nursery - children outside all day in the snow

[jlm122]

I just wondered if any other nurseries are doing this.

Children playing outside all day, on warmer days not a problem but today it's snowed all day, i collected DD and she didn't have her gloves on, her hands were freezing she could barely move them, got her home and got her wetsuit off and her sleeves were wet and cold i'm assuming from hand washing. Feet were freezing, the nursery put a statement out a few weeks ago asking parents not to ask staff to take the children inside as they can't due to COVID.

I don't feel this is right but on the other hand i'm a key worker so need to send her, she's settled and will be starting school in September so i'm not sure if moving her to a different nursery would be the best thing for her.

I think you are doing the right thing OP keeping DC at home and considering other options.

As other posters have said, it is one thing for children to be outdoors all day in a forest school provision that the parents have chosen, with appropriate access to indoor space and opportunity to warm up if needed and with the understanding that children will attend wearing certain types of clothing etc.
It is quite another for a standard nursery setting to alter their offering entirely.

The message from the nursery in October states that the children will have access to spaces inside if they choose to play indoors and it seems that this is not the case from your updates which is poor communication on their part. I am a nursery school governor and I don't know any local provisions who are doing this with the kids constantly outside. I can imagine many parents would voice concerns if we were to do so too.

My kids love being outside however if I imagine me and DH spending an entire 8 or 10 hour day in our back garden, even it was chucking it down with rain and the kids were wrapped up, and even eating outside (albeit it under a small shelter) and telling the kids they can't go indoors and utilise the space there. I think it is just basic common sense to think it would be pretty bloody miserable after more than about 45 minutes.

MintyMabel

I didn't say they did get hypothermia from wet sleeves, I said that a placement would be negligent to allow children to get cold to the point of hypothermia, however that happened. I was quite clear that wet sleeves did not in and of itself constitute a safeguarding.

I'm not buying thermals,

Well if you don't send your child appropriately dressed for the conditions then a cold child is going to be what you are picking up at the end of the day.

@IAmongstTheWorld

The child was cold because of wet sleeves and being out ALL DAY in freezing cold weather.

Read the bloody posts! 🙄

@MintyMabel

So a child with wet sleeves and hands out in the cold ALL day isn't at risk of hypothermia?

Go back to bed.

🙄

So a child with wet sleeves and hands out in the cold ALL day isn't at risk of hypothermia?

No. Wet sleeves not an issue and if parent wraps up warmly enough, being outside all day not going to cause hypothermia. It's not the bloody Antarctic. As kids we were out all day ski-ing in much colder temperatures at the top of bloody mountains and nobody got hypothermia. The kids aren't sitting shivering in the corner they will be running about playing. I feel sorry for nurseries these days.

@MintyMabel

You're talking absolute rubbish!!

They're at nursery not skiing up and down a bloody mountain! You get hot when you ski

• I've skied in Europe and canada and every-time I have been I get hot! They are playing outside all day playing with toys and going on play equipment so their hands will get wet!

My DS was playing in the garden yesterday (in the snow) with waterproof fleece gloves and after 15 minutes his hands were wet!

It is up to the nursery to make sure little hands aren't wet and cold especially if they're outside all day! Do you expect his mum to drive there to dry his hands?? How is it her fault her child got in the car with freezing cold hands and wet sleeves.

A little child of nursery age out all day in the cold with wet sleeves can get hypothermia.

I'd be pretty angry and I'm in a Nordic country where preschool children need to have a lot of heavy-duty outdoor clothing. It's extremely expensive and I wouldn't generally advise people in the UK to buy the whole lot that you need here for the handful of days that it would be useful. It's over 100 pounds for a quality snow suit that is actually appropriate for wet, sub-zero conditions. And then what, the weather clears up in a week or so. Most people don't have that kind of money to burn. We have to invest in a suit like that (and all the balaclavas, ski mittens, thermals, snow boots as well) because the kids are wearing it every day for months on end.

Besides which it seems the staff aren't even bothering to make sure the child is wearing the clothing she does have or that her clothing remains dry which is absolutely vital. That is neglectful.

And even with the right clothing, I wouldn't want my children outside literally all day long in the kind of weather you describe. They can be outside for a fairly long time but if it's windy or there is precipitation, eventually faces and hands will get chilled. A still, clear, cold day is a different matter.

My DS was playing in the garden yesterday (in the snow) with waterproof fleece gloves and after 15 minutes his hands were wet!

Although here the obvious answer is that those are not waterproof gloves. You can get actual waterproof mittens, both the simple rubber kind that go over other mittens (e.g. www.polarnopyret.co.uk/collections/1-6y-gloves-mittens/products/kids-rain-gloves-navy-6months-6years-60471510-483) or all kinds of expensive padded ski gloves that will actually keep hands dry for snow, puddle or mud play.

