New nursery - am I being a bit precious?

[carolinexiao]

Hi all, DD has just changed nursery as we've relocated. She's 16 mo now and was happy and settled at her old one so I'm obviously comparing the new one to that. However she's only been there a week and there are a few things I'm not sure about. Firstly it's big - they have up to 24 under 2s all in one room and quite often when I've picked her up there have only been a couple of staff visible and a few kids crying. There are often "bits" on the floor, broken toys etc, and while the staff are pleasant enough, I don't the impression they can really get to know that many kids and maybe don't care much...
Today was the second time I picked her up, took her home, changed her nappy and saw that whoever changed her nappy last hadnt done a great job of wiping if you know what I mean...
Any thoughts? It's stressful for her to change nursery again so I don't know about looking for a new one, but do you think anything would actually change if I spoke to them? Would like a childminder really but don't know anyone at all in the area and I'd prefer a personal recommendation..
Thanks!

[MrsOverTheRoad]

I'd change nurseries. Doesn't sound precious to me. Go on Mumsnet Local and find your area and ask on there for recommendations.x

[ownedbySWD]

Nope. Not precious.

[LovingLola]

It sounds grim.

[PandorasXbox]

24 under 2’s with only a couple of staff watching them?

I think you should listen to your gut. I know it seems a big upheaval again but better to do it now than later.

Can you ask around for some recommendations? And yes a childminder is another consideration although good ones often have a waiting list.

[insancerre]

Sounds awful and I'm a nursery manager
Look for a new nursery, one with smaller rooms with fewer children and more staff

[jannier]

She hasn't settled yet Id move her. 12 children per adult doesn't leave time for interaction or much care. Its one reason why I don't work n a nursery I prefer a smaller ratio and work with a co minder so that we can have a ratio of 1 to 2 an occasionally 2 to 5. We get our group socialisation from going to familiar groups and networking.

[glow1984]

You’re not being precious. I would not accept that from my nursery at all. If they have 24 kids in one room, there will be at least 4 members of staff in there!

[carolinexiao]

Thanks all! I dropped her off this morning feeling like an evil person...
I think they do have the "correct" staff-child ratio in the nursery, but it seems like people are always getting deployed to do other stuff (tidy up, bins, nappies etc) so for most of the time the number of staff watching the kids is lower...

[Glumglowworm]

Nappy changing is so very basic as far as childcare goes that if they're repeatedly getting that wrong I wouldn't trust them to get anything else right either.

[Whoopsiveovershared]

With 24 under 2s you need 8 staff (ratio is 1:3). So if bins need emptying, you should still see 7 staff as an absolute minimum. 2 is completely unacceptable.

[Goldenbug]

24 babies? Leave. You can't look after 24 little individuals. You end up herding them. Never more than 12 babies and 16 toddlers should be in a room in my opinion (Which is right).

[MiniAlphaBravo]

That doesn't sound good at all, I've never experienced that with my dd's nursery. If change her, stressful as it is, will be better in the long run.

[Melabela10]

I would leave. 24 toddlers in one room is a lot. I visited about 10 nurseries so far and never heard of that.

[wineandcheeseplease]

As someone said 24 under 2s should have 8 members of staff

[Hellywelly10]

You sound very reasonable. Look at Some nurseries and childminders. Good luck I'm sure you'll find something perfect.

[Alexindisguise]

I changed my sons nursery when he moved in to a large room like that. As he's quiet he just got lost in there and barely any adult interaction. I kept hoping things would improve, they didn't.

Move her now whilst it's all still new. Always listen to your gut instinct.

[carolinexiao]

Thanks everyone, we're starting to look around. Hope we find something nice... x x

[wobblywonderwoman]

You can find a better place. Hope all works out well.

[carolinexiao]

Hello again, as I now appear to be incapable of making a decision by myself, I'm asking for your thoughts 😊 Have potentially found a childminder and a smaller nursery but neither has availability til after Christmas. Do I hang on in the current nursery until then? Unfortunately we don't have any family etc nearby who could cover the interim and DH and I both work full time (and I just started a new job so can't really take time off) x x

[PandorasXbox]

It might be wise to wait till Christmas to move him if you can so he doesn’t have too many disruptions. Does he seem happy going atm?

[PandorasXbox]

Sorry she not he.

[Oliversmumsarmy]

think they do have the "correct" staff-child ratio in the nursery, but it seems like people are always getting deployed to do other stuff (tidy up, bins, nappies etc) so for most of the time the number of staff watching the kids is lower

In dd and ds's nursery they had a floater who covered when some one was doing a nappy change or was called away. The person couldn't leave the room till this person appeared so there was always coverage

[ladystarkers]

Take her out

[carolinexiao]

Hi pandorasxbox,
No she's not herself at the moment and I think it's stress. She doesn't eat much at nursery, barely sleeps (20 mins most days), sobs when I drop her off and sleeps really badly at night too 😞 X

[Ttbb]

Definitely change. That is no place for a small child.