Is nursery safe?

[november90]

My son is three years old and currently goes to nursery. I share him with my ex-husband and I'm on maternity leave.
Ex feels he should still go to nursery due to the educational and social benefits. The lockdown is really taking a tole on him now, esp with the winter months. There's no question that he won't take him out of nursery on his days.

I feel so guilty sending him. My whole family are making out that I'm signing his death certificate by sending him. On the one hand I am at home and not working at the moment so I feel he should stay at home, however, nurseries are open and available to all children so why should he be missing out??
My relative now won't stay in a bubble with me due to me sending him to nursery so I just feel like I am completely on my own.

My DD works in a nursery and 2 members of her team walked out today. My DD wont do that but the stress on her is very evident, she is studying to be a primary teacher and has to work in a child setting as part of her degree. She is wearing a mask and the children today didnt seem to notice or mind, they still clambered all over her. She loves the children in her nursery and wants the best for them but she is also very anxious about what lies ahead. Her manager is on the same page as her and they are supporting each other through this, today when the parents collected the children she asked if they were coming back in tomorrow. My DD doesnt know how many said yes as she had left before the end of the day but they only had 9 instead of 30 children today as parents with a primary child off on an inset day chose to keep their younger children at home as well. I assume there will be smaller numbers which in turn will make it safer. If parents do send in their children the one thing I hope is that they do keep them off with any symptoms, even not the classic 3 ones to ensure it can continue running for the rest. We are in tier 4, just short of 1000/100,000 so it is a concern.

I'm a key worker but I'm currently on mat leave. My nursery doesnt offer a retainer option. I will have to pay full whack to keep my ds place as I don't want to send him in. I thought about sending him in just so the gov could see it was a bad idea and backtrack but i dont want to use my child like that!

@OllietheOwl eh???? Why weren’t you playing with your child and why was your child not having fun??? That is your issue, seriously!! 2.5 with depression 🙈

@thisyearsuckssofar

I work in a large nursery and we follow Covid safety guidelines as best we can. The setting is cleaned regularly and staff are very careful. That said, little ones can be snotty, hand hygiene obviously has limitations and in all honesty if one child has Covid it could spread easily in that playroom. Children will most likely not to be very ill. The transmission to staff is my worry. They're not all young. Although I'm sympathetic to working parents, I'm also worrying for my colleagues and their health.

The only case in my DS nursery was brought in by a staff member who caught it from her boyfriend. They wear PPE most of the time so, thankfully, no children caught it (that we know of).

@SendHelp30 because I had a newborn, was up all night feeding, husband working full time and was struggling tbh. Sorry if that isn’t good enough for you!
I done my best - dragged both kids outside for a walk most days but after weeks of DD not seeing any other kids her age, and with a new baby brother to contend with, yes, she seemed very down. I’ve never known a 2.5 year old not want to get out of bed in the morning! That’s what started happening.

mynameiscalypso the staff in my nursery only wear PPE when meeting parents/carers at the door, or in communal areas (so no spread between rooms). No face masks with the children in rooms. No cases in my nursery so far thankfully, but this new strain is the worry.
Honestly, I think it's a difficult situation for all and there's never going to be a good solution for everyone. It's the fault of a virus and people all want to throw their anger or disappointment somewhere and there's nowhere for it to go - apart from at others who have different worries. I'm guilty of doing it and I should try just to live in blissful ignorance as much as I can.

Your child is not at risk.

@OllietheOwl no trust me I get it can be hard; you have my sympathies for that. But depression is a crazy thing to throw around at such a young age!!
And I’m sure at some point during the 5 month lockdown she played and had fun.

@SendHelp30 it was a very tough time for her. A perfect storm of everything happening at once. Without a doubt I saw massive changes in her personality, mostly negative ones. I’m sure a lot of parents did in the first lockdown.

as others have said -they are closing schools not because they are unsafe for the kids but because they are vectors of transmission. once the vulnerable groups have been vaccinated they will re-open them and honestly, the rate of covid might be even higher across schools (kids/teachers) - they just hope fewer of the general population will end up in hospitals.

it's not about kids'/staff safety but the fact that schools are the only places left where people mix a lot and are therefore super spreading areas. the kids are as safe now as they will be in April ....

