To think I should be able to pick up DS from Nursery and him not to be covered head to toe in food?

[Stigaloid]

On 3 separate occasions now when I have collected DS from nursery he has had his dinner still encrusted on his face. Now I know a 22 month old doesn't always eat nicely and likes to make a mess with his supper, but seeing as he eats at 4pm and I come to collect him at 6pm, surely the nursery staff can clean his face so I pick him up clean and tidy? Yesterday when I picked him up he had encrusted food all over his sleeves and trousers, despite the fact that I always send him in with a clean set of spare clothes for him to be changed into if he gets mucky. He had his dinner all over this face too. I don't drop him off covered in muck - why should I collect him in that state. Considering we are paying a hefty sum for him to be cared for, AIBU in expecting to collect him in a smilar state to which I drop him off? (He also had a soiled nappy yesterday when I collected him that had dried up it had obviously been there so long!)

Alarm bells would ring with me here i'm afraid. What is the staff to child ratio?

1 staff to every 4 kids. They used to be fantastic but had a reshuffle of staff and lately, despite complaining the last 2 times, i still collect him grubby. He is happy there and likes the staff and other children, but since they re-shuffled the staff the level of care has gone downhill.

I am not be unreasonable to expect to collect him clean and tidy am i?

I am thinking of makign my complaint more formal and putting it in writing to the head manager of the nursery but don't want to appear precious so checking here that I am well within rights to do so.

i think a mucky child is a happy child

prob should wipe his face that is true but his clothes should be ok, i rarely change the childs clothes due to encrusted food (unless they are wet) due to the fact that i might really need the fresh clothes for a nappy/toliet emergency, also as a working parent i know how much washing/ironing children cause

I would be far more worried about the nappy thing though - my dd2's skin would have been breaking down in that situation at that age.

Sometimes I don't wipe my kids faces after tea

I would hate to collect my DD and see her in that kind of state, and I'd be very cross at the dirty nappy too.

Not sure I would say anything though, as I appreciate most people don't change childrens' clothes as often as I do or think it is a problem.

The nappy thing would bother me.

The food mess, well my boys were ofen still covered in stuff at 6pm, and I only had two of them to look after. I don't think it harmed them.

The soiled nappy is one thing (although I do know that unless you catch a whiff of them it can be hard to tell who has done what at that age as they are running around) - when had his nappy been last changed ?

Mucky clothes - YABU. Unless DS had soaked himself with a drink, I wouldn't expect him to be changed.

Face - depends what you mean by encrusted really. I'd expect them to wipe after tea if really mucky, but know that often children manage to retain food on their face even after a wipe.

I don't expect to pick DS up clean and tidy. Happy and comfortable, yes.

I am not overly precious about messy food normally as DS isn't the neatest of eaters, but when i mean all over him, i mean ALL over him. Both arms from shoulders to sleeves were covered in tomato sauce and the entire left leg from top to bottom was covered in encrusted sauce. If it was a little mess i wouldn't mind but it looked like he had gone swimming in the stuff, and seeing as we are told to provide a spare set of clothes in case they get mucky, surely in the 2 hours that he ate and i collected him, they could have changed him?

Is he really clean and tidy at the end of the day at home? DD is usually pretty filthy.

I would expect hands and faces to be wiped after a meal (but wouldn't be about the odd blob of food under chin/behind the ears/in the hair...).

I would only expect clothes to be changed if soaking wet or really soiled.

I would expect a dirty nappy to be changed as soon as it was noticed (won't necessarily be immediate with an active 22 month but he should be checked reasonably often).

TBH if I came across a nursery with a bunch of pristine toddlers sitting around a table at the end of the day I'd probably worry more!

Yanbu there are days when my ds2 has come home from nursery wearing his 3rd set of cleans clothes (i always send 2) and sometimes, wearing the nurseries own clthes because both his sets have got dirty

I have no problem with him getting dirty, but the nursery staff are wonderful and always clean him up/change his clothes if need be

The crusty nappy would worry me, i would be having words with the nursery manager about that if i were you

I don't think that's on actually. My ds's nursery give hands and faces a wipe with wet flannels after lunch. A bit of residue thats been missed or a small spillage on clothes is one thing but an encrusted face is something else entirely.

I'd be VERY over the dirty nappy.

DS is usually a shade grubby after a morning at nursery but only what you'd expect after a busy morning.

Agree with the posters that messy clothes etc ok but a dirty nappy which looks like its been on for ages, absolutely not, horrid for the child and he could get very sore.

I'd be cross at the dirty nappy, but given that my DS is the messiest child ever, he regularly comes home from nursery having covered his original clothes in paint and then his emergency clothes in food.
I've given up worrying since at home he regularly gets through three changes of clothing in a day as he is magneticly drawn towards mud and anything messy. He also has an enormous mop of wavy hair which also attracts mud, paint and playdough and needs to be wet combed twice a day to look halfway decent.
I sometimes worry that i'm being judged for my DS's constant grubbiness, but i've now come to the conclusion that he's just a mess magnet and that its probably typical for a boisterous 2 year old boy

The nappy thing would bother me more than anything. Do they give you a sheet with nappy changes on? When was he last changes?

My DD is always filthy when I pick her up from nursery, she does get her face wiped (but hates it) but often find hummous etc in her ear/hair/neck etc. She will also play in the garden and sand and water tray after eating lunch which inevitably gets everywhere.

They do often change her but when she has had dinner and is then doing messy play they don't as there is little point and I agree. She goes home and goes straight in the bath anyway.

I don't care what state my son is in when he finishes playschool - the messier he is the more fun he has had in my book. And I have taken him on the school run with his dinner still on his face but the nappy is a different issue and it needs addressing.

Agree with other posters - nappy thing is a worry and they really should have wiped his face after dinner. With the clothes I actually would prefer them not to change my children unless they really have to as it only adds to my washing pile. Kids get dirty.

My dd comes home immaculate - and very rarely in the same outfit I have dropped her off in! We leave 4 spare sets of clothing at nursery (as do all the parents).