Nursery

What kind of things have gone wrong besides your child being unhappy? Are they issues that could be addressed and resolved?

My LG started at a childminders on Feb 24th and we didn't do settle in days, as it can make it so much worse, she was a bit grumpy & unsettled at first but things got better. The other day, when I went to collect her, she was having so much fun playing with another kid I could barely get her attention to go home.

It’s only natural that your child is upset still so young and it’s a big change - it’s likely to be the same with other child care options. Xx

It takes them a little while to settle, it’s such a huge change for them. But I promise they do settle, and once you’re out the other side they do tend to really love being there. I know how it feels though and you question yourself everyday as to whether it was the right thing to do! My 3 year old has got so much out of nursery though and I know it was the right thing for us, now. I would say give it a few weeks, and reassess. You will probably find she has settled in that time, but if not you can look for other childcare options. Unless of course there are actual concerns over the nursery!

Are you concerns about the nursery itself or just that your LO didn’t seem settled? I used to be a nursery practitioner and this is completely normal so I wouldn’t worry too much. I had a child in my room who cried for hours and nobody but me could settle her. Going to nursery can be quite daunting for a lot of children as it’s a big change but eventually they get used to it as the practitioners will find ways to settle them. My oldest went to a childminder from 8 months and she was hysterical when I left for a while, by the time I picked her up she loved the childminder.

Thank you, please can you let me know if this is normal from what I’ve seen; - my daughters ‘key person’ didn’t know who her other 2 babies were she was meant to be the key person of and had to ask - my daughter fell back wards and hit her head on the floor, she wasn’t put on a play mat, zero reaction and I had to intervene - other baby kept taking her dummy and putting it in their mouth, obvs not their fault but they just let it happen without intervene - babies were constantly crying, I get that there’s going to be some but considering they weren’t new to nursery they didn’t seem happy, they just let them cry until it was so bad they had to intervene. I was sat there awkwardly desperate to help. - got an iPad out and was telling me my child will be obsessed with ‘cocomelon’ as a screen free mum and who knows the damaging effects of such shows, very surprised that her key person was telling me and has made me concerned what is being shown to the babies when I am not there

- when babies came over to me when I fed my distressed daughter (breastfed) they didn’t know if the baby drank milk or not. Baby must have been less than one and surely you know between all the staff if a baby has milk? What baby doesn’t have milk? Fundamentally a general feel that they didn’t really care and no time spent with my daughter to make her feel comfortable

Definitely not normal at all!! I was mainly based in the toddler room but I did cover in the baby room time to time and I’ve never come across any of those things being allowed to occur. I had 13 key children at one point when I was moved to pre school and I could tell you about all of those children. The person may have been new to the role or those children but in every nursery I’ve been to, even at my daughters there’s a picture of the staff member with their key children underneath. Babies shouldn’t be left on the hard floor without anything underneath them, especially when the staff aren’t watching them. We never gave screen time to the babies and they should 100% know what babies are drinking due to allergies and routine. I wouldn’t return if I were you 😭

Reading this, I would advise you remove her from this nursery, yes nurseries are busy, but this is personally, giving me bad vibes. The key person should know at least if they have milk or not. I've heard that they do let babies cry until it gets bad, apparently it's normal, but I'm not okay with it personally. I have so much to say on this, but I'm just going to say, personally, I would call in sick this week, take my child & find a childminder.

@Char honestly couldn't agree more with this!

That’s so strange. I would be reporting them and not leaving my child there for a second. Maybe you can check the below website for a childminder. https://www.childcare.co.uk/dashboard

Girls thanks so much! This has really help validate my feelings, I did lots of research and viewings to try find a nursery that felt right so I’m really upset to see all this and just cannot send my little one there, thanks for sharing really appreciate it