I thought it would be easier to find a nursery with a no outdoor shoes policy !!

[Noshoesnursery]

Every one so far that I’ve looked at they all wear outdoor shoes inside meaning the carpets and rugs are not clean ? I thought they would be outdoor shoes off at the door for children and staff and just clean indoor shoes inside ?

is it really that unusual ? It’s a deal breaker for me but I need to find one !!

Ours even sleep outside all year, they have special sleeping bags and guess what, no shoes. Only insulated socks.

I'm going against the tide here I know, but in places like Japan, children are taught to wear inside shoes even at school. They also help clean the place to learn about responsibility.

I used to shudder seeing children marching through dog poo on the way to school (because some owners still let their dogs go anywhere and leave it) then straight in to sit on the carpet in reception class or into the hall to sit for assembly where they would later be having dinner.Ugh.

It's shoes off in our house.

My Dc went to nursery where they had to change into slippers, so it is possible to find.
Other nursery and preschools I know didn't have this policy. But the babies tend to be in baby rooms and not crawling around the main areas with the older ones.

I think you need to find a very patient childminder!

I thought ofsted policy stated early years had to have free flow outdoor and indoor activities? Maybe I'm wrong, all of the nurseries my DC have attended have been like this. At DDs nursery they will change into wellies for the park if it is raining. Our nursery has a huge waiting list so if you need a nursery I don't think you can be this picky.

Same. We chose it specifically because it had lovely free flow access to playing outside.

I do understand, having grown up in Europe where we had to take "indoor shoes" to change into when entering school. Otherwise the caretaker would kick your ass if they caught you running around in wet/dirty shoes!!

The shock I had when we moved the UK and I saw people were just walking into their houses in their shoes and not changing into slippers!

@wickerlady exactly this! Don't mind mud but dog shit gets trodden everywhere when people leave it. Disgusting. And dangerous to health, can lead to blindness etc. Shoes off inside 100%

Do you not allow your child to crawl around the playground?

This seems so unnecessarily limiting to me. Shoes on in our nursery, including in the baby room, and indeed frequently in our house. Our children seem to have survived.

Mine too - I have fond memories of them all cosy in their prams outside the back door ☺️

The nursery my daughter went to you left the shoes in a little sack thing hanging on the wall with each of the kids names on and they wore non-slip socks inside in the play areas and rooms. The outside play area had soft flooring so they also wore the socks there, shoes back on as we left.

And yes, free flow to the garden is a really lovely thing for a nursery to have.

I work with a nursery which has children aged 2-4.

The children have the choice of whether they want to be inside or outside. The older/more co-ordinated children often choose to put wellies on to go outside. However, due to the free-flow we would need a separate member of staff just to be changing shoes every time a child went in or out.

It's not a matter of just changing shoes at the door when children arrive or go home.

Unless your child is a baby, I think you're being completely unreasonable.

Ours was entirely free flow too. Loved it.

My rooms are all inside shoes, however you do need to be aware that during fire drills, those inside shoes also go outside because the staff can't stop to change shoes if the fire alarm is going off.

Toddlers towards are taught and assisted to change their shoes and can completely do it in pre School.

To be honest oP once your Dc is in classroom style childcare, and then moving on to school etc, the floor is the least of your worries. It’s the coughing in each other’s faces, grubby hands wiping snotty noses, children sent in ill and sitting beside your Dc because mum can’t get time off work etc that will vastly overshadow anything your Dc will contract from a floor.

Our lovely nursery did have this policy (shoes went in a basket by the door, and parents had to take off their shoes in the lobby before entering) and it worked well. However they have small room (6 rooms rather than 3) so in terms of numbers it wasn't too bad and children were putting on their own shoes by 18mths-2 yrs. However they were recently taken over by Busy Bees and have been forced to have a shoes on policy (allegedly it is a "safety" thing). As we head into Autumn, we have been asked to provide wellies for the garden to try and stop wet shoes being traipsed around.

Yeah exactly. They're going to lick each other, eat worms, take it in turns to chew the same toy without anyone cleaning it in between.

Are you English? I know in other cultures taking your shoes off when going inside is as normal as using a plate to eat, but in England we don’t really tend to use it as a blanket rule for some reason.

I get it OP. It’s pretty gross

I can relate to the disgust of wearing shoes inside the nursery, however I have visited over 10 in my area and none of them have indoor shoes policy so ... you sort of don't think about it and live in a fairy world of ignorance. :D

Life is gross. Especially life with young children. They get things like headlice and worms - which our nursery ( not particularly unclean!) warned us pass between children because they put their hand down their pants to scratch their bottom. 😬 Then pick up a crayon …

I wouldn’t expect a nursery outdoor area to be covered in dog poo. And it’s completely different saying your baby groups can manage this - there’s a 1:1 ratio . Agree with others that you’d be better staying away from nurseries

I think free flow with constant garden access is preferable to a pristine floor! Although I don't like the idea of growing feet in hard soles all day so would use barefoot style shoes.

Even when they're 4/5 and in reception they still roll all over the floor and at that age everywhere is obviously proper shoes.

I'd expect the baby room to be no outdoor shoes but mine never went to nursery when that tiny so not sure.

Try Japan (lighthearted).