Unhappy with Kids Unlimited Wandsworth

[BramfieldWren]

Is anyone else unhappy with Kids unlimited Wandsworth? I'm at the end of my tether and think I should take her out but not sure what my alternatives are. Their D&V outbreak together with very grumpy and disorganised staff has been the final straw!

dont know the nursery but in my experience if you are unhappy, move your daughter. your instincts are usually right. with my dd2, i ignored my instincts for months because i thought it would be so difficult to find an alternative. the moment i removed her i was happy

I left my DCs in a nursery with which I was increasingly unhappy for far too long.

Where in Wandsworth are you?

Off Earlsfield Rd. We've had a meeting with them and they said they would sort our issues out but I don't see how they're going to change. My dd has been sick since she started, she currently has bronchilitis and a chest infection so I'm having to pay for nursery and a temp nanny so I can go to work. Husband thinks we can't afford a nanny long term but dd is so run down now. The baby room at Wandsworth is so hot it's not surprising germs spread like wildfly!

Perhaps I should just quit work which would be a shame as I'm quite enjoying it.

Sorry, I don't know that bit so can't recommend any alternatives.

Children do come down with a LOT of illnesses in their first months in a nursery (going from a largely home environment to a very social one). But it sounds to me as if you're issues are more than this, as you don't like the staff.

As well as seeing if you can fund another, friendlier, nursery; you might want to look for a childminder or a nannyshare.

I think nursery wise the only other options are Northcote Gardens (year long wait list) or Busybees (also a wait list and wrong direction for us). Is there a forum for trying to find a nanny share? Also what do you do when the nanny goes on holiday or is sick??

As you can tell this is all new to us!

Childminders: go to the council website.

Nannyshare: ask around absolutely everyone you know, or use a local agency.

How to cope with the realities if life with a nanny: don't know! Try the nanny/CM forum here?

If the nanny's sick she might not come to work (but you don't have to pay her either for the first few days, you can write that into contract) but if the child is sick she will look after them! So if the nanny is sick less than the child you are left without care for less time than that at a nursery who won't take a sick child. I have found that my son is sick more than any adult I know. Holidays you have to negotiate - it's fine to say that 2 weeks have to be taken at a time which you choose, but there should be 2 weeks that the nanny chooses - but you can write in contract that this needs to be arranged several months in advance. It's less complicated than you think, try the nanny board for lots of advice.

Also, Gumtree is the best place I've found to advertise for nannies.

Thank you. I was slightly worried about paying for sick days and holidays etc. although you pay nursery when you are on holiday too. I must say KU have stepped up their game after a crisis meeting but I'm still very wary. My toddler is so happy there, I can't help feeling a bit mean if I take her out! She is also learning to socialise very well there and has a couple of friends. Everything has calmed down since she's got better so perhaps we'll see how it goes!

After looking around at nurseries before I joined kids, (new to the area) I found that most nurseries actually charge for holiday and sickness. Those that didn't were not actually places I would have felt comfortable leaving by daughter. Kids have been great since I joined and I have to say that the parents I speak to say the same thing. Yes I agree they have had their challenges, but they have never been anything but honest about it and then dealt swiftly with it. The support they can call on if needed due to being part of a large company, gives me great confidence. Any issues usually get dealt with quickly and professionally, but that is only if they know about them and I am comfortable telling them if I have a problem! Sickness bugs did hit the nursery a few months ago but we can't blame Kids for that, if they ignored it then we would be unhappy and when they deal with it by excluding for 48hrs we are also unhappy. As it was explained to me they do this to try and avoid illnesses spreading through the nursery as well as the wellbeing of the children. Anyway, everyone is entitled to their own opinion but for me Kids is doing a great job and I would recommend to anyone, you pay for what you get and they are worth every penny!

This is a late reply but I actually agree with you. Since we complained they have been much better and I think the new manager has something to do with that. My daughter still gets really sick but I'm hoping at the very least her immune system will be picking up.

I would recommend it too