to think that the food they serve at nurseries is ridiculous?

[PP2291]

I just went to see a nursery and thought it seemed very fun and cosy. The staff were clearly well trained and were very nice. But when I asked about the food they told me everything was home made while pouring a bag of frozen chicken nuggets onto a baking tray. A look at the menu showed that they serve things like 'hot dog in a roll' for supper. Don't get me wrong I'm fine with my DS having this sort of thing sometimes and yes I am a bit mad about what he eats and don't expect everyone else to be doing kale chips and steamed vegetable dumplings blah blah. But I just think it is not healthy to eat this sort of thing every day and is also very limiting. I want my DS to be trying all sorts of foods all the time.

I don't think I'm being unrealistic I just want some more vegetables in there and one or two slightly more exotic things.

Do I just need to suck it up? Are all nurseries like this? This nursery is quite expensive and projects itself as being quite posh (has a school 'motto' and crest etc).

[Dorange]

notso
I worked in the same nursery ..............

[Lonecatwithkitten]

There are nurseries out there that do fab food. The one DD attended one of the other mums was the cook everything homemade roast dinner once per week carved from a massive joint, fish pie, fish cakes, shepherds pie, spaghetti Bol etc all great food.

[Groovee]

The private nursery I worked in had a disaster one day. The owner who did the shopping was called away to the other nursery due to a major emergency. Then the cook phoned in sick. So one member of staff went to the shops and got strong wholemeal flour, yeast, passata, cheese and eggs. 2 members of staff made the pizza base and then the pizza, and I made chocolate cake and custard for pudding. It was all done by lunch time but the best we could do as none of us had much money on us, it wasn't pay day for another few days and the petty cash was locked away and no way round it.

Most of the parents were great about what had happened but one was so upset that her child hadn't got the home made soup and yoghurt on the menu that she put in a complaint to SW who inspected us at the time. Once the social worker stopped laughing, she said we did pretty well in the circumstances as she knew everything was home cooked by a brilliant cook, it had just been a bad day and we'd fed the children what we could as healthily as we could.

But I did go to visit nurseries when I was pregnant and was shocked at one thinking it was ok to serve up packets of savoury rice to babies.

[allmycats]

Mt thought is if they lie about the food they serve what else do they lie about.

[Wishiwasanheiress]

Depends on how much u pay I guess. Mine costs rather a lot, veg is in every thing, muffins and all sorts. Meals are often on a rota and they try to include 'fun' items like pizza slices as well as peas/veg type.

I think ur sounding rather harsh tbh.

[MrsMelons]

Absolutely agree with ReallyTired, I wasn't suggesting a good CM is worse than a good nursery, just different and IMO for different things.

[ReallyTired]

dd's private nursery served excellent food every day.

Moogy there are advantages to childminders and nurseries. A good childminder is worth her weight in gold, and babies do well in good nurseries.

A Really bad childminder is worse than an inadequate nursery. An inadequate person working one to one with a child has no one to see what they are doing.

[MrsMelons]

I have to disagree with Moogy if it is a good nursery a child will never be 'lost' and a childs behaviour can show huge improvements when they are in a class of children at nursery rather than just one or two at a CM.

This is just IME of course, the CMs I know have been really good but I still don't think it is a replacement for the valuable social skills the children learn. Sometimes at a CM there are only 1 or 2 children and this isn't always enough.

[PP2291]

thanks for your response moogy1a. He is with a CM at the moment. I was thinking that having a structure i.e. nap is always at certain time, activities are structured, other children to copy etc might be a good thing? My CM is wonderful but has a more casual approach (like I would at home) and he gets packs and packs of love and attention (no bad thing obviously!) but not many boundaries. Don't get me wrong she doesn't just let him run the show but obviously nursery is more structured. I would also really like him to interact with out children a bit more and learn things (there is a bit of telly watching at the CM's that I am not crazy about).

We are moving so have to leave our CM otherwise I wouldn't be thinking about it yet.

[MrsMelons]

Balance is the key, I don't cook from fresh every day and the DCs like to have nuggets and chips once a week which I have no issue with.

They both have school dinners and would object to them having chips every day but I am fairly laid back about it as I do believe everything in moderation is fine. If its only a couple of days a week I really wouldn't worry. If its every day and that is your childs main meal then it is an issue.

I always cook dinner in the evening anyway as both boys eat a lot so I know they are eating healthily in general.

[moogy1a]

"I just think my DS (18 months) would really benefit from being in that kind of environment. He is very very naughty and structure might be a good thing?"
a good CM will be a far better option than a nursery as they can give structure to the day alongside more personalised care. Small children benefit more from the smalller numbers of a childminder rather than being a bit "lost" in a nursery.

[PP2291]

Just spoke to nursery called Nelly's. They sound like the absolute dream. Make meals with vegetables that the children grow in the vegetable garden!!! Beyond expensive though and likely a waiting list for years. :-(

[fedupwithdeployment]

The nursery my DSs went to in Northwood was absolutely fantastic, and the food was outstanding. I think they won prizes for it. At parents' evenings they used to serve us tasters - all organic (I am not so good at home), but really tasty and interesting. There was a chef and she had an assistant. I wish their school dinners were as good.

OP - I would not be happy.