I’m a finance manager in a nursery. We’ve had 7 children test positive since September. None had health conditions unless you count 1 with a nut allergy

It’s difficult. DH is hysterical and doesn’t want DD to go in. I’m concerned but don’t feel we have a choice, we won’t get any help from work if we choose not to send her and she loves nursery.
So she’s going. For now. I sort of hope the bubble bursts though....

Dont see the logic in keeping nurseries open but closing schools, arent they both just as likely to spread the virus?? Arent nursery workers just as vulnerable as teachers?
Im glad for the parents on here who rely on them.but really cant see the logic on treating nurseries different to schools

@Runnerduck34

Dont see the logic in keeping nurseries open but closing schools, arent they both just as likely to spread the virus?? Arent nursery workers just as vulnerable as teachers? Im glad for the parents on here who rely on them.but really cant see the logic on treating nurseries different to schools

Isn't some of it just a matter of scale? I mean, there are more children in primary school in the country than nursery so if you close secondaries, you might reduce the spread (R number I guess) by 50%. If you close secondaries and primaries, you might reduce the spread by 70%. If you throw in nurseries too, you might reduce the spread by 80%. But in order to stop the NHS being overwhelmed, you only need to reduce it by 70% so there's no need to go to the disruption of closing nurseries too when there's very little incremental gains in terms of the R number. Obviously, that's looking at it on a larger/population scale and clearly ignores the individual workers and their families etc but government policy isn't often made at that level.

Maybe Im missing something but i cant see her nurseries are any less likely to spread infection than schools,and nursery workers are probably more vulnerable than teachers due to very close contact with children.
But unlike teachers they dont have strong union representation .
And are often paid minimum wage and sadly dont have the respect or status of teachers.
Great news for parents and nursery owners, perhaps not so good for their workers, particularly if they or a member of their household is vulnerable

@Runnerduck34 great post

I think the guidance will change, nursery staff are rightly unhappy. I wouldn’t send him.

They are closing schools to protect the NHS which is currently overwhelmed.

I’m guessing the majority of nurseries are much smaller and can form proper bubbles, there’s 1,700 kids in my school and 30 kids at my sons preschool split into bubbles of 4-6.

I feel for EY workers, it’s an utterly shit situation, they need to get a more present union to protect them. They need to be bumped up the vaccination list and paid a decent salary. They work very hard and I’m eternally grateful for the kindness, patience and love they show my children.

@Remmy123

Nursery is safe as were schools - it's then spreading it that isn't

This is like something written by Edward Lear, how can nursery/school be safe if that is where the spread is happening?!

OP - clearly your family is at increased risk of contracting covid if you use childcare.

It is legal to do so and the government have said they are staying open. You can choose as you wish. Personally I wouldn't unless I had to.

@Runnerduck34

Dont see the logic in keeping nurseries open but closing schools, arent they both just as likely to spread the virus?? Arent nursery workers just as vulnerable as teachers? Im glad for the parents on here who rely on them.but really cant see the logic on treating nurseries different to schools

It is because parents can't wait to at all if nurseries are shut, and presumably nurseries can't bill you if forced to close? What contract terms do nurseries enforce if people choose to take children out?

@WestSideBoom

I work in a reception class and quite honestly if I didn't need to send a child for childcare I wouldn't send them. Yes, everybody is doing their absolute best to make sure the children are as safe as possible, but it's incredibly difficult.

Your child isn't going to miss out socially or educationally. Some children don't even go to nursery and you should do what you feel is right for you and your child and your situation.

That's not the case. Lockdown 1 took a massive toll on my then 18 month old. She became reserved, anxious and nervous around people. We can say that teachers / nursery staff don't want schools and nurseries to be open but let's not pretend that has no impact. It does. It's been proven how important early years learning is to later life.

@inquietant our nursery charged 20% of your normal fees as a retainer for your place in the first lockdown.

Your child isn't going to miss out socially or educationally. Some children don't even go to nursery and you should do what you feel is right for you and your child and your situation.

Yes, but those children probably went on play date, to play groups , to soft plays, cousins houses; dance/music classes where they saw and interacted with other kids.

november90

Sorry I should not that we live with my parents who are in their 60s. Neither are vulnerable... but it does add to my worries.
Can you explain how you have a support bubble if you are not a single adult household or do you have another child under the age of 1?