Nursery menu a shocker

[sarahandruby]

My daughter is 16 months old, on her menu sheet yesterday she had for lunch a potato pie with ice cream for dessert, tea was 4 slices of muffins with butter and 2 pieces of cake for dessert. Besides her morning snack of fruit I hardly think this menu would make the 5 a day grade. My hubbie thinks I'm over reacting but I think this type of food for any child let alone one so young is not healthy and I would certainly never feed her this type of food. And on top of this she wasn't given her milk due to the nursery "not having any" in stock. Upon saying this my daughter seems happy there although she is very social and could imagine her happy at any nursery. The fees at the nursery at £75 a day. I think I just expect a little more for my money. Has anybody else had any problems with nursery menu?? I have sent an email to the nursery manager, but had no response although last time I had a issue it was never acknowledged or resolved. Any thoughts what I should do??

[Iklboo]

My mum helped out at a nursery once - snack was lemon curd on crackers to 'count towards 5 a day'

[ruddynorah]

£75 a day is a heck of a lot. it's £32 here.

as for the menu do they not publish it in advance? at ours they do so you know what they're getting a month in advance.

you need to ask to see the manager to talk about the food. and the milk.

[SoupDragon]

£75 a day???!

[nailpolish]

£75 a day????????? omg!

its £4.80 per hr here

[RubySlippers]

it is UNACCEPTABLE to not have milk - send a memeber of staff our on lunch break to buy it

before you go off at the deep end, speak to the chef

i noticed a lot of cake on DS's menu and so spoke to the chef - their version of cake is fruit/fruit puree with the merest hint of sponge and all made on the premises etc

does she not have any more fruit and veg?

i wouldn't be happy if they served potato pie and ice cream everyday TBH, but on the odd occasion it is no biggie. IS the food made on site or not?

do they not have a weekly menu planner for you to view?

[detoxdiva]

Jeez - for £75 I'd be expecting lobster & fillet steak

I thought my £41.50 was bad

[RubySlippers]

i also forgot my face at the fees

[oi]

for that price, they are quaffing champagne in their tea breaks

[objectivity]

okay,this is just one day...what are the other days like?

[sundew]

Sarah - check before you complain that the potato pie was only that - it may have had other veg in. Also, at my dds nursery they have fruit at each snack time.

I had a good friend who went in to complain at school after her ds has 'sausage roll' for lunch - turned out it was salmon en croute .

I would be concerned at the milk situation though - how difficult is ity to pop to the shop.

[littlepinkpixie]

£75 Where is it?

[RubySlippers]

i would also be fuming at not having previous concerns addressed

i would be collaring her tonight at pick up time

that is also unacceptable and more worrying than potato pie

[belgo]

75 pounds a day?! No wonder you are angry! I would expest far better food then what they gave your dd - that's a very lazy diet, added to that they obviously lack organisation if they had ran out of milk.

[WilfSell]

A group of parents discussed this with our nursery manager. She was very responsive and got the chef involved, asked parents for feedback, completely changed the main lunch menu and then the snack menu. Lots of fruit and veg, no salt, good range of foods, inc always a vegetarian option, rotated on a 4 week basis.

Try to get some other parents involved though bear in mind there will be different views on what 'good' food is...

We had a very positive outcome.

[VanillaPumpkin]

at fees!

Remember the lo do need those calories though. I agree they need fruit and veg and definitely milk, but ice cream is not so bad imo, nor cake, as long as it isn't all they eat.

Def follow it up though.

[Lizzzombie]

Have you seen the entire weekly/monthly menu to compare what other days are like?

You could ask the nursery how they came to draw it up - eg. did they consult with a dietician/nutritionist.
Our nursery recently redid its snack menu to include more high fat foods as the dietician who designed it stated she had many children in her clinic who were malnourished due to having too many fruit and veg and not enough carbs and fat in their diet.
They have swapped things like rice cakes and digestive biscuit to hula hoops (!?) and yoghurts. But I wouldn't call it in anyway unhealthy.

This is the catering company who supply the nursery with hot lunches, and it seems a well balanced one to me.

here

How does it compare to you?
£75 and the food you have told about definately does not sound good value.
Is a packed lunch an option?

[WilfSell]

ps ask, first, for a copy of the menu... if they don't have one, start there.

[lilyloo]

I would check that what is on her menu sheet is what was served and not just what she had eaten.
Can't imagine them giving bread and butter for tea tbh and if so you have every right to complain.
The milk thing is unacceptable though and if the nursery don't acknowledge your issues i would look elsewhere.
Maybe worth complaining face to face too as they can't ignore that.

[nailpolish]

i was going to sy packed lunch too - but at £75 a day ffs this should include a proper meal and good snacks and milk

[TigerFeet]

God that sounds like the kind of thing I ate when on a pg inspired carb bender

I would ask to see the menu

At dd's nursery (half the price of yours) there is a four weekly rotating menu that lists all meals and snacks with f&v content marked. All cooked on the premises by a dedicated cook.

I find your last sentence a bit disturbing too... why did you never chase through your previous issue?

I'd be looking elsewhere tbh.

[nailpolish]

our nursery has a list for the following week up at the door for everyone to see

[nailpolish]

list = menu

[ThingOne]

£75 a day?

[theSuburbanDryad]

£75 a day?!?!?! Crikey that's a lot! Does that include the milk though?

We pay about £45 a day for ds' nursery and he has things like chicken pot pie, or lasagne, or cottage pie, but they always serve vegetables with it - and they always list the veggies they serve! I remember overhearing one parent complain when the kids had had "fish and chips" for lunch one Friday - was a grilled piece of salmon with potato wedges and green beans!

I couldn't send ds to as nursery where I wasn't happy with the food as it means I can feed him crap the rest of the time know he's getting a balanced meal.

Definitely speak to the nursery manager and explain you're not happy and see what they say. If you're not happy with the nursery and feel your dd could be happy elsewhere don't hesitate to start researching other childcare providers!

[callmeovercautious]

Sounds like something DD would get but if you read the menu rather than just the staff notes it tends to be better.

i.e Cheesy Leek and Potato Pie. Ice Cream - Ok not good every day but I ask for fruit instead if I think there have been too many puddings that week.

Muffins - fair enough, Tea at DDs Nursery is like this and is intended as a light snack not as a replacement for an evening meal at home. Apple cake and Custard (as someone else said loads of poached apple with a little sponge on top).

They also have Milk and a fruit snack at 9.30am. Lunch at 11.30am and Tea at 3.30pm. I give DD another meal when we get home, what she gets depends on what she has eaten that day so I can top up on veg or protien etc.

at the price as well - are you in London? I though Cambridgeshire was expensive at £40 a day.