To Not Want To Pay For Nursery Food If Ill

[PopACapInMyAssPlease]

My DD attends her free 15 hours a week.
Her nursery charges £5 a day for food, which means snacks, a cooked lunch and dinner (wrap or spaghetti on toast).
It was ok at first as I thought it was subsidising her care etc, but I'm more cash-strapped now and so feeling the £40 a month cost.

DD was off ill 3 days last month and I begrudge paying for food she didn't eat. E-mailed the nursery and they say i have to pay as her food was ordered 2 weeks in advance.
I get that the cooked lunch may be ordered that far in advance, but not the tea, which is generally spaghetti on toast or a wrap.

I get paying for a day (if i did) if they are ill, but food?

AIBU as i agreed to it in the first place or what?
I really didn't want to change nursery, but I'm not happy.
Packed lunches aren't an option.

I see your point but this is the same policy at my DSs nursery. I imagine it is the same at others too.

I do take your point but nurseries are badly underfunded wrt the free hours and charging lunch is a way to recoup some of the losses. It is a rotten system for providers to manage.

Yabu.

Nurseries need to know what money they have coming in. They need to be able to plan.

Pretty sure you have to suck this up. They have to plan their catering in advance and there's almost no saving to them if a child happens to be away.

Presumably food quantities are preordered even if cooked on the premises, so it may get wasted for absentees.

Well they will likely still have to pay for any fresh fruit and also the hot meal and bread. What kind of discount were you expecting for a single serving of spaghetti? If it’s an outside catering company that does food then they will be paying more than the basic cost of the food and if they prepare themselves then you will be contributing to staff cover while this is done, electricity to heat the food etc which they don’t get a discount on because your child wasn’t there.
I’d just suck it up and pay tbh.

They have to buy the ingredients in advance. It’s not like they wait to see who shows up that day and then run to the store.

The nursery nurses heat up the tins of spaghetti, FuckingYuleLog. And yes, I suppose I effectively want a discount for a piece of toast and 2 spoonfuls of spaghetti hoops!
I think £5 seems a lot for a day, but as I said I've supported it as I assumed it topped up the carers' pay.

But ok, seems IABU and will begrudingly just have to pay up. Thanks.

It will be topping up the carers pay in a way because while one is in the kitchen they still need to have the correct ratio with the children and that will have been worked out on the basis of all children attending.

I think no actually perhaps a token half cost for days two and three and full for the first day but while they will still be buying the food they won't be cooking it so you will be charged for the food twice

It's been a few years since my children have been at nursery,and this was standard at both nurseries they attended. Yabu because they have to order in the food in advance they have already paid for it, it's not their fault that your child did not have the food.

No nursery age child eats £5 worth of food a day so I guess it is subsidising their costs. They no doubt need to do it to survive financially, I can see your point but if it's in the contract terms there's not going to be anything they can do about it.

Frustrating but you probably have to suck it up.

I'm sure it sounds reasonable when it is your child who is ill but if 10 children are ill the nursery will have food left over they can't use... We charge in advance and there are no refunds for this reason. Sorry if that's not what you want to hear op.

Ordering the food in advance is a red herring, it's not a precise science, of course the food your child didn't eat isn't thrown away just because she's not there.

So you're getting 60 hours a month childcare for £40 and you're moaning? Seriously. Plus you'd have to pay for 2 meals and snacks anyway which would still add up to a few quid. I think you're being utterly unreasonable to be honest.

I don't see how it is different from having to pay if she's off sick?

Think of it this way, you wouldn’t ask for a refund if you went to a B&B if you didn’t have the breakfast.

It’s just how those things work.

The cost is not just covering the actual cost of the food. The equipment, the energy usage, staff food hygiene training, allergen training, wipes, hot water, tea towels, cutlery, plates, it all comes out of the money that comes in for food. Giving refunds for food that isn't eaten or not needed just isn't practical.

Their costs won't be at all lower because your baby is off sick so they can't reduce your fees. The £5 is not for food it's a nominal contribution towards the costs of her place, which they still have to cover if she's ill.

You do realise that nurseries make a loss on every single funded hour? Your 'food' fee is just a top up by another name and goes to pay wages etc.

Yanbu to not want to pay, after all who wants to pay for anything?? However, you presumably knew about this when you signed up, you will almost certainly be contractually obliged to pay so it's either suck it up or find another nursery in which case yabu to complain now.

So you're getting 60 hours a month childcare for £40 and you're moaning? Seriously. Plus you'd have to pay for 2 meals and snacks anyway which would still add up to a few quid. I think you're being utterly unreasonable to be honest.

This ^

and what getback said. It isn't just to cover cost of ingredients which is what you seem to be suggesting.

So you're getting 60 hours a month childcare for £40 and you're moaning? Seriously.

^I agree

So you're getting 60 hours a month childcare for £40 and you're moaning? Seriously

Didn't think I was full-on moaning. Just questioning whether i should pay for something not eaten.
£40 is a lot to me at the moment. I certainly don't spend £5 on food at home, so was checking to see if this was normal policy.

£5 A day to feed a 3 year old seems extortionate.