[poopnscoop]

As a prospective parent I would advise you always go and see the childminder/nursery when they're actually feeding the children to see what they're eating. We take photos often (to show how well they're self feeding etc.) and parents often see what we make/bake this way... we have quite a gallery of photos on our website too, which includes meals/snacks/baking in the photos.

4 week rolling menu, ALL freshly cooked on site every day, delivered by Ocado, organic where possible:

Examples:

• Porridge/bran flakes with sultanas/weetabix
  
• Am snack: strawberries/humzinger fruit bars/bread sticks/rice cakes/grapes/raisins/apricots/banana/blueberries
  
• Hot meal at lunch: Cottage pie/beef casserole/mushroom risotto/sweet potato wedges with (nice!) fish fingers, peas and spinach - with fruit and/or plain yoghurt (unsweetened) as pudding
  
• PM snack: strawberries/humzinger fruit bars/bread sticks/rice cakes/grapes/raisins/apricots/banana/blueberries
  
• Evening tea: French toast/pita with hummus/omelette with mushroom, peas and cheese - omelettes are wonderful for putting loads of veges inside... love making them for the kids! - fruit for pudding
  

We bake bread, oat cookies, fairy cakes etc... we only bake cake when it's a little one's birthday and then there's no icing on it. They are NEVER given biscuits/jelly/cake unless it's a birthday... so it's deemed a treat and not part of every day nutrition. Small, appropriate sizes.

We use unsalted butter etc. Are really aware of the ingredients within our meals. I'd never consider being less fastidious/feeding the children less well... it's crucial they eat good quality food. And that what it says on the menu is exactly what goes in their little tummies.

[Icelollycraving]

The first nursery ds went to served entirely organic meals in his baby room. When I moved him,I asked what % organic the menu was at his new nursery. Slightly thrown manager replied 'er,er'.
The menu is ok,I've loosened up a lot. He eats pretty well there. I told them I didn't want an abundance of bread,he loves it but gets constipated.
It took time for them to completely get me. They have improved,I'm under no illusions though,they are about profit.

[CheesyPoofs]

DD went to a Sure Start nursery and I thought they'd really be on top of nutrition. Whilst their meals didn't involve chicken nuggets, there was a lot of tinned spaghetti and beans.

They'd have things like cottage pie and tinned spagetti

I think they thought tinned spaghetti counts as one of your 5 a day, since tinned beans did

Luckily she was only there for lunch 3 times a week so I didn't sweat it.

[Twogoodreasons]

I would not be happy about the quality of the food you describe, but I would be even more uncomfortable about the misrepresentation of the type of food they will be offering. What else are they being dishonest about?

[WeAreEternal]

DS (6) goes to a childminder run nursery (it's four childminders working out of one large cottage) two days a week.

They offer breakfast lunch snacks and dinner to children.

Their sample menu on their website has things like homemade chicken pie and homemade fish pie, homemade burgers.

DS often has toast on a morning there before school, but I like to give him dinner myself so have always asked that he just have a snack and no dinner.

I recently found out that they only offer a sandwich and a biscuit with a drink at lunch and their 'dinner' is often things like toast and a piece of cake with a drink, or a (shop bought) sausage roll, a biscuit and a drink or a piece of (shop bought) quiche, a bun and a drink. Apparently they have toast at least three days a week as 'dinner'.
As DS never has 'dinner' there I wasn't bothered but several other parents were very unimpressed, the owner explained that there are too many children for them to be able to cook homemade meals, so they just do whatever is quick and easy.

[PP2291]

Oh my god chillandbanana that is the absolute dream!! Where is your nursery? Maybe I can helicopter DS there everyday.

[Tanith]

I'm a childminder that loves cooking. Everything prepared from scratch, using fresh, natural ingredients - you know the blurb! - I am very proud of my menus and healthy eating policies.

So I was mortified when DD started nursery school and told them her favourite dinner was fish fingers

She'd never had any before and I didn't work it out until much later:
To prepare her, and the old children starting school, I'd shown them a DVD about "My First Day At School". It shows them having school dinner and the narrator says clearly "Mmm! Fish fingers! My favourite!"

So that's my culinary reputation now in tatters

She has since tried fish fingers (seeing as she said they were her favourite) and she does like them very much!

[PP2291]

You aren't being precious! Gosh I thought I was going to be under fire on here for being too snobbish about food!

This place doesn't do any puddings and say only fruit for snacks so that's a big plus. I have emailed asking for more menu samples to get a better idea. The 'hot dog in a bun' and the nuggets are haunting me! Maybe I am not remembering the rest of the menu and it was better.

I actually don't have any other options other than finding a childminder which I am not opposed to but think nursery would be great. It seems to be a bit of a no man's land round where I live for nurseries.

[Sirzy]

I don't think not wanting a diet for up to 5 days of the week to consist of fish finger/nugget type meals is about being fussy or strict its about wanting a balanced diet which is unlikely to be provided by a diet consisting of so much processed food.

[Chilliandbanana]

Our nursery has a fab menu too. Examples are potato and
leek soup made from potatoes and leeks grown in the garden and picked by the children, curries and tagines, fish and cottage pies. No nuggets or chips about. Have been there plenty of times at meal times and seen what they serve and it's looks great.

[SPsCliffingAllOverMN]

I dont see an issue but then again I'm not strict or fussy about what my son eats.