Is this right for a baby in nursery?!

[Nurseryimumma]

First time mum so have no idea if this is normal or not. I have a 14 month old. She is in a room with 1 year olds to 20 month olds. They are all walking, she is not, though she can stand on her own. Ive been told that she will go outside to the lawn/decking area with them all at lunchtime… I am not ok with this as she is crawling still?! Am I being over the top about this or is this a bit grim? Id rather she went outside when she can actually walk.

That's what I was thinking. I thought oh bless PFB at first but that comment made me wonder. I hadnt spent much time at all around young children before I had DC1 but surely people remember picking stuff up from their own childhoods even? I remember I used to love collecting conkers and pine cones to/from/in parks. I also distinctly remember my younger sibling going to pick up what he thought was a pine cone only for it to be dog poo. My poor DF was very calm about it but he must have been having kittens inside!

Anyway OP, if you are real, as everyone else said, let your DC learn and enjoy. My DC didn't walk until they were 16 months (bum shuffler) and 21 months (crawler). They went to nursery from being 9 and 10 months respectively and both went outside in puddle suits at nursery. They have both always liked going out and playing outside.

This is very normal in nurseries

The area wont be shared with the bigger children or anyone outside of the nursery
The floor will also be checked for things like poo etc before the babies go out there

Of course they do! My DS (20 months) presented me with several “gifts” on our walk this weekend, most of which he carefully selected from the pavement and one which I’m pretty sure he lifted from the bin on the way out the house when I wasn’t watching. I get it’s difficult, especially when cleanliness and sterilising have been drilled into us from the moment they were born, but toddlers are gross. They’re messy, dirty and pick up germs - and they love it! And there is nothing wrong with it. It’s fine and totally normal. My DS was in nursery from 4 months old and I would have been concerned if he didn’t get taken outside. In fact I wouldn’t have sent him to one where he wasn’t taken outdoors. They regularly went out in the buggy’s but then also we used to get sent photos of him crawling round the garden, pulling himself up on play equipment and rolling round on the floor. We chose an outdoorsy nursery exactly for this. We also do the same in the garden at home. If he came home mucky from being outside, or had been changed because he got mucky, I saw that as a day well spent. As for hands all over the ground - they will get cleaned when they come in and before meals etc. My DS had just turned 1 when my MIL joked that I was still religiously sterilising everything but she’d just witnessed him eat dirt out in the garden as an appetiser (of course we stopped him but he still did it). I took her point!

Come on, she's a first time mum asking a simple question.

Believe me, OP, I probably asked dafter stuff than this!

She will get dirty hands and eat mud

And even when she's walking, she will get muddy hands and put things in her mouth the whole time she's at nursery (and some of primary school!).

I understand this is your first child but do you have no other children in the extended family, or don't you see kids out and about, or even remember being a kid yourself...??

Didn't you ever collect acorns in a basket or find the nicest pebble or the straightest stick or whatever? Haven't you ever been given an interesting leaf from a niece or neighbour's child, that sort of thing?

Yeah, kids pick stuff up off the ground! A lot. If you have a 5 min walk to the shop it takes 20 min to get there with a 2 year old because they want to point out every interesting snail etc.

I have taken both my babies outside and let them crawl about from when they were first on the move. I do it to wear them out so they sleep better (and also because otherwise the little one would have been stuck in the buggy while I took the older one to the playground).

OP, I don't think your questions are silly. In winter and on rough ground, you do need some protection for their hands. Waterproof mittens generally do the trick, or someone once suggested using dog paw protectors to me. Also stops them putting nasty stuff like cigarette butts in their mouths. For their feet, I find waterproof shoe covers are great if they're not yet wearing proper shoes, or you can get waterproof booties.

