We study the problem of whether regular expressions for nested words can be compiled to small deterministic nested word au-tomata (NWAs). In theory, we obtain a positive answer for small deter-ministic regular expressions for nested words. In practice of navigational path queries, nondeterministic NWAs are obtained for which NWA de-terminization explodes. We show that practical good solutions can be obtained by using stepwise hedge automata as intermediates.