To be put off a nursery for this reason?

[user4858]

Prepared to be told I'm really overthinking my nursery decision.
Basically one of the nursery's I have been considering putting DD into have put me off for two reasons. One they have put on their Facebook page a status asking all parents to check their children's hair for nits as they have yet again notice some children with nits. It not the nits I really have a problem I know children will get nits. Its the announcement on Facebook instead of speaking to the children's parents.
Also they apparently stick an accident sticker to the child when they have had an accident so that the parent knows and can ask what happened. Again I didn't see this as a positive even though they said it as if it was a good thing. All the other nursery's I spoke to said they keep a child journal about the child's day and that the child's key worker debriefs parents at each pick up. AIBU to be put off by these things? I know I probably going to choose a different nursery. But wanted to see if I'm ruling out this nursery too quickly. It is by far the closest nursery to us so would be the easiest option.

I think the accident sticker is a good promot for the key worker at the end of the day, especially for the older ones who are likely to be running around and therefore more trips etc. A couple of times i have had a text quite late as they realised that tge info for dd hadn't been pssded over due to shift change.

Personal preference but i prefer facebook notices or a newdletter to a note on the door as drop off can be quute chaitic with 25 kids coming in - they can't speak with each parent at massive length. If they are doung this then who is supervising the others would bemore my query

Also, the accident sticker alerts staff who might not be aware of the accident if there are problems.

Facebook is not a problem for me either. I’m far more likely to take in the info than when I’m dropping off / picking up 3 kids.

Regarding the nits, they might have directly spoken to the relevant parents about treating their children, but if they’ve actually been able to see nits in kids’ hair during a quick spot check then guarenteed more kids will actually also have them.

Wouldn't be bothered by Facebook announcements, some parents won't read all the information given to them. And the staff don't necessarily have time to give you a full run down of everything at pick up if there are still other children there that need attention. DDs nursery put a sign on the main door with notices about nits and viruses such as hand foot and mouth.

The accident stickers aren't a bad idea, it's just a way of reminding key workers to make sure they tell parents. DDs nursery just verbally tell us and get us to sign an accident form. They did trial doing daily journals but felt that it took too much of a staff members time away from the children to sit and fill in the logs. I would much rather have the staff interacting with DD than sitting filling in a log about her day. They do add a picture of video weekly, which is nice to see and give us a verbal handover based on a sheet where they write how much DD has eaten/slept and nappy changes.

I wouldn't be happy with either really. Surely it's not too difficult to have a system keep on top of information that needs to be passed on to parents. Don't like the idea of Facebook being used for communication. Not everyone has Facebook and people shouldn't feel like they need to have it just to get updates from nursery. It all sounds a bit unprofessional.

I wouldn't have an issue with either of those things.

If one child has nits, they all need treating, do you really expect the manager to talk to 20, 30, 50 parents rather than send out a general reminder notice ?

The sticker is a good prompt BUT there should also be a written note and entry in the accident book.

Yabu

Accident sticker is a really good idea. It makes sure it can't be missed - a fail safe method of ensuring that no matter what the person picking up the child knows to keep an eye open for any side effects of the injury. Yes they will likely have a handover, journal, speak to you etc as well to find out details but there are occasions when someone else (Granny, nanny, friend, other parent) might be collecting the child and they might not read the journal and just pass to you. There are also occasions when pick up is stressful and rushed (late trains etc) and so a full handover isn't possible.

Again for similar reasons communicating something as important as nits needs to be done in a way that no one can miss the message. It's not unusual for children to come from households with shared custody or complicated childcare arrangements of children so mum might pick up one day, dad another and granny another and they don't speak to each other! My sons pre-school school send notes home, puts up posters, sends emails more methods of communication the better. Nits are so common and last thing you want is someone missing the message to check & treat!

I'd say these two things are signs of a good nursery!

Sounds like good communication to me. There is never "just one" kid with nits, so an announcement asking all patents to check is a great way of getting the message out quickly. Just like the letters home in primary school that say "a case of headlice has been reported in your child's class".

And the sticker is a great prompt. Good for other staff, who can keep an eye on the little one, for other children to remind them to be gentle in play (not that they'd necessarily understand this if only young themselves) and good for parents who can then follow up with staff. I like that idea.

My daughter's school puts a sticker on them if they bump their head (as well as you bring told and having a letter) so fairly normal.

The nits ours used to just send a letter home which is probably preferable to being on Facebook but I certainly wouldn't use it as a reason to put me off of I was happy with the nursery

The Facebook is probably on top of speaking to parents whose children they know are affected with nits and probably another way of sharing with all parents (text or email perhaps). It’s just to try and make sure as many get the message as possible. Dd’s school did this, you felt bombarded by the time you had read a text, the school newsletter and Facebook posts all saying the same thing but at least you knew!

