Nursery transitioning 17mo into toddler room

[kaytee87]

Bit of background- my 17mo goes to nursery 2, or more recently 3 mornings a week. Due to an injury I have been unable to collect him in 6 weeks. My dh has been dropping him off and mil collecting. I have been in contact with the nursery by email & telephone though.

Mil came home yesterday and mentioned that they had started transitioning ds into toddler room after the holidays. They've not discussed this with either dh or myself at all! Toddler room is only 1-5 ratio (1-3 in baby room). I thought he'd be in baby room until he was 2 (or near enough). Ds is unsettled just now anyway, due to me being injured he has had lots of other people looking after him recently and he's been ill a couple of times himself (ear infection, flu, v&d) which nursery know about as he was off sick.

Am I being unreasonable to think that they should have discussed this with us before deciding he's moving (new key-worker etc) and also is 5-1 ratio not too high for his age?

I have since spoken to them on the phone and said perfectly politely that I don't want him moved at the moment as he has too much going on at home and I also queried the ratio and said I thought it had to be 1-3 for under 2yo.

Is it normal for nurseries to move 17mo into the bigger room without any discussion with parents?

Which country are you in OP?

Certainly in England they would have to maintain his 1:3 ratio regardless of room, so a room with 1 1yo and 9 2yos would need 1 adult for the 1yo and 2 2yos, 1 adult for the next 4 2yos and another adult for the other 3 2yos.

In Scotland

The baby room usually is from 0-12 months, toddler room from 12months-3 years, so he is a toddler at 17 months. They shoukd have informed you though.

@Aeroflotgirl on the nurseries literature they state baby room until 2yo and toddler 2&3. If they could confirm his ratio would still be 1:3 I'd feel more easy about it but they have stated 1:5 which goes against everything I've read online. I'm waiting for an email back from the care inspectorate with advice re ratios.

They should discuss any proposed change with you or your husband, but generally once toddlers start to walk they are moved out of the baby room. It does sound like your nursery has an odd age structure/mix though - normally the baby room has actual babies in it, hence the need to move toddlers up.

The overall ratio could be 1:5 whilst keeping the correct respective ratios. It depends how many of each age are in the room.

I've worked in three nurseries in two different counties (in England) that have 0-2 rooms, and ds1 went to a different nursery that had a 0-2 room, so it's not that unusual. Eyfs also specifies a separate room for under 2s. I've never come across a 1-3 room myself, that does sound unusual.

I’d say YABU a little. My DS was moved out of baby room at 18 months, it was the right time for him and the nursery. The activities are better for him than they were in the baby room. I rarely do drop / off and pick up so they let my DH know they had started to transition him on the first day at pick up. I’m sure we could have said at that point if we weren’t happy about it but I wouldn’t have any issues if they were happy to move him. I really don’t mind change of key worker etc as there isn’t a strong emphasis on key workers, all staff share responsibility for all children in the room. I think it’s good to mix with older ones so I wouldn’t worry about it OP - I don’t think they would go against legal rules on ratios etc.

I think it is 1:3 for under 2s in Scotland too, certainly was when mone were small.

I'd say YABU. My DD wasn't walking until 2, but they moved her up to the toddler room at 18 months as the 2 girls she started Nursery with (they all started within a couple of days of each other and are firm pals even now) were moving up and they wanted the 3 of them to stay together. She coped well considering she has other problems as well.

I was nervous for her, but they maintained ratios and they moved her keyworker up with her (who was also the keyworker for the other 2 girls) but she ended up changing keyworker anyway as hers left.

Everyone saying their children moved up at a similar age. Did the nursery discuss it with you first? Was the correct ratio maintained? And was that the general set up of your nursery?
I just find it strange that they would start transitioning him without telling his parents (only mentioned to mil that he'd had fun in the big room), tell me the ratio would change (too early according to care inspectorate), and advertise that their 'baby room' was until age 2.

I think it is 1:3 for under 2s in Scotland too, certainly was when mone were small.

It is, the care inspectorate has now confirmed it by email. I'm not very happy that they think it's ok to have a 17mo at 5:1 when they're not meant to.
I wasn't even going to mention the fact that they allowed my mum (who has never collected him before) to pick him up the other day without even asking for the password they ask you to set up for new people collecting.
The two things combined have annoyed me enough to consider pulling him out. He was only at nursery so I could study but due to my injury I've had to defer until next academic year anyway.