It's just that quality costs money and it's very understandable that not everyone can afford it or even if they could, it's not always a good investment if it's for weather that is very rare where you live. Same reason I spend almost no money on shorts for my children.

You'd also have to be able to trust the staff at your nursery to keep the gloves on the child!

They're at nursery not skiing up and down a bloody mountain! You get hot when you ski

Kids get hot when they are outside playing. DD has just been out for a couple of hours, spent the whole time sitting or crawling in the snow (she can't walk) She was dressed appropriately and is neither cold nor wet under her sallopettes or snow jacket.

My DS was playing in the garden yesterday (in the snow) with waterproof fleece gloves and after 15 minutes his hands were wet!

Buy better gloves.

@MintyMabel @PuffinShop

I don't need to buy better gloves. They are very good gloves thank your. Funnily enough they're children skiing gloves!

They got wet because he was playing with toys in the tuff tray and breaking ice with his tools.

Kids get wet when they're playing. End of.

I don't need to buy better gloves. They are very good gloves thank your. Funnily enough they're children skiing gloves!

You do if they were wet after 15 minutes. DD's are proper ski gloves, her hands were bone dry after 2 hours playing in snow.

@PuffinShop

The gloves do look good but at £26 I don't think most people could afford them like you say.

I think we're missing the point though that the children shouldn't be out all day unless it's specialised like forest school. From your post I think you agree with that.

@MintyMabel

Honestly just go away Mabel, you're boring me.

You think children can't get hypothermia playing outside all day in the freezing weather with wet sleeves. You're blaming the mother for not sending her child in nursery with the right clothes.

Children cannot regulate their temperate as much as we can. There is no reason why they shouldn't be allowed inside the nursery to keep warm or at least given the option.

Honestly just go away Mabel, you're boring me.

Haven’t quite worked out how Internet forums work eh?

You think children can't get hypothermia playing outside all day in the freezing weather with wet sleeves. You're blaming the mother for not sending her child in nursery with the right clothes.

Yes I am. Refusing to buy thermal clothes or use proper layering, readily available, after the nursery have said kids will be outside all day is a parenting fail. Kids playing outside in normal winter temperatures don’t get hypothermia. OPs kid didn’t get hypothermia. No such thing as the wrong weather, just the wrong clothes.

The question is does the OP want their toddler playing out all day in the cold? No so the solution is around that preference not how to avoid hypothermia!

What about the ability to 'play' inside and the development of that skill, is this not important anymore.

She did though, she signed the patently agreement for this - in July!

OP didn't sign up for a fully outdoor nursery experience. From her posts it seems as though before Covid the setting was a regular nursery with indoor and outdoor provision, so not set up to cater for children being outdoors all day in all weather.

Nobody got hypothermia from wet sleeves

They could very easily if they were booted outside all day 🙄

Some of these comments are ridiculous. Some people obviously have nothing better than trying to make strangers feel like crap over the internet. How sad (for you).

How about if the toddler doesn't want to spend their life outside all day, how horrible for them if they hate it and have to endure it for hours on end. It's not a 'virtue' being outdoorsy!

@PuffinShop if you don't mind my asking, how many layers of wool or fleece do your kids wear in Nordic sub-zero temps, and do you use a padded snowsuit or a waterproof shell? And also, any tips on getting those mittens you linked to work?! We do have the padded waterproof kind (very similar to those) but I find they won't go on properly (can't ever get thumbs to stay in thumb holes) and DS (2) is miserable as can't use his hands to play outside at all.

Two toddlers escaped from a nursery in Devon today. One was found walking alone by a busy road.
My very first thought was settings being too busy having to focus on being covid safe, that other things start slipping.

@MintyMabel

Haven’t quite worked out how Internet forums work eh?

I have, thank you for your concern though. I just don't like critical people who think they know better when they don't. Usually these people are insecure.

Yes I am. Refusing to buy thermal clothes or use proper layering, readily available, after the nursery have said kids will be outside all day is a parenting fail. Kids playing outside in normal winter temperatures don’t get hypothermia. OPs kid didn’t get hypothermia. No such thing as the wrong weather, just the wrong clothes.

Pre school children can easily get hypothermia due to not being able to regulate their temperate as well as adults.

Have you seen the Yorkshire farmer. She makes a point of not letting her (preschooler age) children outside for too long as she said children at that age can easily get hypothermia but you know better right?

My DS gloves were wet because he was dipping them in water (tuff tray) and breaking ice and not just crawling around the floor like a baby.

You are also missing the point. OP doesn't want her child to be out all day in this weather. I wouldn't either and looks like most other posters feel the same.

But you continue to say "parent fail" if that makes you feel better.

Some of the comments on here are shocking. I would not be happy if my DD was kept outside all day and I picked her up with frozen hands and wet sleeves.

The comms from the nursery seems unprofessional and inconsistent too.

That's crazy, where I am it was -3
But feel like -7. Poor kids probably frozen 🥶