in not wanting my 18m old to pour buckets of water over himself this weather

[Morph2]

Take DS 18m to the local surestart every week. A lovely session, fairly new centre and fantastic range of toys.

The session is an indoor and outdoor session, has various activities that the kids can do

They have water play outside which was great in the summer and is one of DS fave things. But now its getting a bit chilly its not so great when he manages to chuck a bucket of water over himself outside. I asked today if they were going to be having the water out every week, and was told yes as surestart have to offer a range of activities.

I don't mind DS playing outside but water this weather??

YANBU. Brrrrrrrrr even thinking about it.

Water drys. He's a kid. Take a change of clothes. Just sayin'

YANBU if he doesn't get changed afterwards.

He'll catch cold

take a towel and a change of clothes. he will be fine.

Do you leave him, or do you stay with him?

Well if you stay with him, you need to keep an eye on what he is doing if you don't want him to get wet, if you leave him you could ask them to not let him play in it, however assuming he is changed after and not left in wet clothes for the rest of the day i don't see the harm in it.

They do need to offer a wide variety of activities and children love playing in water, they are only following the guidelines set out by the government.

If they don't provide waterproof clothes then you could send some in and a pair of wellies.

Stick him in an all in one waterproof and wellies, let him have fun then get changed when finished!

i am there so i can (in theory) keep him away from it. They do provide 'water proof' clothing, but its really just an apron so is ok for splashs but not against a full tidal wave which DS likes to create.

I do take a change of clothes and i change him at end before putting him in pushchair to walk home, i'm just thinking should i really let him run around outside in wet clothes for the hour and a half of the session. its not so bad today but i'm thinking more when the weather is at freezing point

Water is outside by the way, if it was inside it wouldn't be an issue

Ahh well, by the time the weather is at freezing point the water will be...well, frozen. So problem solved!

Well we used to run out and play in the rain as kids and I'm still alive. Just let him be a kid, promise he won't break

If he was cold and uncomfortable he would stop and come indoors or just cry. It sounds like he is fine and must really enjoy water play.

He'll soon let them or you know if he's uncomfortable!

Strandedbear thats good to hear you can't catch a cold by being cold.

At his age i don't think they spot the connection between chucking water over yourself and feeling cold

Good x-posts there budgie

I was thinking about my nearly 2 YO who's in a stage of taking her socks and slippers off at the min, and her feet are freezing, but she seems happy enough.

There is the widespread theory in childcare that you should provide everything outside that you have inside.
It is wrong, and totally against The Tiggy Method.
Playing in water outside in winter is painful. Forget about buckets down yourself, just doing it properly and putting your hands in would be bad enough. Ask them if they have assessed the risk of a child having fingers at 1 degree for any length of time.
Reading areas in the winter garden are also against The Tiggy Method. Encouraging children to sit still and take their gloves off in the middle of winter to turn pages is daft.

Our SS also has water out every week, the children love it. The only people I have ever seen complain about it are sat inside for the whole session and are shocked when they find their DC have got wet while they were completely unsupervised.

If he's running around for an hour and a half afterwards then maybe get him changed immediately after the water play? Or find things to keep him busy indoors for the first hour and only let him at the water near the end?

I did stop going for a little while when DS2 was tiny because I couldn't keep track of DS1 properly so we went to a little playgroup for a while, it was all in one room and had a good helper:child ratio. If you're having difficulty with the set up at SS can you find a different group, even if it's just for the winter?

I wrapped my DD's in cotton wool when they were little. Now they winge about the cold, getting wet and having dirty hands. If I had my time again I would let them role naked in paint and splash in muddy puddles. Let them enjoy these things, their childhood is far too short. (local nursery has refued to let me role around naked in paint, it's sooo not fair).