To think this is absolutely joyless of nursery?

[Bettycrockered]

DD attends a private nursery and if you want to, on their birthdays you send them in with a shop brought cake and some candles. Everyone sings happy birthday and the cake gets shared out.

There is around 40 kids in the room, so an average of one birthday a week. By the time the cake is cut down to share, each kid gets a small cube of sponge and jam.

one of the parents via a nursery/parent forum has complained that they feel the cube of cake a few times a month is excessive sugar and so now there’s no birthday cake. On their birthday, the child sits in a chair and everyone sings happy birthday. Once a month the chef will instead bake a sugar free cake for each room and they have a little party instead.

AIBU to think this is totally joyless? DD doesn’t even like cake so I’ve seen the minuscule cubes of cake that come home with her. The meal plan at the nursery is really nutritious and varied - a little cube of sponge cake surely isn’t that big an issue? They could always alternate the children’s pudding with the cake rather than getting rid of it.

YABU - kids eat too much sugar as it is
YANBU - moderation is fine

i think most schools don’t allow sweets on birthday now either

We allowed cake from home on birthdays. The staff would cut it up and send it home with the children so the parents could decide whether to give it or not.

Bloody miserable!

Just have a permission form. I had to sign for r my DDs to have cake at nursery 10ish years ago...

YANBU, miserable! How do they ever learn moderation if they never encounter the good stuff.

In my experience most nurseries do not allow cakes or biscuits. It’s all healthy food.

Parents manage to kill joy absolutely everything at school. You do something lovely, spend your own time and money on it and someone complains. Guess what? You don’t bother doing it again.
I’ve stopped organising trips, sports events, lunch time clubs, after school clubs, end of year parties, all because of complaints from parents.

It’s joyless of the other parent, but brilliant that the nursery that are prepared to make an alternative cake for every child’s birthday. No joy will be lost as far as the children are concerned.

Yes it’s joyless.

Some kids are going to really mad on the sweets once their parents aren’t supervising them. Sugar on about a par with heroin now where I live.

So friggin joyless. Poor kiddos.

They could sing happy birthday with a cupcake and candle for the birthday child. The cake may not be suitable for all children, are children who can't have it given an alternative?

It's a similar story at our school, endless complaints and moaning from parents means lots of staff no longer bother. Unfortunately no good deed goes unpunished.

Unbearably joyless.

They're still getting cake monthly? I really can't get worked up about this. Besides, what about allergies and intolerances?

They are offering a sugar free cake for a monthly generic party, not for individual dcs birthdays if I read the op correctly.

Boxed cake so ingredients clear

I remember way back when I was in the infants at primary school (early 80s) they had a cake tin painted up to look like a cake after everyone sang happy birthday the tin was opened and the birthday child got a pick a lolly from it.
Could they start doing that - but with a small gift like stickers or something instead of lollipops?

Not unusual for nurseries to not allow cakes. DD's nursery used to allow a sugar free cake baked by their own chef, then after a year they changed it to a fancy fruit salad. At DS's nursery they don't allow any cakes and they celebrate birthdays with a candle in a chopped up melon.

Once a month the chef will instead bake a sugar free cake for each room and they have a little party instead.

Do you mean naturally sweetened with fruit or honey? I'd be happy with this, they can celebrate the birthdays for that month together. I'd be fine with sugar in a homemade cake, just not all the other rubbish in a shop bought cake so frequently for very young children.

DD would love this - she’s more excited by the candles!

Alternative provided every time for children who can't have one of the ingredients?

WTF is a sugar free cake? A loaf of bread?!

Candles -:are you mad? A child could get burnt or set their hair alight or burn the nursery down is it really worth it?