Babies/toddlers undressed most of the day - is this normal?

[K7]

We're in our second month of nursery and normally pick our 6-month-old up at 3.30pm. However, on the odd occasion when we've turned up early, she's often just lying there in a nappy and vest, sometimes a top. When I've queried it, the nursery staff have said the room is quite warm (it's 20 degrees - I've checked!), or that they were changing her clothes after a meal, or some other reason. When I did our settling in period there, there was another baby who never wore trousers during the day. When I asked why, the staff said her trousers were tight, so they didn't make her wear them after meals. When we first took my daughter down, she used to get through several different outfits a day - they got messy during painting, or food, or some other activity. Today she came back, perfectly clean, in the same outfit I took her down in. Which leaves me to suspect she's not dressed most of the day. Why are they doing this? She's only six months and has a cold at present - unsurprisingly...

[SenoraPostrophe]

they all seem to be dressed at ds's nursery, but it's not 20 degrees. I don't think it would do them any harm at all though and certainly isn't the cause of your dd's cold - you get a lot of those when your child starts nursery, clothes or no clothes.

[NotQuiteCockney]

This wouldn't bother me. Babies are easier to wash than clothes. And 20 degrees is reasonably warm, and babies run hot, in my experience.

And yeah, this isn't why she has a cold, that's probably from being in a closed room with lots of other kids ...

[amber5]

i'm sure it's not why your ds has cold too. but i do wonder whether it's a sign that the staff are a little lazy?? do you have any other concerns?
I absolutely love my ds's nursery - he's been going since 7m, now 3y. only slight thing i first noticed was they only ever did up two presstuds on his vests instead of all three. i know this is a very very very minor thing and it probably makes me sound completely neurotic - but it's just not how i would look after my baby and you want their carers to do as much as you would do yourself don't you?

[K7]

No, I never thought the lack of clothes had caused the cold, but if you have a cold, I bet you don't sit around in your underwear. You keep warm, right? The staff are wearing jeans and jumpers all day, so they're fine... Plus she's not crawling or toddling, obviously, so she's not heating herself up much. When I pick her up, she's normally pretty chilly - certainly her hands and feet feel cold.
Amber5, it's really hard not to sound over-anxious but other things seem a little slap-dash sometimes. I can't put my finger on it. Maybe I need to give it more time. Sigh.

[ThePrisoner]

If the staff are wearing jeans and jumpers, then it can't be so warm that the babies need stripping off surely??

[amber5]

I felt the same. is this you first time using a nursery? it took me ages to get used to someone else looking after my ds, and i still never think anyone cares for him like i do.
i think the main thing is to like the carers, have confidence that they actually care for your little one and try not to worry about every little thing. But if you have a couple of concerns or a 'not good' feeling then trust your instincts and keep 'popping' in when you can until you feel more sure one way or the other.

[hugeheadofhair]

Babies can keep themselves warmer than us adults, I think. Their bloodflow is not clogged up yet (forgive the expression), so what adults wear is not necessarily a good indication of what babies need to wear. I have found more than once that my children kick their blankets off them,when I think it's chilly in de bedroom, for example. Not that I would want my baby undressed most of the day in a nursery, it seems like laziness to me, and that is not a good sign. But I doubt that it would actually harm your baby.

[K7]

Yes, to be fair to the nursery, I don't have major doubts at this stage, just that niggling feeling that they could do a little bit more for her. Oh well. I guess that's how it is for most mummies...

[Miaou]

The leaving them undressed wouldn't necessarily worry me k7, but the variety of excuses they are coming up with for doing so sound a little suspect...If they had a "oh we keep the room very warm so it's often necessary to strip them down" upfront attitude, that's one thing, but the "his trousers are too tight" just sounds plain weird to me!

[Bozza]

Hmm I sort of see your point because it's hard handing over care of your child and not being the one who makes the decisions all the time.

However I do tend to find that nurseries are warm places. The staff at ours wear trousers and polo shirts - that's the uniform. And I agree with nqc - my children are always warmer than me. In fact I have had to force myself to stop putting DD (22 months) in a vest because every time I went to pick her up she was literally sweating, with her hair damp. It just goes against instincts when the weather is so cold but she has a nice warm coat.

[blueshoes]

k7, trust your gut on this. If you think your dd's carer is generally warm and concerned about your dd, the lack of clothes would not bother me. My dd's nursery is stiflingly hot. For some reason, children also don't seem to feel the cold so much. But if you think this lack of dress is a symptom of a much larger issue of slapdashness, then I would keep things under watch for a while.

Yes, nursery cannot be as thorough in terms of care eg my dd's trouser button and top buttons are not always done up. But for babies, the ratio is 1-3, so it should still be fairly good.