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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Would you complain - Nursery related.

25 replies

Changing2011 · 08/08/2011 13:04

Hi - just want some perspective on AIBU to be annoyed with DD's nursery... she is 6 years old and in Holiday club two days per week - £20 per day including lunch, and a light tea of sandwiches or toast. I paid in full for all the six weeks holiday back in July when we booked her place.

Her Nursery is beautiful, the best one I have seen (I looked at a few when DD was a baby) - and she has been attending since 18 months old two or three days a week.

Last week DD went to nursery Wednesday and Thursday - I have arrangements for all other days in the week. On returning home on Wednesday, she was fine in herself but very hungry. I always have her tea ready as DP picks her up so I am home before them (we are coming from different directions and he is passing nursery so it makes sense for him to collect).

Thursday she got out of the car and asked me straight away what was for tea. I had made mince and gravy with veg and potatoes, but the mince was warming through on the stove - I told her it would be 5 minutes, would she like some juice before tea?

She broke down in tears and I went over to her for a cuddle - she said "Mummy Im so hungry". I asked her what she had had for lunch and tea at nursery - she told me chicken pasta at lunch and she had eaten it all. She also said for tea it was 2 cream crackers with cheese spread but she dropped one on the carpet and was told she couldnt have another. She really was very hungry and I was so upset.

I their portions are quite small (probably similar to that of a toddler at lunch) and tea time is a bit of a joke. WIBU to ring nursery and ask them to make sure DD gets enough food? DP thinks I am blowing it way out but I just cant bear to think of her hungry Sad

I could pay a little less and send her with packed lunch but she does like the food at nursery... should I pay for the meal AND send a lunchbox?

OP posts:
HappyMummyOfOne · 08/08/2011 13:07

£20 a day for all day childcare and two light meals is an absolute bargain and their food budget out of that is likely to be not much.

I wouldnt make an issue of it as you would be giving her tea anyway, why not simply send in some healthly snacks that she can eat along side the afternoon sandwich/crackers.

Gonzo33 · 08/08/2011 13:08

I always send a snack with my dd to nursery (she is 18mths). She is always hungry though.

Original poster
Changing2011 · 08/08/2011 13:20

Its not my problem if their budget is tight - they should adjust prices accordingly - Id rather pay more and not have her coming home crying hungry. I dont think its a bargain either, its on par with other nurseries in the area.

I think I will tell them I will be sending snacks in for her and I want them to ensure she eats the food I have paid for as well.

OP posts:
moomaa · 08/08/2011 13:23

Not sure if YABU but I do know one of my kids cries they are hungry occassionally when I know they are just having a bottomless pit day that day and have eaten as much as the rest of us combined......

rainbowinthesky · 08/08/2011 13:24

£20 is very cheap for all day care. Say 8-6 - 10 hours then £2 an hour Shock.

BirdyBedtime · 08/08/2011 13:28

Totally agree that £20 per day is cheap - my DD is going to holiday club one day a week throughout the hols and that is £25 per day and you have to provide lunch for them. To answer the question though if I were you I'd just put in a snack for her to have at tea-time. Not worth causing a fuss as they are not going to change their portionsizes - although very mean not to give a child who has dropped a biscuit another one!

HairyJo · 08/08/2011 13:29

I think it was unreasonable of them to have not offered another cracker and I would perhaps mention that.

I would also send her some additional snacks

fluffyanimal · 08/08/2011 13:30

I would't do it in the tone of a complaint but you could ring the nursery just to discuss it nicely and ask for their version of events (especially on the dropped cream cracker story) and to ask if she is allowed to take in healthy snacks. So long as you make it sound like you want to work with them to ensure she is satisfied.

Sometimes I ask my DS what he had for dinner/tea at holiday club and he'll say " a chocolate biscuit", which is what he remembers most, but after some probing he'll remember the sandwiches and fruit as well...

JustFiveMinutesHAHAHA · 08/08/2011 13:31

I think £20 for the day is incredibly cheap as well, but really not the point. If they are giving a 6 year old lunch and tea it should be enough food or they should charge more. They should not be feeding a 6 year old the same as their 2 year olds and 2 crackers isn't even 'tea' for a 2 year old!!

I would tell them I was less than impressed with their attitude to her dropped cracker and the fact that 2 crackers is not the 'tea' you are paying for!

I would do what you have said as well - tell them you will be sending in 'top up snacks' but that she still requires the meals you have paid for.

Original poster
Changing2011 · 08/08/2011 13:31

I dont know if we get a special rate due to length of attendance or anything - we were paying a lot more when she was at proper nursery there.

She is only in 9-5. I would definitely expect them to give her another cracker if she dropped one - perhaps all the other kids had eaten them!

