Fifteen minutes watching how staff speak to children who are not yours tells you more than any report.
What to ask each of them
Ask a childminder
- What happens when you are ill or on holiday?
- What ages are the other children, and how many?
- What does a normal day look like — where do you go?
- Who else is in the house during the day?
- How do you handle settling in?
Ask a nursery
- Who is the key person, and how long have they been here?
- What is staff turnover like in this room?
- How do you settle a child who is finding it hard?
- What are the charges beyond the headline fee?
- Can I visit unannounced?
For a nanny, the questions are an employer’s: references you actually take up, right to work, first aid, and a written contract. For family, the hardest and most useful question is the one people avoid — “is this genuinely working for you, and how would you tell me if it wasn’t?”
Our printable question list is designed to be taken to a visit.
How to actually decide
The five-minute version
Start with your constraints, not the options: your hours, your budget, your travel, and how your child handles noise and new people. That usually removes two of the four immediately. Visit the remaining ones and watch the children who are already there rather than listening to the tour. Then ask what happens when things go wrong — illness, holidays, someone leaving — because that is what you will actually live with.
And it is worth saying plainly: the right answer often changes. A childminder at one, a nursery at three for the bigger peer group before school, is an extremely common path and is not a sign that anything went wrong. Choosing again later is normal.
Where to go next
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