Accident sticker sounds like a good idea really, it means parents know immediately and can ask for further info if necessary. Again I’m sure the accidents are also recorded formally in the accident book so it won’t be in place of proper procedure.

Both those strike me a good ideas.

I don't think you're BU, but I'm incredibly lucky with DS' nursery in that it's very small, very well staffed, and I get a phonecall about any accidents as they happen. I wouldn't like an accident sticker, or the Facebook thing.

It sounds like the nursery is quite chaotic and they're trying to run on minimum staffing so putting in time saving devices.

DS' nursery have a daily journal that includes sleep times, food, nappies, and activities. Then a monthly learning log which identifies the skills he's learnt or is working on (includes pictures, I love it). He has a key worker and an assistant key worker, and they're the only two people who do personal care with him (unless they're both off obviously although so far that hasn't happened). If he has an accident they phone me to let me know as soon as they can, and I have to sign an accident book.

The thing with nurseries is if you're going to be sat worrying all day you're better off putting them somewhere else.

They don't sound like red flags to me - they probably know what communication methods work best with their clientele. That might not suit you, and there's nothing wrong with that, but you need to weigh up the pros and cons if it's the closest provider to you.

How do you know they didn’t speak to parents too? But maybe grandparents/childminders pick up some children and they might forget to pass the message on. It’s a good way of letting people know as well as talking to them at pick up.

DD’s nursery put a tag on their bags to say they’ve had an accident. Mostly the prompt isn’t needed but if staff who dealt with it leave before parents pick up then it reminds other staff to tell them what’s happened and get the accident book signed.

I think they're both ok OP. If nits are spotted on one child then everyone needs to check their DC so Facebook is a good catch all.

I think the sticker is a good system for them to remember. They have a duty to report every bump to parents despite them being a very minor part of the day as child got up and carried on. It's something that wouldn't be memorable if it happened when your dc was home with you, but they have a responsibility to inform parents every time so it's a good idea instead of scrabbling through notice boards etc. If it was something more serious you would be contacted.

I know books sound like a good thing but it's quite time consuming for the staff to fill them in for each child and personally, I think it's time wasted. Find out if they take a lot of photos. Ours does, so still see what antics they get up to but the photos are really quick for them to take and they upload them on to a secure website I can access at a convenient time for them.

YABU

A general announcement for Nits is normal it saves embarrassment for those that do and makes sure everyone keeps an eye out as well. Facebook is clearly the medium they use

Accident stickers - is this alongside a journal as if its a head injury it allows everyone to know quickly and keep an eye out for symptoms

Unless your babys key worker and back up are in the room at nursery the whole day and dont have any breaks or change the kids nappies then YABU. The number of times you get there and because its the end of the day the staff are all helping clear different rooms and you ask a question and they say they dont know because they weren't in the room all day. I think it sounds like a good system

Having used nurseries for the best part of the last 7years I’d have no issue with either of those. As long as the sticker is accompanied by an accident form I think it’s a good reminder and good for other staff/kids to be able to see. The nits thing ours would put on closed parents group and also put an a4 sign on the door. If it was just verbal chances are they’d tell DH and he’d forget.

I couldn’t get worked up about either and I thought I was pretty fussy when choosing nurseries

Did you actually ask if they keep some kind of journal and would debrief you at the end of the day? You just say about what the other nurseries say.

I don't know any nurseries who don't keep some kind of journal and debrief at the end of the day

They probably use these methods in addition to emailing/talking to parents, but find that parents don’t read the info, or grandparents/nannies/friends etc often collect the children.

There were loads of notices I used to miss, or they would tell me things and I would forget. I’d probably view these things as quite on the ball - why don’t you ask them about it and raise your concerns? They can take you through everything they do to communicate.

Ps. They aren’t going to wait to the end of the day and rely on a sticker to tell you they’ve broken their leg. The number of accident forms I’ve signed for ‘my friend bit me’ ‘I fell over in garden’ and treatment administered ‘cuddles’ is unreal... because they have to document everything

I doubt that the nursery staff really have time to "debrief" the parents in any meaningful way about their child's day. Probably just a "good day today" or "quite a handful today" at hand over - unless there was an actual concern. The nits announcement just makes sense - why would they repeat the same message 20 times a day - better to send a generic announcement.

If you dont like there way of managing things i think its fine to chose another nursery that your more in tune with.

I think the sticker is a great idea. I also see no problem with the Facebook post. Am sure staff will speak to the parents of the children concerned but they really can't just single out those few parents. All must be aware and the nursery must be seen to be addressing all parents in this matter.
As for a debrief from your child's keyworker at each pick up- I think this is unlikely in practice. Keyworker may not be on shift or they may be busy. Are all the parents going to wait in turn whilst they go through their key child's day? Who's watching the children while all the keyworkers are busy chatting with the adults?

Facebook and sticker is great.
But I’d have concerns that you could see their Facebook page unless you’d been invited.