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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ring the nursery and complain?

54 replies

gemmummy · 30/03/2009 18:57

Quick background, perhaps 3 or 4 times over the last 2 weeks I have collected my DS and he has been in a soiled nappy. I have let it go, but made a comment along the lines of ooooh you smell etc. Today I picked up my son and smelt him straight away. I only live 5 mins aay, so I thought I'll change him when I get him. One of the girls said , X's bum was sore this morning so I put some cream on. Fine says I. I got home and the poor sod, his bum was caked in poo, it has stuck to him so obv he'd been in it for a while and his bum was red raw, he screamed as I tried to get the poo off. I was so annoyed I called the nursery and complained, they were apologetic, I am normally so easy going so I wondered after if it was an honest mistake or a bit lazy? So, AIBU to have complained?

OP posts:
edam · 30/03/2009 18:59

no, poor sausage, quite wrong to leave him in a dirty nappy so long it sticks to his bum.

giraffescantdancethetango · 30/03/2009 19:00

Does he have a diary - does that detail nappy change times?

Original poster
gemmummy · 30/03/2009 19:00

yep, his last nappy change was 1410, I collected him at 1700.

OP posts:
EyeballsintheSky · 30/03/2009 19:11

I don't see how it can be a mistake. It's not as if you don't know they've done it if DD is anything to go by. I'd definitely follow it up. Poor little soul

willowthewispa · 30/03/2009 19:11

YANBU! At my nursery with have three set nappy changing times - after breakfast (9am-10am ish) after nap time (1.30ish - 2.30ish) and after tea (4ish-5ish), but if a child soils their nappy at any other time they get changed asap!

tiggerlovestobounce · 30/03/2009 19:12

I think that if it has happened 4 times in the last 2 weeks then that is a bit too often to be reasonable.
At the nursery that my DD is at, if I arrive to pick her up and she has a dirty nappy the nursery nurses immediately offer to change her.

screamingabdab · 30/03/2009 19:15

YANBU (and Metanium is the best cream for bad nappy rash - you can mix it with Sudocrem to thin it out a bit)

rubyslippers · 30/03/2009 19:16

oh dear - he should be changed at 4/4.30 and certainly not left sitting in it

YANBU - what are they going to do to make sure it doesn't happen again?

Original poster
gemmummy · 30/03/2009 19:17

i think another reason I was so miffed is because they knew he had a sore bum, they told me so. So why didn't they change his bum a bit more often, soiled or not. Is that logical to you or me over reacting?

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lynniep · 30/03/2009 19:18

I've had this problem a lot of times at the nursery. Often when they've been playing outside and no-one has noticed the pong - but not always. DS is just 2 and doesnt say anything when he's done a poo. He gets a terrible terrible sore bum really quickly from soiled nappies too - skin peels off if left for too long.

In the end I got so p**sed of that my 'hints' and then requests werent registering with them, I specifically requested that someone checks him every half hour on the half hour. I made them write it on the notice board. Since then I've only had once incidence in about 4 months (as opposed to once a week)

You are absoloutely NBU. If it happens frequently they arent doing their job - surely they would smell it (if inside)

Original poster
gemmummy · 30/03/2009 19:18

the manager assured me she would monitor the situation more closely, it is a good nursery and he loves it there. It's just becoming a little too regular, I think they do need to introduce a later nappy change as routine.

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Original poster
gemmummy · 30/03/2009 19:19

lynnie, 3 out of the 4 times it's happeed he's been inside.

OP posts:
willowthewispa · 30/03/2009 19:20

I would ask them when the routine nappy changes are. Specifically request that he is changed at least three times a day.

rubyslippers · 30/03/2009 19:21

They NEED a nappy change later in the afternoon

DS has a minimum of 4 per day and then more if he needed it

i hope the manager makes it part of the schedule

Original poster
gemmummy · 30/03/2009 19:22

thanks for that, looking back in his diary it's 2/3 times a day normally. I am going to tell them I want at least 4, lets face it, I take the nappies and wipes in so it's up to me.

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lynniep · 30/03/2009 19:23

I know - DS loves it at his too which is why moving him is the last resort.
Generally I think that some of the staff are more lax than others, and like you said, it sounds there needs to be an extra nappy check time. If it does happen again, try the 'I want him checked every half hour because its not acceptible' thing. If he has a diary, write it at the top fo the page every day

rubyslippers · 30/03/2009 19:23

good - I think you should

2/3 nappy changes is a not a lot per day

purepurple · 30/03/2009 19:29

That really isn't on!
Poor little thing
let them know that you expect him to be changed and in a clean nappy for when you pick him up at 5
if he has soiled when you arrive, then they should change him
if they don't offer, ask them to do it, you are the customer
at the nursery where I work, we have nappy changes after tea at 4ish
what you describe shouldn't happen in a good nursery

Flopsymopsy · 30/03/2009 19:31

YANBU. They should make sure he goes home clean and make sure poo is changed as soon as. If you have an unusually unsmelly pooing child (!) they should make sure they check regularly.
2/3 times could be enough if done at the right times e.g. when he has soiled, but if just done when clock says 2/3 times they're not meeting your child's (or any other child's) unique needs

choufleur · 30/03/2009 19:33

of course YANBU. i would put the complaint in writing as well and threaten reporting them to OFSTED if things don't improve. How hard is it to change a nappy , that's part of what they are paid to do.

Original poster
gemmummy · 30/03/2009 19:46

Thanks all for your replies, I didn't know what the routine was elsewhere, first child and all but I'm not happy for him to be in pain. I am going to ask about the routine tomorrow and insist on 4 nappy changes a day at least, plus obviously more if he's pooed. And yes, his poo does stink so it's pretty obvious when he's done it.

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angel1976 · 30/03/2009 19:47

YANBU. Once in a while is forgiveable. Sometimes DS does an un-stinky poo (very rarely! ) and if DH and I have made the mistake of leaving him in a soiled nappy, then the nursery gets the same concession. But 4 times in 2 weeks is completely OTT! I have the opposite problem with my nursery, they keep changing DS's nappy really often despite me saying please don't if it's dry??!!!!!!

ThingOne · 30/03/2009 22:49

Not on. If my DS has a poo at picking up time we arrive to find him having his nappy changed. They don't wait for poos.

Flibbertyjibbet · 30/03/2009 22:59

At our nursery they have nappy changes at regular times but a poo is changed as soon as they notice.
Ds2 had a habit of just pooing as I came to pick him up, sometimes I'd say 'can I just change him before I put him in his car seat' and the staff would just take him and change him and not even let me do it.

Original poster
gemmummy · 01/04/2009 16:32

update on the saga...on tues i picked up DS and he was in a soiled nappy again. I told the girls in his room I would speak to the manager about it today when she was in. Also, he'd only had 2 bum changes again on Tues. So, today I insisted on 2 hrly changes and more if he'd pooed obv. So....i got a phone call at work to say he had a high temp 38 deg and I had to collect him...in this nursery it also means he's off the next day too. Fair enough....but this has happened every week bar 3 since xmas! I work full time in RAF and my DH is away so I always have to take the time off work...when I got home I took my Ds's temp....35.7 deg! I've been taking it all afternoon, not been above 36 deg...seriously, are this nursery taking the mickey or just being cautios?

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