4 staff and 8 kids at the park and not a spare nappy or a baby wipe between them

[totalmisfit]

just took dd to the park. There happened to be about 8 toddlers from a local nursery with 4 staff members to look after them. They seemed pretty good with the kids, if a little indifferent.

Then this little girl walked past me and i got a whiff of poo from her nappy. There were a couple of nursery workers close by so i thought 'one of them will notice in a second and change her.'

I had to run after dd at that point as she was heading towards the swings. About 10 minutes later there was a scream from one of the staff (not the one who must have been the little girl's designated playworker but one of the others) 'look at her nappy, it looks awful hanging down like that!' (below her skirt). Cue more screams and peals of laughter.

The woman who was in charge of her said 'Well i didn't bring a nappy to the park, did I?'

So she does nothing about it. The little girl walks off in my direction. Nappy falls off. Poo everywhere. More screaming and laughter from the women who are supposed to be in charge of her. Then one of them guides her over to where the picnic tables are and starts trying to change her, but of course she doesn't have any nappies or wipes on her. None are forthcoming from the other staff either.

I was literally down to my last nappy and couple of wipes myself,and i was saving them in case dd needed changing so i wasn't much use, i'm afraid. They had a pack of tisses between them and so she was trying to clean her up with those.

I'm just a bit at the lack of preparation and at their attitude tbh. Surely it's nappies and wipes are a prerequisite for taking large numbers of toddlers to the park?

or am i just being horribly judgey?

I think Hula's right. The response is even more worrying as it suggests the way the whole place is run is appalling. I'd contact Ofsted, if I were you. Poor children.

I'd ring again, tell her you want to be informed as to what she's going to do about it, and if she starts getting evasive I'd mention OFSTED and maybe also the local paper.
I tnink their behaviour was completely unacceptable.

I would expect someone to ring the nursery manager if that had been my child.
(And knowing our nursery manager, the staff in question would have got a right bollocking )

She probably said 'I'll look into it' as she would not say 'right I will sack the person concerned' to a stranger on the phone before she has had a chance to get all sides.

My biggest concern here isn't the lack of nappies, it is the way the adults laughed at the child. The lack of nappies could be a one-off last minute forgotten item. The laughter shows an underlying problem with their attitude to children.

Totalmisfit - I know it is a pain in the neck - but is there any chance that you could put it in writing.

If you did have time - they would have to address it as a complaint and you would see how it had been acted on.

I guess it depends upon how the manager's tone of voice left you - if you are content that it will be addressed you could leave it

Called OFSTED.

Told them everything that i saw. Left my contact details etc so that they can call me back and let me know how the investigation is going. Apparently i should hear from them again within 7 working days, and the investigation should take place within 28 days.

Good - I'm glad you've taken it further. I think that the idea of contacting your council's early years service is a good one.

do you think i should contact the early years service now or wait till OFSTED have got back to me? I feel a bit 'all guns blazing' at the minute - but then that's probably appropriate given the attitude of the staff involved.

no you may as well call the early years too, tell them about the incident, that you spoke to the nursery manager, weren't reassured by her response and have issued a complaint to oftsted as well.

Oh god I feel so for that little girl poor baby. I would be bloody furious if that was my dd. I've always been a bit undecided about putting my dds into nurseries (not including preschools attached to schools) I was considering putting dd2 at the local surestart nursery for a few mornings a week because she could really do with the stimulation. I've gone right off the idea now. I know that seems a bit of an overreactionbut I would be baying for blood if I was the parent. Horrible nasty people.

Call them now while it is all fresh in your mind.

ysbab - don't let one horrible incident put you off. i'm sure there are loads of fantastic childcare facilities out there.

hula - have called the early years services - just spoke to a receptionist who said she'd get the relevant development officer/worker to call me back.

Good luck; hope you get some more adequate answers.

Well done, total. When ds was in nursery I'd have been very grateful for someone complaining if anything like this had happened.

You've done the right thing. I'm just glad you saw it happen and have done something rather than think of such things carrying on.

Well done you . Can you keep us posted? And yes, I would also speak to the council's Early Years Department.

There are many, many nurseries out there where this would NOT happen.

thanks all - no not in croydon, hatrick - we're in East London. horrible to think of this kind of thing happening in other places as well.

marina - will definitely keep you all posted, still waiting for Early years to call me back.

Well done TM! - I would be gutted to think this could happen to my dd.
You did absolutely the right thing - will look out for Ofsted's response.....

totalmisfit - just wanted to say think you are brilliant for reporting this. When dd was at nursery I would have wanted to know if this type of thing had been going on. Its nice to know that their are people out there who care enough to report this type of thing. Thanks

that is shocking!!!

i also work in childcare and would hate people to think that this is the norm. when we go out for a trip each child has there own little bag with nappies/wipes/juice etc in it, this also saves any confusion with parent helpers etc about who is allergic to what.

how dare they treat that little girl like that, its her bloody parents who are paying there wages!!!

oohhh i would be so tempted to try and track down the mum of that little girl, i know i would hit the roof if someone laughed at my little girl in a degrading way, never mind not being competent enough to even remember to take baby wipes with them.

Motherh - we like the one dd goes to a lot - email me: [email protected] - obviously it's habbibu, rather than username - trying to limit personal details on t'net. a bit!