to be abit annoyed with dds nursery?

[nancy75]

dd started nursery/playgroup in january and loves it, i thought it was great but recently i feel a bit unsure. dd (2.5) has had a cold for couple of weeks and everytime i pick her up from nursery her face is covered in dried snot (sorry yucky at this time of the morning)now i put wipes and tissues in her bad so surely they could wipe her fce?
because she enjoys going i hve signd her up for an extra day, due to start today but when we got there they werent expecting her despite me confirming twice - in person and on phone. Anyway dd got upset when i said she had to come home, so they have let her stay.
As i was leaving the nursery manager loudly infront of other parents said we still havent recieved your payment for feb - true enough but i have asked for a bill at least five times and still havent got it. explained this, woman got a bit moody and said she would sort it out when i pick dd up.
Any advice on how to deal with this?

i'd change nurseries if i were you. sorry, i know that's probably not what you want to hear, but they sound really useless! failing that, have a chat with the manager and explain that you're unhappy, then get her to do you the invoice for feb there and then. if that doesn't work, write a letter.

but i'd be researching other nurseries. don't forget, they're providing you with a service, and that means that you're a customer.

normall i would, but dd is quite a shy little girl and she has settled really well here, id be worried about taking her out then not finding anywhere she likes. other problem is all the pre schools in our area are very oversubscribed - i put dds name down for this one when she was 6 months old!
i really want to be able to speak to the manager but she seems a bit confrontational with the parents i can imagine it going badly.

what, the manager is being confrontational with you?? i suppose it's difficult if the nurseries in the area are oversubscribed, but personally i would rather have ds at home than him be in an incompetent nursery with a confrontational manager!

i had some trouble with ds' nursery when he first started with them not changing his nappy and him having dried poo on his bum which was giving him a rash. i spoke to the head of his room who was lovely and apologetic and it's never happened again. i know small children are snot machines and don't like having their noses wiped, but it's the aggressive manager you describe which would worry me personally.

does dd have to be in nursery? are you at work?

I think talking with the manager would be the best initial step. However, If her style is confrontational, that doesn't bode well about the nursery. I personally wouldn't give two hoots about anyone confronting me if my dd's wellbeing were at stake!! You have the right to air any concerns and, if not satisfied, withdraw your dd from their care. Better in the long run.

raise your concerns re nose etc with her room manager and have a word with the manager - she may not realise you've asked for bill so many times and if she does she needs a kick up the arse

Agree about talking to the manager.
You shouldn't have to ask for your bill - they should be organised and hand them out properly.

I'd bring up with her the things concerned about(mention wiping her nose too) and see what she says.

If she starts agruing and disagreeing with your requests, then I'd look for another nursery.

I think a bit of the problem is i dont know if im just being petty - would you complain about snotty faces (i am a very clean mum - poor dds in the bath every 5 mins!)
the manager does seem very good with the children, she seems a bit ill at ease with the parents - hence the attitude i think. i will definately talk to her when i pick dd up.

Yes, take her out. There are other ways she can mix with other children - play groups/toddlers groups - that is if you aren't working. If the manager is like this, then that will rub off on the staff (in behaviours or workign conditions etc).

Write down your issues and have a meeting to go through each. If not resolved to your satisfaction, tell her that you feel obliged to remove her from their care as you feel it is a breach of the contract you have with them to care for her.

you are never being petty when it comes to care of your child, I had to pull mine up about finding dd2 with dirty nappy when went in to collect her - problem with dd2 is that she has a poop, stops, needs to be changed and then poops again and they hadn't worked that out

have also complained about the food provided, had gone down in standards, music lessons that kept getting promised and never seemed to be arriving and nursery security

you are technically a customer trusting them with your most precious possession and if they cannot provide the level of care she deserves then time to move on but don't avoid speaking them just to avoid a confrontation - you have a right to raise these issues

ok thanks for the advice, picking dd up at 12.30 so will have a chat then.

nancy - i agree with dizzy, you can never be too picky about the care of your child, BUT:

is having a snotty nose actually hurting her? i mean, is she getting a rash on her top lip because of it, or is she not bothered? because i think if she's not bothered by it then the nursery staff may not have picked it up. i know that was the problem with ds' nappy situation.

i would say that if your daughter is happy there, if the snotty nose is doing no harm to her health and the staff and manager are good with the kids, and you feel she's safe and well looked after then it is worth trying to work through the issues you have with the manager.

Is this a day nursery or nursery class?

They sound very unprofessional to me.

Snotty nose, dont worry about it

the manager sounds awful. I would say something to her along the lines of 'in future if you would like to discuss payments and invoices, i would appreciate it if we did it in private and not in front of other parents. I have also asked for a bill 5x and still havent received it. Once I have a bill, i will pay you. I love the nursery and see how happy DD is here but I will not be spoken to like that again.

That'll shut her up.

how did it go Nancy?

bloody woman wasnt there! The woman i have the issue with owns/runs the nursery, just sent a letter home with the kids saying have got new person to be in charge of the day to day running and horrible woman will be concentrating more on business side so thats good. still no bill, am going to try giving her a call now.
soopermum, thats how i feel, the nursery staff are lovely and dd has really taken to them, it just seems like the admin side is very lacking.

On the 'snot on face' front YABU. Its practically impossible to constantly keep a childs face clean at all times and sometimes this constant wiping with wet wipes makes it run more.

On the 'bill' front YANBU. That was unprofessional. If she wanted to tell you that she should have asked you in the office/private somewhere.

I think I would be inclined to ask for a word with the manager in private and explain that you are generally happy with the nursery, but would appreciate your financial affairs not being discussed in public. Explain the embarressment it caused and reaffirm that you had not received a bill, so hadn't been able to pay it. Explain that to people overhearing the conversation it may have sounded as though you were not paying on time deliberately which caused some embarressment.

ooohhh did you phone?

she finally phoned my back. i explained all of the above (didnt mention snot!) and she got a bit moany with me, didnt see why it was a problem them not knowing dd was coming today - afterall they let her stay managed to keep calm , she did apologise about the billing situation but still couldnt tell me how much i have to pay. i have said that because i am otherwise happy with the nursery i am happy to carry on as long as this does not happen again.
im going to have another look at some other nurseries but hopefully things will rectify themselves now.