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.

FWIW OP, DS didn’t wear a puddle suit once he started walking, he literally only wore it for the crawling stage. Waterproof trousers or dungarees and coat and wellies now he walks. Once they start crawling dirt is fair game.

This is a really important part of building immunity. It also will give sensory feedback.

Have you not seen other wobblers outside? Photos of yourself at this stage ? It might be worth linking in with either a book on typical development or an experienced parent.

Yabu, that's normal. It's not normal that you don't take her outside.

If you’re worried about germs, it’s a nursery, the inside will be much worse.

My brother is 6 years younger than me, I remember him eating a work around a year old, I was meant to be watching him whilst my mum fetched washing!

We used to make "pies" with mud and flower pots all the time and they hadn't invented antibacterial liquid soap. My youngest brother was usually the brunt of our games too, he's a healthy 40 year old now!

Has she never been to the beach then? Sat or rolled about on sand?? Mine all loved it!! My youngest used to crawl down out garden (and it’s quite large) all the way to the chicken shed then roll about in the chicken shed!!! (Not often mind before anyone mentions virus etc). He’s get in said shed and throw the sawdust all over. Always bathed him straight after and used sanitiser on him etc, but these little (if a bit gross) memories are amazing to have, for both us and him.
Babies these days are too “clean”. Sterilised this, washed that etc. All 5 of mine did wild stuff like play on grass as babies and all have perfect immune systems and were hardly ever poorly!!!

Also, this!! My eldest works in one and so far this year she has had 3 bad bugs… we are only 2 weeks into feb!!! 😂😂

Hate to tell you OP but the outside is probably cleaner than the inside of a nursery lol

What if she's a late walker? My friend's son didn't walk until 19 months.

I'm pretty sure dd1 touches the ground more now that she's 4 and forever picking things up in the park than she did when she was crawling! She brings home leaves, sticks, stones, pine cones!

DD2 was crawling in the garden covered in wet sand from DD1's sand pit and mud kitchen long before she could walk!

I'm also pretty sure both of my kids have licked our cats at some point.

They love getting messy and dirty, DD2 has been at a forest nursery since she was 14 months and there's not a day goes by when she's not muddy to some degree! She's also apparently the best hand washer now, (at 22 months) and takes all her little friends in to wash their hands (and get drenched in the process)

Totally normal, I used to get pictures of DS1 in a puddle suit covered in mud from 10 months old!

Also this 😂

My 11 still picks up sticks.

Has she never sat on a swing or a slide or sat in a sand pit in the park? Are you never going to take her to the beach? Toddlers eat sand. It’s horrendous but that’s what they do. So glad mine are older and we’re done with that phase.

The problem isn't when you find them with a worm, it's where you find them with half a worm 😂

Saying that, thankfully my never went through a bug eating phase. There are a lot of collections though, and enough feathers for whole bird.

The gross bit for mine, what's my eldest going though the 'lick things to see what they taste like phase' at the same time as toilet training 🤢

At my son's nursery they go into the garden at least once a day, more often if the weather's good. He started last March when he was nine months old. They put the non-walkers on rugs/mats, especially if the ground is wet, but the babies usually end up crawling off to explore. We just made sure he had a puddle suit to wear.

He moved into the toddler room at 15 months - he'd been cruising for months but hadn't walked unaided. He started walking within a couple of weeks of moving up so I definitely think peer pressure played a part!

She'll also be sitting and watching the other children, older toddlers on trikes etc. feeling the wind in her air. She'll have a ball.

I've been thinking about this a little more and I'd imagine it's pretty important for babies that go full time. If they are there say 8-5.30 Mon to Friday they wouldn't see daylight other than on a weekend if not taken outside. That can't be healthy.

I do think this is a little OTT, but I was pretty anxious about loads of stuff when DS was little. I really regret being so worried all the time, there was no need for it, it was a waste of energy. Try not to worry.

But more importantly, congratulations on your baby’s first steps! Big moment and very exciting!

It is hard sometimes to know what's normal and what isn't if you haven't had much experience so don't feel bad for asking the question. When crawling my DC2 would play in the park, climbing frame slide etc we also took him camping before he could walk. It is exhausting making sure they don't eat anything they shouldn't but it's important for them and they do grow out of it. We have dedicated places for each child to put the things they collect on walks in.

Oh dear, oh dear oh dear OP. We have all been there. You will look back on this in a couple of years time and have a jolly good giggle at yourself (especially if you go on to have more children).

I don't like the thought of a baby crawling on plastic grass.

OP I work in a nursery and did a 6 month stint in the baby room last year. Totally normal for your 14MO not to be walking quite yet, so don’t worry about that.

Secondly, we put the non walkers in puddle suits and they crawl around but if they start to feel cold or wet we take them straight in and get them into a clean dry outfit. We also wash their hands every time we come in from outside and before all of our meals and snacks.

I’m sure if you wanted to get her some little gloves the staff wouldn’t mind putting them on her at all, but personally I wouldn’t bother as she probably wouldn’t like them and would pull them off!

You know your baby OP but trust me she will be having a lovely time crawling around in the garden :)

OP never said that she doesn't take her outside.

It might be 'normal' for babies to be crawling around public fields and pavements (although I've never seen a baby crawling along a pavement, and rarely on public greens, and I'm very old!) but it isn't advisable. I have a dog so I will automatically scan the pavement for shards of glass. The amount of bits of glass, cans, fag butts, tissues, etc is unbelievable.

I let my two crawl in my garden when we didn't have a dog and they were absolutely fine.

I guess crawling around on grass in a nursery amounts to the same thing although more hazardous with toddlers around.

Kids get dirty 🤷‍♀️ Also, being able to walk doesn’t mean they won’t crawl anymore and they fall over a lot so their hands will be on the ground 🤷‍♀️