Thoughts on Kiddies Cabin nursery Maidenhead?

[Ratgirl77]

We will be moving to Maidenhead soon and are looking at nurseries for our 6 month old. She will be nearly a year by the time I go back to work. Anyone know of or used Kiddies Cabin (in St Marks Hospital) or any other nurseries in the area? Thanks for any advice

On the grapevine (no personal experience) I've heard good things about Kiddies Cabin.

A friend of mine uses the Patchwork Montessori nursery in Bray and rates it- think it has two sites, the one in Bray and one in Maidenhead.

thanks for that. Patchwork locations aren't great for us but we visited kiddies cabin since i posted my earlier message and it seemed ok so we might give it a go. didn't think it would be so difficult to find a good local nursery that actually has places!

I'm sure you will hear good and bad stories on most nurserys, but I was really put off KC in Maidenhead when I was choosing. Was shown the baby room (DD would have started at 6mths) and the sleeping room off that, in which there was a small baby screeming its head off in a cot and a radio blasting out so loud that it was actually painful to stand in the room for any length of time and I didn't blame the baby for crying. Nobody (neither the room staff or the woman showing me around) appeared bothered or concerned by this and for me there was no way the place was going to recover from the impression that incident left me with. I also didn't like the fact that so much of the day to day things they needed had to be provided by me - I was going to be working full time and I wanted to not have to worry about getting a bag load of stuff together every morning.

I chose Mulberry in the end and have to say have been nothing short of delighted with it. I knew when I was shown around that it was the place for my DD as it had such a genuine warm feeling from the staff to the children, and that has certainly been the case since she has been there (she is almost 2 now).

I also know people who use the Positive Steps on Norden Rd and who rates that and also the Patchwork Montessori in Maidenhead and who love that. I think it has to be what feels right for you as the parent though, so look at them all if you can before deciding.

(Much) later posting but just to say my experience with Kiddies' Cabin has been very positive, in fact both my DSs have attended there FT, DS1 is now at school and DS2 is still there - I was lucky to get a place for both as oversubscribed (as are most Maidenhead nurseries I think). You need to know that KC is primarily an NHS nursery so NHS staff have priority, then siblings, then others if space is left (rarely). Am non-NHS myself - as it's NHS the nursery is open all year except for the one week at Christmas which is a big help. Spaces only really free up in September when the oldest ones leave for school and others move up a room.

I've found the staff very helpful and positive, obviously I do agree with Pippy above that whatever you do see when you visit will strongly influence your view, I ruled out three nurseries same way when I first looked around but my initial KC visit was very positive and I've been very pleased with it ever since.

The nursery has a lovely big garden, away from traffic, and serve fresh home-cooked food (if only I could eat as well ). They have a good programme of activities, lots of messy artwork, cooking, playing, and DS1 did lots of phonics in his last year so it was more structured at that point.

I didn't find it a big deal to put together 'stuff', mainly it's a matter of bringing in a bag of nappies and wipes every week or two, plus changes of clothes as appropriate (e.g. when potty training) - I preferred KC to Mulberry actually when I visited as KC is a new purpose-built building whereas Mulberry is in a big old Victorian house with stairs everywhere (and they charge a lot for nappies, am happy to supply my own). But horses for courses and as long as parents and children are happy that's what counts.

I will also add that KC will now only take 8 (9? do check) month old children - was 3 months I think when they first opened but as I understand there was limited demand for the very little ones and as it meant a whole separate section / setup for non-crawling babies they cancelled it - mine started at 10/11 months so ok for me, but I do think anyone trying to find nursery cover for very young children will find it difficult. Definitely start looking early and get registered/onto waiting lists.

I know this was originally posted ages ago but thought it would help if anyone stumbles across it as I did.
I know someone that worked here fairly recently and they didn't particularly like it there and having heard some of the things she told me I wouldn't send my baby to KC. One story I found really upsetting was of a girl that took a comfort blanket in with her everyday and as soon as the mother left they'd say 'she doesn't need that' and take it off her and hide it out of the way. Such an emotionally damaging thing to do to the child. Also 18 month old children being threatened with 'time out' if they didn't stop eating with their fingers and use the cutlery instead. Forced sleeping when it suits the staff as otherwise staff don't get proper lunch breaks even if it means sitting with a screaming child that doesn't want to sleep for over half hour. That is enough for me to choose elsewhere. Positive steps and the Montessori's have a very good reputation and friends have praised them both but I don't know any inside info on those!!....;0)

Just come across this post and was really shocked at the last post. I have had two children at Kiddies cabin with a big age gap in between them both so we have seen the nursery change over time. Physically the nursery is constantly being updated with both gardens having thousands being spent on them and new fences for added security but the fees haven't really gone up which friends have said usually does when their nursery has been updated. We have our finger prints on the entry system which is great as we drop off and pick up when ever we feel like it which is great, so you can watch your child play through the doorways before the staff or children see you. Everyone is so approachable from Leigh and Richard in the office to all the girls in the rooms and they have given great advice over the years on teething and potty training and both our children have ran into nursery on a daily basis. They send us e mails and newsletters so we can see what they are all doing and the staff do training in the evenings so they dont close the nursery which really helps when your working and have to find alternative childcare. They ask us what we would like to do with our children and areas to work on so we are working together which i like. Overall we are really happy with it and will be sad when our DS2 will be at school, we highly recommend them!