OP posts:
HairyJo · 08/08/2011 13:33

2 cracker isn't tea imo it's a snack and they should advertise as such that children are given lunch and a light snack

Original poster
Changing2011 · 08/08/2011 13:33

"If they are giving a 6 year old lunch and tea it should be enough food or they should charge more. They should not be feeding a 6 year old the same as their 2 year olds and 2 crackers isn't even 'tea' for a 2 year old!!

I would tell them I was less than impressed with their attitude to her dropped cracker and the fact that 2 crackers is not the 'tea' you are paying for! "

This is my point Just5Minutes - the portions are very meagre in my opinion and they should adjust prices to allow for the food requirements of a school age child.

OP posts:
worraliberty · 08/08/2011 13:34

Are you sure it's not just that she's fed up of going?

Kids know all the buttons to push...illness, hunger, tiredness.

Perhaps she really doesn't want to go anymore or at 6yrs shes starting to realise some of her friends get to stay home?

Original poster
Changing2011 · 08/08/2011 13:36

Worra - she gets to stay at home 2 and a half days in the week - she is an only child and likes the company, she has friends at that nursery which she has known since toddling.

She wouldnt "push my buttons" to get out of nursery, she was pretty straighforward upset and hungry in my opinion.

OP posts:
rookiemater · 08/08/2011 13:38

Sorry I may be missing the point but I can't see what all the fuss is about. Chicken pasta for lunch sounds nutritious and filling and crackers with cheese is fine as an afternoon snack. Perhaps in an ideal world they would have replaced the dropped one but it doesn't sound like a hill to die on.

If you are worried then can you pack an extra snack for her to have along side her nursery lunch ?

worraliberty · 08/08/2011 13:38

Oh, ok. It was just a thought cos you know how easily bored kids can get with places they have to go, rather than places they want to go.

In that case, I'd either send her with a snack or a packed lunch.

cjbartlett · 08/08/2011 13:41

I wouldn't send her at all
Doesn't sound much fun if she's there with toddlers

SarkySpanner · 08/08/2011 13:45

FWIW my boys (4 and 6) would be very unimpressed at a snack of just one cracker with spread on. They would be noticably grumpy and not very nice to be around :)

Not replacing a cracker that fell on the floor is just mean IMO - assuming it is a 'first offence' :)

I would mention to them that she was very hungry when you collected her - perhaps they are giving out toddler portions without thinking.

stealthsquiggle · 08/08/2011 13:45

£20/day including meals is definitely a bargain - I pay between £18 and £25 for different holiday clubs and none include lunch - although the cheapest one does include breakfast and snacks and gives me the option for them to stay to tea for very little extra.

I wouldn't "complain", as such, OP - but would definitely mention that she is coming home hungry - maybe there are second helpings available and she isn't asking?

DS(8) comes home starving from holiday club, despite quite a substantial packed lunch. DD(4) keeps cutting down what she wants in her lunch, and if I put in things she hasn't asked for they come home uneaten (but she does take full advantage of breakfast and snack options when available Hmm)

talkingnonsense · 08/08/2011 13:45

Id just tell them she's coming home hungry and is it ok if you send extra snacks? They will either be grateful, or feed her a bit more! Also it might depend why she dropped it- if she was mucking about and had been warned it might be reasonable not to replace!

Lizcat · 08/08/2011 13:47

I found that once DD went to school she found everything about Nursery irritating if she had to go back there for a day. She would complain about the food (which previously she had loved), the other children who were her friends on and on.
After discussing it with them I really felt that the whole experience was no different to what it had been at nursery including the portion size.
Now she and her friend (who have been at nursery together since they were 3 months old) go to Supercamps, yes I have to make a picnic and it is £36 per day, but they are much, much happier.

redskyatnight · 08/08/2011 14:56

"Tea" at the holiday scheme that my DC go to is a very light snack - it's not intended to be any sort of meal, more just a tide them over till they get home and have proper dinner sort of meal.

I send my DCs with a packed lunch to holiday club and they are always absolutely starving when they get home - more so than when they are at school - so it may not be the portion size per se that is the issue.

Why not ask if you can take fruit for DD to have as an extra snack? Fruit always seems to be acceptable while other food stuffs might not be.

Debs75 · 08/08/2011 15:03

I pay £20 for 5 hours for dd's nursery. She does get cereal for breakfast, a snack of toast and a good dinner so you are definitely being undercharged. DD does however come home 90 mins after lunch and asks for a sandwich as she is still hungry.

If this is the first time it has happened then don't go in all guns blazing just have a word about healthy snacks for her teatime snack, that way she can still have a good lunch and maybe a small pack up for tea.

FWIW the private nursery I worked at did very meagre tea time snacks, often small crackers with squirty cheese and ham on them so it's nothing new that teatime is less filling then dinnertime

RitaMorgan · 08/08/2011 15:07

I'd send her in with some extra snacks for tea.

HelloAgainnn · 12/11/2022 12:09

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