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This is page 1 of 3 (This thread has 30 messages.) First | Previous | Next | Last Go to page

Issue at nursery or is it me struggling to get used to it?

(30 Posts)
By Tue 13-Oct-09 08:41:24 Add message | Report | Contact poster
Hi
My DD will be at nursery full time from December. She is going one day a week from now on to get settled. She had her first full day yesterday.

The nursery seems good but there are a few things bothering me which are each tiny but together are really worrying me about sending her there. It might well just be my issue so please can you help me out

Here are the small issues:
- when I arrive they just I have to physically walk over to a member of staff to hand her over. No one seems to greet me and ask how she is etc. Given it was her first full day I'd have expected something a bit more.
- I had a bag of milk and bits for her and didnt know what to do with it. I needed to talk through what was required when (as it was a mix of EBM and formula) but the girls were so "whatever" about it, it felt odd. The EBM needed chilling and kept away from the hot formula bottle but I got the impresssion it would be slung on the side.

Also our key worker wasnt there. So I had left my DD with two girls I'd never met before. I would have thought my key worker would have mentioned her late start to me last week so I knew what to expect

I was asked to fill in a form detailing her routine (in detail) but I am really not sure that it was refered to- as the sleep times were completely different and very short to what was specified.

Her report sheet said she'd been creamed after her nappy change which she cant have been as the pot of sudocrem came back unopened and not even removed from the bag. It also said one of her bottles was a completely different volume to what was given- that small issue makes me question the valididty of all the info on the sheet

I went to pick her up (and this happened at the end of a settling in session too) it was tea time, albeit an hour after I was told it occured. SHe was really upset, was red eyed, covered in food and had another childs dummy on her tray- she doesnt do dummys.

We are doing BLW and despite talking and annotating the menus indicating stuff she can eat she still was spoonfed soup. Not the end of the world but I thought they might try on the first day- when they had agreed to it.

ALl this is just making me so upset and feel sick- seems wrong but I might be getting worked up over normal stuff.

Please help me here sad
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Tue 03-Nov-09 15:51:05
You poor thing, really hope it all fall into place but trust your instincts. If you're not happy in the coming weeks scout out some alternatives. Not easy in most locations, given waiting lists, etc, but all of these things adding up on your first day when the nursery should have been trying especially hard to make a good impression would make anyone nervous. Chances are things will settle but keep a watchful eye. Good luck!
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Tue 03-Nov-09 14:23:17
Hello
I was the OP (had a name change grin ) and wanted to update on this.

After the issues I went in and spent a lunchtime with the nursery, then DD went for her full day the following week and was fine, week after was better and after that I am now completely relaxed and happy with the care. DD is really settled and Im happy (well apart from the guilt!) with the choice of nursery.

Glad I didnt do a knee jerk reaction to move her as there are no guarantees that another place is any better.

Thanks for everyone who posted and helped me out. I really felt I was going mad at the time.

grin
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Wed 14-Oct-09 08:43:39
yeah... I'm a teacher and having worked in several different settings in various parts of the world, preschools, nurseries and primary schools, there's (unfortunately) not much management can do to change the attitude of the staff - it may change for the short term, but more than likely to go back to how it was in the long term sorry for that. I was quite uncomfortable with what you said had happened. if that happened to my ds I would have felt the same as you
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Wed 14-Oct-09 07:54:59
Off Topic a bit, but can I just say that the Government site for Childminders here dosn't work.

When it will will be anybodies business apart from the people it affects so it seems.

We have been complaining here

To find childcare at the moment on apart from private advertising and word of mouth, you will need to ring your local Family Information Service for a list.
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Wed 14-Oct-09 07:40:21
I'd second Bucharest's post, though I'd also say that the management is bound to say they take it seriously, blah-di-blah, even if they're thinking that you're just being a fusspot. From what you've said, it sounds as if this nursery might not be the best choice for you. The combination of issues that you describe, GYo, would have been enough to put me off completely. The idea that my DD could have been "upset, red eyed, covered in food and had another childs dummy on her tray" makes me feel sick. The idea that nurseries can employ girls whose basic attitude is 'yeah, whatever' makes me really, really angry. The idea that someone could be so cavalier about my children is just unthinkable.

Now I think about it, I'd look elsewhere. I would imagine it's hard enough to go back to work, without worrying about your DD's care. You need to be 100 percent confident that she's going to be receiving the kind of care that you'd give her yourself. I'd think a nanny/CM was more likely to offer this. Some nurseries may do as well, but mass childcare is always likely to be less in tune with the needs/routines of individual children.
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Wed 14-Oct-09 07:29:55
Ditto what the others have said, good that they seemed to listen to your concerns, but keep your eyes peeled now, and be prepared to run for the hills if things aren't significantly better immediately.

Hope all is going well now...
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Tue 13-Oct-09 18:34:37
Well done to you for voicing your concerns
Not to be negative, but just consider that if you were put off by the staff already, it might not be the right match... management can talk to them and sort some stuff out, but not everything iyswim. Just saying, keep your mind open
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Tue 13-Oct-09 16:17:32
Well done for being pro-active and getting your concerns heard. Good luck
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Tue 13-Oct-09 13:23:23
I'm really glad the meeting went well. Fingers crossed for you both
Add message | Report | Contact poster By Tue 13-Oct-09 13:19:03
Update,
Just back from the meeting.

The mgt team were very concerned about the issues and took them very seriously.

Seems there are reasonable explanations for the issues and the biggest thing was lack of communication from the team on some of the things that I'd raised. If they'd given me more info about her day, I'd have been happier.

They acknowledged that there was a big issue in the lack of support for the drop off, so that will be addressed.

Im going in on Friday to do a BLW lunch and to talk about it in more detail.

Feels much more positive but I will also look at some alternatives in case we have to jump ship.

THanks for helping me out this morning- felt like I was going mad.
This is page 1 of 3 (This thread has 30 messages.) First | Previous | Next | Last Go to page
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