Nursery withholding pudding

[Roseybuddy]

Hoping to get some advice here.

I am currently 2 months into working at a nursery which my DS (3.5) has recently joined. I have always thought the preschool practitioners are very harsh on the children but now my little one is there I am even more concerned about this.

So, my DS is not the biggest and best eater. I have had around a year and a half of struggling with fussy eating but his previous nursery have done an amazing job in the past 4 months with encouraging eating and trying new foods. His new preschool which is also my new workplace don't encourage but more so, make them eat and it must be all within a time limit otherwise no pudding. This is done infront of the other children, their uneaten meal and pudding is put in the bin infront of them and if or when they are upset by this, no comfort is given.

Quick example, my DS doesn't like curry, never has.

Today lunch was Thai green chicken curry & rice. DS loves rice but nursery mixed the curry up with the rice and made him eat. He sat and cried whilst forcing himself to eat, he managed half. They allowed him his flapjack pudding, he didn't want it by this point so they took it away.

4 hours later at tea time, they serve up turkey paste rolls and cucumber slices, DS isn't hungry but again, made to eat. He eats half the roll and no cucumber. Because he didn't eat the entire roll they told him he wasn't allowed his fruit yoghurt and put it in the bin as punishment for not eating his entire roll.

So really all I want to know is;

1 - can nurseries without food from children as punishment?

2 - I have approached deputy about my disagreement of this to be told, this is how they do it and he will eat eventually. Should I take concern higher to owner?

3 - Surely, if the pudding is a healthy option this shouldn't be taken away without parents agreeing to this? Calories are so important in growing children.

I work with the younger children so am not in the room with DS when this is happening otherwise I would assist in encouraging him to eat. I would never force a child to eat or remove pudding as punishment

Grateful for any advice please, I am only a trainee practitioner so not currently qualified

Wonder how they make up bottles

So as well as being cruel they are teaching children to eat what they don't want or beyond satiety will be rewarded with more food? Have these people done any training? No wonder we have a childhood obesity problem if this is how some children are being taught about food in their early years. This is dreadful.

Just awful. It is a child's human right to have access to food. (We had a similar debate with our autistic child, and sought legal advice as their new teacher was forcing them to try chicken which they have never ever ever liked, and was withholding the rest of their meal until they tried a bit.)

Why can't they put the food out so that children have some power over choices?

I would hit the ceiling over this. Awful practice.

Thats so cruel! I wouldn't work here or send my child, poor kids.

DS’s two UK nurseries both allowed children to serve themselves family-style (obviously children with dietary needs were steered away from things they weren’t allowed). They could choose what they ate, and how much of it. They could also try small amounts of everything to see if they liked it. Lots of small snacks regularly as well (cheese, fruits etc). We went out of our way to choose the most loving and gentle nurseries we could find. DS still speaks very fondly of the last one (he can’t remember the first one).

Your child’s nursery sounds really horrible, honestly. The kind of thing I’d expect from a crappy US daycare (they are not well-regulated), or a particularly bad childminder, not a high-quality UK nursery. I’d pull him out. What was the most recent Ofsted report like, out of interest?

I've worked in nurseries for a long time. Children are like adults, they don't always like things.

In my current setting, we do a rolling, self serve lunch, where children choose when to go for lunch and what they eat. It's all laid out for them to take separately. Some of our children will choose only to have some bread for lunch, but we try to encourage them to have something. They'll usually eat at the next snack.

The sort of situation you are describing isn't good and is a very out dated practice. I used to hate when EYP's of many years would tell children not to leave the table until they cleared their plate.

I'd definitely be taking this further as it can be traumatising for a child to have this much distress at meal times.

Giiiirl take him out from there eating disorders incoming poor baby if report that somewhere