It does not sound particularly well run.
But seeing as he is only there 2/3 mornings per week I would be inclined to see how he gets on in the older room. He may love it.

It's not down to parents to decide this where my kids go. Nursery need to split groups as appropriate and staff ratios etc and I can understand this. Saying that I asked for my second dd to move up early (16months) as I felt it would be more interesting for her. Result is she is knackered and sleeps like a log :)

It's annoying because it got a good report and other parents give good reviews.
Once things have settled at home and I'm fit, I will go down and talk to them about moving him / meet the key worker. If the care inspectorate says it should be 1:3 then it's obviously for a reason though.

Our nursery move when toddler is walking very confidently as they tailor activities for them and get more time outside etc. I founnd my children happy to move and the nursery experienced and recognised when children were ready. Eg, my daughter transitioned to preschool at 2 9 months but it was at beginning of summer so nice and quiet and she had lots of time to get used to it before permanently moving when she was 3

YABU, get a grip. He’ll love it in toddler room.
He’s your precious child but he’s still a child! You trust them enough to leave him with them!

@talulahbeige did you read where I said several times the toddler room doesn't have the correct number of adults for his age group?

I'm a bit on the fence here tbh.

You know your own child OP so I don't want to belittle your concerns.

However my DS moved "up" a room at a similar age and he really enjoyed it.

In terms of development he really came on, a big part of which was being with the older children and participating in more exciting/stimulating play than with the "babies".

That said I agree they should have spoken to you.

I would though be cautious about focusing solely on age though. Your child may be ready to move up sooner than you think and I think you should be receptive to the idea of him doing some sessions in the toddler room to see how he gets on.

If you’re in England, the ratio is 1:4, and can only be applied to children aged over 2 years, so if your son moved rooms he would have to stay on the 1:3 ratio until his 2nd birthday. This is not up to the nursery, it’s a legal requirement.
Obviously they should keep you informed of their plans all the way through - is it possible they have been sharing information with DH or DM and they have forgotten to pass it on? If your DS is quite large and confident for his age then it’s not unusual to look at moving him up early so he can play with children who are at his development level

I work in a baby room in a nursery. Our baby room is 0-18 months so generally children move through to the toddler room at around 18 months (it's rarely exact as it depends on lots of different factors) and will start to spend time in there around a month beforehand to help them to settle in. Plus they see all the other staff at various times anyway so it's beer totally new to them. Parents are made aware of this though and kept up to date. Also, the ratio stays the same until they are 2- all one year olds in the toddler room are on a 1:3 ratio and two year olds on a 1:4 ratio, as set out by ofsted.

In our nursery (ofsted outstanding and I’d agree) they were moved to toddlers soon after they started walking as babies would be crawling/laid out on floor in danger of being stepped on my uncoordinated early Walker. Luckily for me my daughter didn’t walk til late so stayed in babies, but I understood this was the benchmark in her place and it seemed to make perfect sense, though if she’d walked before 1 I might’ve raised an eyebrow at the policy

In England they absolutely CANNOT have a 1:5 ratio with 2yo in the room. Even if there was a room of 4 year olds with just one 2yo then the ratio would have to be adjusted. If not I would report them as it’s completely wrong.

Nursery have always told me when my DC will be moving up a room, they do lots of visits first then spend a morning there, it’s very gradual. However I have always been able to talk to them about it if need be.

Mine moved up just after 1 years, but they have a separate baby room, 1 year room, 2 year, 3 year and Pre school. 1:5 ratio is not right though and I wouldn’t be happy about it.

In my DCs old nursery they had classes called: babies, then Tweenies (or something) which was 16mo-2y, then toddlers 2-3y, then preschool 3-4y. But they were a much bigger nursery than yours but it meant when some classes (prob not babies) were smaller they’d mix them together so they could meet other children. But they would always flex the staff so they had more staff than the prescribed ratio.
I think it’s worth talking to the nursery for their views and confirming the ratios of staff when they move children around. Especially if they don’t really have tiny babies at the moment, seems a bit strange to push him out.