I would go with your instincts about the attitudes of the staff. Not necessarily age, just their approach. We picked our centre because the staff were more positive, and never regretted it. Stayed there for a decade and three kids.

With the stories Iam hearing lately I prefer not to send mine to preschool

staff consistency is so important it means they love their jobs – good luck making your choice

I think safety and security is important and the skills needed to care for children . If experienced they should be clean anyway .
Option 2 for me .

You are lucky to have options! Option 1 sounds more preferable to me, better conditions and young energetic workers

I would go for the first option, it sounds amazing! Just because the carers are young shouldn’t be a negative. Youngsters are great with young kids, their full of energy and fun and new ideas. That’s my opinion anyway

I think older carers are more set in there ways and dont take changes if needed as easily. My sons daycare is about 10 years old very clean and has good foods and a mix of old and young carers as well as ones that have grown wih the service and are taking time off to have families of there own. I have found this to be a good mix. Younger ones are more upto date with chidcare rules etc but inexperienced. I would google ask around and see what the locals have to say.

I personally like the more experienced mature ladies when it comes to child care. The young are alright but they have no life experience with children and crisis if it occurs.

have a chat with them and check out their personalities. have a test hour and be there at the daycare and see how they interact with and engage the children and mainly just see if the children like them all or if there is only one that they like, then go from there. it’s hard to judge a person’s care giving abilities by their age so let the actions help you decide. see where your child likes better

The older ones are very good, they often have grandchildren of their own & they know alot more. Not to say the younger ones don’t but they do often have a higher tolerance

I agree with the answers that I would be looking at what values the centre has and ask to take a tour or ask a lot of questions and yes maybe do a walk past to see how they interact with the children. Older staff are great for babies because they love them but younger staff are great for the more active kids and some of their knowledge will be more about developing creativity and learning, older staff might be set in their ways but also might have methods that work. I’ve had a mixture of everyone and I guess everyone had to start somewhere in their career. Good luck let us know what you decide.

Tough one – I can’t even comprehend going through this, but it is a reality. Maybe see if there are any other centres, perhaps with a mix of maturity and youthfulness.

There is nothing wrong with young staff aslong as they know how I do their job well and look after your child

I would go with the mature women, they have more than likely had more experience or try for third time lucky and see if there are any other available

You can find out a lot from just walking around the areas outside the centres at different times of the day. Good time for the first centre would be monday and tuesday morning and arvo play time outside – see if the young staff act like they are still getting over a big weekend of partying, or if they are lively and attentive to the children.
Both young and older carers have pros and cons.
Things I never considered when picking my centre – what are the environmental issues? What sort of people frequently walk by the centre? what’s the housing situation like around the area (ie if there’s a lot of government housing, chances are there will be a few undesirables walking/talking/smoking/possibly swearing at your kids as they walk by)? Do the carers smoke? (if that’s an issue for you, I disliked that my boy used to smell like smokes if he got cuddles off one of the carers at his centre).
What is the view from the toilet area – either the bigger kids or the nursery change stations? The reason why I include this is – a walked by a childcare a while ago, after work, and I shocked that I got to see a carer changing a child’s nappy. I saw everything. Their window was also next to a busy inner city bus stop, so lots of foot traffic and of course people sitting in buses. It also faced onto a 12 story office building. The childcare had crimsafe style screens on it so during the day it was really hard to see inside, but on the darker arov/evenings you could see right in. How many sickos also know that and frequently walk by that window taking photos?

The best way to find out is to visit both with your child and see how your they react to each one. Where I send my children have a mixture of old and young carers and the kids seem to really enjoy themselves. You need to know that your child will be happy and enjoy themselves. It’s hard when you arrive at childcare and their goodbye is a wave as they disappear – at least you know they enjoy it.

I would go with the first option. I’ve found some of the younger staff to be 1000 times better than older staff. In some cases, younger staff have had more recent training and are keen to work on educational programs with the kids. Older staff I’ve found sometimes are a little bit behind the times and not as energetic or wanting to play with the kids. We had one daycare with older staff who sat on chairs under a verandah and watched the kids play. Our daycare now has younger staff who rarely sit down, they are always playing or running outside with the kids.

Go the older ladies, I found my 3 year old responds better to older ladies..I think especially if they are mums themselves it helps as well.

maturity doesn’t mean they are better, I would go with the one you feel more comfortable in leaving your child

My eldest started childcare last year when he was 2.5 and he had 3 girls teaching in his room all young. I was concerned initially but he actually responded beautifully and came along with his development so well. This year he has two ‘mature’ teachers and his development is steady and he responds to them no differently than how he did to the younger girls. I now see that it’s about the person as an individual, not about their age or experience. I’d personally feel better with the cleaner and more nutritious option, but as always when it comes to our bub I say – follow your instinct x