Angry with nursery for putting babies in with older kids at the end of the day

[Nuni]

Because some of the staff go home early, they don't have enough staff to keep the baby room open the last couple of hours before nursery closes.

I deliberately chose a nursery with a room for Under 2s, I'm paying the same price for the hours she's mixed in with older kids. She's still so small and vulnerable, I don't like her being in with 4-5 year olds

Why didn't they tell me this before?

Or do all nurseries do this?

Keyworker is fantastic but I feel really let down by the way the nursery is run... surely if they advertise a baby room it should stay open until closing time? I wanted a safe, baby-friendly area, where she feels secure, not being lumped in with older kids at the end of the day, in a room set up for a different age group, just so they can avoid paying more staff

The nursery my boy went to (11 years ago) still has a separate baby room, shut off from the end of day room, but they are in the end of day room together for staffing and supervision and the older kids went from that room to the climbing room in teams to run round, the end of day room was a quiet doing area because of the little ones

They do this at my DD's nursery. Meant when she moved into the "big" room she was used to it. When I pick her up she may be the last one there, or 1 of 2. The other day there was just her and a baby - DD had spent the last 10 minutes making the baby laugh.
They all have their meals together there, and mix into the big room a lot between 18 months and when they move up at 2. It's actually one of the things I liked about it.
Maybe discuss your concerns with them if you feel the children aren't being supervised, but don't expect much to change. Remember when your child starts school she may be in a playground with 11 year olds when she's only 4/5! That's a much bigger age/size difference.

You've a lot to learn. Calm down. It's not a room full of druggies and murderers- What's the worst that can happen? She falls over? Plays with other children? Enjoys herself?

What if she had an older brother or sister, like a majority of children do. There are worse things to worry about than developing her social skills- Like, picking up on you being tense, unhappy, uptight etc....Kids pick up on there things. Chill out.

A nursery i worked in did this, the staff had staggered shifts, so when the morning shift left at 4pm, those of us there until 7pm used to do dinner for those eating with us, and then move them all into the baby room while the other areas were cleaned.

The littlest ones were placed in the playpens, and the older ones settled with the cbeebies bedtime hour or a film for some 'quiet' time at the end of the day.

I've actually moved my dd to a nursery where they do more mixed age time because i think it's so beneficial for her development and well being. 3 and 4 year olds are wonderful at teaching younger children how to interact and play, they can also be brilliant advocates if they feel a younger child is upset, babies are wonderful for older children to nurture.
I do think they should have explained to you how they worked before you started though xxx

I think as other posters have rightly pointed out if you wanted your DD to be kept in the baby room until closing, they would need to pay more staff and therefore the fees would start rising. If you were happy to pay the extra then that's up to you but a lot of parents struggle with nursery fees as it is, and it may well be that the nursery are doing what they can to keep costs to a minimum. I'd be surprised if for the last half an hour to an hour, when the groups are mixed, the staff to child ratios are too low. Your DD won't be left unattended. The staff won't think, 'well, it's tough if she gets trampled- it's nearly closing time so we can leave her to get on with it in the same way a 3 year old would'
You need to have some trust in the people you are paying to care for your DD and if you don't, then maybe that's the problem? Have you seen anything at the nursery that's given you any cause for concern?

Normal IME. I'd rather pay the standard fees than have the prices go up for my child to sit in a room by themselves.
Surprisingly, most 3-4 year olds aren't out to trample babies. They'll be careful and aware that they are there, they might even interact with them.
Like already said, if you have another, you will naturally find yourself in this situation at home. Yes, it can be a worrying thought but only if you don't have complete faith in the staff.

I agree, in my time working with under 5's the older ones can unintentionally be too rough with the younger ones and so for child safety it is really better to keep the two age groups separate. Having said this 2 and 3 yr olds in the same group can hurt each other as well. Most of the time it is simply down to individual children's temperaments and how well you've schooled your child in being kind and playing nicely with other children. Some parents champion aggressiveness as a form of assertiveness and don't realise the problems this causes in a class situation.

Normal, and really helpful when the babies are about to move up to the toddler room as they already know what it's like - they enjoy it and the big ones are reasonably tired by the end of the day so mostly sitting and playing, and are old enough to steer clear of the area where any small babies are, or play with them gently under supervision.

Also many of the babies will be siblings of the older ones so they enjoy being together.

I'm assuming this is your first child...most nurseries do this and at 2 your child should not be in the baby room anyway.. It's not a baby anymore

Anya
The op has a 10 month old