And I think it is different when your child is crawling not walking. Having a walking toddler trip up and slip in a muddy puddle is one thing, but that's different to having your crawling baby faceplant into it or even start trying to drink the water 😂. As crawlers, their faces and mouths are much closer to many more hazardous things so you do have to be a lot more on-the-ball about monitoring them. Tbh most people I know seem to keep their crawling babies in the buggy when they're outside or, at most, sit them on the baby swings, especially in wet weather when it's muddy. Which is fine for a 7mo but older babies do need a bit more physical activity imo.

I looked over at my 4 year old at the donut store and she was LICKING the donut case. Kids out stuff in their mouths and yes it will continue for YEARS. Nursery decking and fake grass is probably one of the cleaner options…

In a nursery there is a ratio for children to staff depending on the staff members training .
So generally at that age the ratio is one adult to 3 babies ( I think )
Do you honestly think one member of staff Could just not go outside and stay in with your toddler ???? Absolutely not as the staff would then be out of ratio! Also - we were always told
never to be alone with a child .

Do you honestly think a nursery who take babies outside evdyday would not have a Specific area where the babies go which would be clean and engaging . Do you seriously think your babies key person or the other staff would let your baby play in poo ? Or eat mud.

Also - hygiene is paRamount .
Especially after Covid! So all children are taught to wash hands with soap after garden and coming inside.

Our staff worship the children and would never leave them to get in harm or danger !

Op this little one walked at 8 months so there was no stopping her getting her hands in mud and all sorts. I could probably share hundreds more photos of her at various ages, right through to late primary age, on the floor or with hands into something or other.
All my dc have been the same and all are older and fine. This one is the healthiest person you could meet and is an athlete.
It will be good for your baby.

Yes that’s weird

@Happyhappyday I remember once I was in a cafe with my youngest and they had uncovered buns on a long plate on the counter. As I was ordering I looked down to see child licking the plate and the buns along the plate back and forth. I offered to buy the whole plate full but the staff said it's fine. I feel sorry for the people who eventually bought them. I feel your pain haha.

I don’t understand your logic. Toddlers don’t stop touching things just because they walk?! Especially the ground and the dirt.

good luck if you think touching the ground is grim - toddlers are fucking disgusting!

So in your whole life you have never yourself seen babies outside on grass etc. ?

What do you think childminders do? They don’t never take their kids of varying ages and abilities outside together.

My son didn’t walk until he just turned 2 because of hypermobility and I would be horrified if he had never been able to play outside because of this.

Nursery also definitely do wash hands!

How on earth is she to develop and explore otherwise? She needs to build up her immune system too. I expect you bleach your house to the n'th degree and wonder why she gets every bug going as well.

Heavens, you need to tone down your worry a lot! Poor kid.

When mine were crawling I wouldn't have put them down in the park as there could be poo /broken glass. But I would in the garden and I'd expect nursery to.

You’re weird. Of course it’s not odd to crawl on grass! Jesus, your poor child. Expose her to nature!

as for pavement, doubtful they are letting her crawl on pavement.

Unfortunately OP, toddlers are grim little creatures. A bit of mud/grass should be the least of your worries. My two year old has recently taken to pretending to be a dog outside and walking round with random sticks in his mouth. He found a dead moth behind the sofa and ate it. Drank water out of the dog bowl. Will happily eat food after throwing it on the floor at home and in restaurants. When he was younger, everything within reach of his grubby little hands went in his mouth. He was and still is revolting.

I just don’t understand your fascination/horror with ‘the ground’. Even when walking kids will still put their hands all over the ground, that’s completely normal, and does not hurt them. They will pick grass, dig in dirt with their hands, find snails and dog poo and eat it before you can get to them🤣. Absolutely none of this hurts them and is good for immune systems.

If this is true, I feel sorry for your toddler, you are doing her a big disservice. You are not meeting her developmental needs.

My three year old will collect sticks and stones and old leaves and acorns and so on like there's about to be a world shortage.

None of mine have crawled outside, but never went to Nursery until 3 years old.
I wouldn’t have been happy to hear a non walker was outside either, but people have explained it a little better.
But it’s your baby, so it should be your choice also