Nursery - must be a better way?

[NoSchadenfreude]

hoping someone works in a nursery and can provide perspective.
At a previous stay and play at my child’s nursery (age 2) it was apparent all the children just share water cups/ bottles, all out on a table and they’re all drinking from each. Yuck! Asked nursery and they said they would add names/pictures.
Stay and play this week and it’s exactly the same. They said the names/pictures get taken off for washing and the clips are loose/they fall off. They said they accept it’s unhygienic but all the children just share anyway.
I just can’t believe it’s the same in all nurseries - if you work in one or you know how it works in your child’s, how are they managing this?
additional context - nursery has had two shocking Ofsted reports following a safeguarding concern, management team fired, stopped from taking new children on. Have tried desperately to find another but not a single one in our town has availability, still searching! This feels like such basics they can’t get right.

Sounds pretty terrible but you know this already. Hopefully you can find alternative childcare asap.

Send your child in with their own water bottle and keep your fingers crossed that a space becomes available elsewhere.

Water bottles are standard in all the nurseries around here.

At DS’ nursery, they had their own named water bottles (supplied by the nursery) and then they were encouraged to drink out of cups with their meals. I’m sure children did often drink out of the wrong bottle/cup but they also felt that things like recognising your own bottle was an important part of development

Toddlers are grim, even if it did have their name or picture on they’d still pick up any old cup and drink from it. It makes me feel sick thinking about it but it’s all pretty normal I’m afraid. I think it could work better if they had their own water bottle from home but the odd kid will still just drink from any old bottle at that age.

I was thinking about this the other day. At my nursery, they have a low table with one water bottle for each child with their name on it. Nursery proudly told me that my son is so good at helping himself to water when he’s thirsty. Given that they’re all 2, I assume the chances that each child drinks from their bottle are 0.

This is really gross, I work in a nursery of 2-4 year olds and we would never let this happen routinely. If someone accidentally picked up a similar bottle it's thoroughly washed and refilled. The children are well supervised and we write their names on if the parent sticker has come off. It's not acceptable for children to share like that, what about allergies or the parents that add medicines to bottles and don't think we need to know. If they are happy for you to see that level of disregard for hygiene I dread to think what else goes on!

Even if they bring in their own water bottles there is every chance they will drink out of the wrong one at this age unless they have to ask for them.

That’s weird. When DD was that age they drank from disposable cups, but this was America so they didn’t care about being eco. When we were back in the UK with DS we sent in a water bottle until he got to school nursery age and then school provided and they were labelled but by then he could read his name so could find his. I don’t think in any of these settings water was just left out though, it was given at regular times including with food and when a DC asked. They don’t need to have it out all the time for the kid to help themselves, that’s obviously going to be hard to manage in a 1:5 ratio or whatever they’re at if I kid just grabs one.

When mine were at nursery they had photos of themselves and names on their cups. They didn’t seem to have issues with taking the photos off for washing and putting them back on the next morning. It’s not impressive that your nursery can’t be arsed to do that.

This is surely a report to Ofsted and LA for an enormous health and safety breech. Apart from the obvious hygiene implications, there could be a parent who is too lazy to get their kid to actually drink water so sneaks juice or squash into their cup, which another child could be allergic to, or the parent who puts meds in without telling nursery. No parent should do this, but the nursery can't know they don't.

They can buy more elastics. They can have cups and jugs a the cups get washed each time. Parents could bring their own cups. There are loads of options.

I would not send my child to a place with a shocking ofsted report. Water bottle issue aside.
if there are no other nurseries I would look into childminders and nannies.