AIBU to worry about small broken leaves in nursery baby sensory play?

[Tintinuviel]

First tine parent, here. I've been viewing nurseries for my baby, and im still trying to get an idea for what is normal healthy play versus what is unsafe.

I recently viewed a nursery that I liked in many ways, but one thing gave me pause:

When I was in their baby room they had a small water tub for play and a sand tub. The water tub was filled with opaque water, and various toys. However both tubs contained multiple (many) loose plant and tree leaves. Lots of the leaves were broken up into a small chokable size.

To me this seems inappropriate for a room with teething babies who explore by sticking things in theor mouths. Wet leaves can be pretty sticky and hard to get off. And the water being cloudy whilst it's full of small chokeable objects concerned me as that means stuff don't really know what's in there in terns of small leaves that can be swallowed.

I'm not convinced nursery staff can supervise play close enough to make small leaves ok. But I don't know if I'm overreacting.

if this was a room for children over 3, I wouldn't worry as older children are obviously less likely to put random crap in their mouth

I haven't fed back with the nursery yet. Would I be unreasonable if I fed back my concerns over the leaves? Is this normal play equipment for a baby room?

We looked around our nursery for about 5 mins before signing up. If you don’t like it; that’s fine, you don’t need a reason. Do they not go out locally? Ours go out every day to the woods / playground / parks anyway so the babies / toddlers could put all sorts in their mouth but obviously they are supervised. It’s so good for them to go to different places, I’d really recommend finding a nursery that goes out a lot.

I would actually like that they have different sensory experiences for the babies and toddlers to play with. I definitely would not see it as a choking hazard.

My daughter is 3 and 1/2 and I’ve done sensory play from a really young age. Including mud, leaves, pine cones, cooked and dyed spaghetti, jelly. So anything different I see as a plus.

Most places have sand and water inside. So it can be played with when it’s cold outside still.

Why on earth do you think a leaf is a choking risk? And what kind of leaves were these that you think they are comparable to a grape, which is a round, smooth object and the perfect size to block an airway? I think you're being completely ridiculous.

Unfortunately anything that can break into a piece small enough to go in their airway but large enough to get stuck can be. HSE specifically discusses Leafy greens as a choking risk and they also identify food skins and skin like objects as a risk. Solid starts identifies stickers and labels as a risk and they arent fundamentally that different from leaves. I've seen A&E staff and paramedics warn against them As well.

There's a parent upthread who describes their child choking on a leaf, as does This person on reddit.

I admit it's probably not common, But it can certainly happen.

I think this is it. You're right.

Part of the reason I'm on edge is because this nursery received a compliance action not only for things like prevent and safeguarding but also regarding supervision of babies, and hazard identification - very recently. Their sister nursery had also been visited by ofsted for multiple concerns as well.

But I didn't want to put that in the op because I was interested in just seeing if other parents have a similar read of it and what's considered normal for nurseries.

So really during the visit I wanted to be reassured that these concerns have been taken seriously and what i saw gives me pause, unfortunately. I think tge people saying it's not for me are probably right. I know you can neber 100% take risk away, but given that rare things still happen, what I'm looking for is to feel that the nursery takes risks seriously enough that I don't have to worry my child will be that 1 child a year who dies at nursery.

Ultimately i know each of us decides what we're comfortable with so I don't need permission to not have baby go there. But the thread has been educational.

Because I specifically saw a pile of bitesized broken bits that were left unsupervised in a room of children of an age that teethe and mouth everything.

It's not about the fact they got to play with leaves as It is potential hazards being stowed appropriately. Unfortunately ofsted has recently pulled up this particular nursery on multiple things including hazards being dealt with appropriately so maybe that's part of why I'm more concerned.

I know they arent a hazard that is often talked about, but HSE specifically discusses Leafy greens as a choking risk and they also identify food skins and skin like objects as a risk. Solid starts identifies stickers and labels as a risk and they arent fundamentally that different from leaves. I've seen A&E staff and paramedics warn against leaves specifically as well - another of my comments links to sources for all these examples.

There's a parent upthread who describes their child choking on a leaf, and ive awen others relate similar.

I admit it's probably not common, abd you're well within your rights to decide it's not something that worries you - i wanted to know how other parents feel about it after all.

Sounds like this isn’t the nursery for you - several concerns raised and you didn’t feel comfortable when you viewed the setting.
you don’t need permission to go elsewhere - personally I’m of the view no nursery can supervise like you do because of the ratio/investment but if you’re going down that route you need to be comfortable with the place you chose. Stay looking!

This would concern me. Leaves might be poisonous or cut babies’ tongues.

Leafy greens are not the same as leaves. Unless you keep your child sealed in a sterile box they are going to encounter leaves.

There's alot nowadays about 'natural' play- i worked in nurseries 2006- 2014 and saw the change happen from mainly plastic toys to natural resources and using 'real' items.It began with treasure baskets then has become this big thing of The curiosity approach and Hygge in the early years (Google these for more info) I personally don't like it...treasure baskets containing household objects was one thing, but now with all the 'loose parts' trend etc the choking hazard seems a real issue to me.Especially using those 'water beads' which luckily i think has been phased out somewhat as there were news articles saying they were dangerous.I went to a library group once and there was dry pasta shells everywhere- was a nightmare for the parents keeping them out of babies mouths.So YANBU.

Mention it to them even if you decide not to go with them. It’s unlikely to be a choking hazard as most chocking hazards are a certain shape so the body cannot expel them or bring air in. It might make them cough and spit but not choke, I wouldn’t think. Can you access a home child minder until they are a bit older?

Are you in Ireland or UK OP? I note your link is for HSE in Ireland but you refer to Ofsted in UK. Not that it makes a difference, I'm virtually sure the standards are the same.

Im in Ireland and while I see the HSE warns of a choking hazard, Aistear, the early years curriculum suggests using natural materials. We were recently encouraged to use more sticks and leaves in our sensory play. Its very tricky sometimes to find a balance. The key of course is supervision. You can't eliminate all risks and the benefits have to be weighed up. For example we are encouraged to promote 'risky play' from a wellbeing and curriculum perspective but to avoid risk from a health and safety perspective. Its a minefield. As a new Mum it's easy to only see the risk and not the benefit. All that said you need to have a good gut feeling and whatever the reason you don't feel it here. Visit a few other places, if you are critical of all of them it's possibly a deeper fear of handing baby over and you'll need to work on that. If you get a good feeling about the next one then you'll know. Meeting the baby room leader and staff is vital, interactions are the most important part of childcare and you'll want someone that makes you feel comfortable that you can have an open relationship with.

It would bother me that the staff had put the leaves in there and it hadn't occurred to them that they might be a choking hazard. I'd be wondering what else hadn't crossed their minds. I am hyper vigilant and maybe that's not such a good thing but it's necessary for people working in a nursery.

I went to view a nursery that had big bowl of bottle corks and they were all over the floor - it was in the toddler room so at that point i knew it wasnt the nursery for us