What would you think of this nursery? Need a bit of reassurance..

[MushroomMagee]

Sorry if this is a bit long and garbled, I could just do with someone to help me know what to think. DD is 2.10 and we have just moved to a new area (3 weeks ago) I'm 7 months pregnant and in addition DH is working away until mid June and we see him every other weekend at best - so everything is a bit full on. DD was in nursery in our old area 2 afternoons a week and loved it (I'm a SAHM) but the pre schools around here are a total nightmare. We were basically told we wouldn't get a place until January any where half decent, and no where really does more than a 3 hour session, difficult when they're about 15 mins drive away and we'd have a baby. We wanted a bit of childcare to take the pressure off me and for immediately after the baby is born so it seemed a better idea to try and find somewhere that would take her from now.

Found a private nursery that offers 9-3 as an option and it seemed good, lots of resources, food very good, constant access to a big outdoor play area, clean and tidy, ofsted good and referred a lot to the caring and attentive staff..

Went for the settling in sessions, and dropped dd off for her first day today but I'm just feeling a little uneasy. There have been a few things which have made me question whether its the right place but I don't know whether I'm being precious anxious, I do have a history of over analysing and truth be told, I AM a bit precious with DD.

1. They've spelt her name wrong on her peg, when I pointed it out to them last Friday they said they'd change it and they haven't.
2. There have been a couple of times when I didn't think they'd been as proactive as they could have been in engaging DD, when we arrived today they greeted her and at my suggestion she showed one member of staff the book she'd brought but DD was being a bit clingy and not wanting me to leave - I had to suggest that the nursery worker read it to her/show her x y z as a distraction despite mentioning in previous discussions that reading was the way to engage / distract her if she was upset.

3.A little girl was fussing about going to the toilet and clearly needed to go but wouldn't - eventually when she went one of the nursery staff brought her back in and said that she had been, they praised her but then one member of staff said to the other "finally!" and laughed. I didn't feel that was very appropriate. 4.The room is in somewhat of a state of flux, DD has no key worker as such, the room leader is a week away from going on maternity leave, and one is bank staff so only one permanent member. Mind you she will only be in this room for a couple of months before moving up to preschool.

There have been a few times when I thought they could have said things less as a command and perhaps engage a bit more positively with the children.

On the other hand, DD loves it. The first settling in session she cried at home time and tried to hide. Said she didn't want to go and could she stay and have lunch with the other children. Second session, again, when I arrived she said she wasn't quite ready to go. Today she was excited about going in, but a little clingy when we got there, happy enough for me to go when the key worker took her off to read a story.

Ultimately, I feel selfish because she COULD be home with me, and unless its the right place for her I feel awful making her go when I'm worrying that they won't be nice to her. I'm worrying that the convenience won us over when choosing and that we should have visited more places etc.

Sorry this is so incredibly long, I'd appreciate ANY thoughts if you've managed to get this far!

Well, I don't think any of those points would necessarily bother me too much tbh, they can't give each child constant attention for obvious reasons.

But on the other hand I am a believer in following your instincts, not much help am I

I think if she is settling in well and appears to be enjoying it, then that says a lot. Do you think that the fact you are feeling bad about sending her is clouding your judgement? you are doing what is best for your family so there's no reason to feel bad about sending her

Thanks justanother - I appreciate you reading all of that! You know, I think its the whole follow your instincts thing that got me into this mess :o I'm trying so hard to work out if I have an "instinct" that something is wrong that I'm worrying about it!

It could also be that I feel a bit guilty about upping her hours / potentially sending her somewhere where she isn't the centre of the universe happy..
Honestly though, I know they can't pay them all attention all of the time, and I think that is a really good thing at this age. I just feel a bit iffy about it. But that could be because I am completely neurotic or because something is wrong, I'm just trying to tell which it is!

I know what you mean about the instinct thing, I had to move DS to a different preschool last year as he didn't really settle in very well and wasn't his usual self at all. I never did get on with the lady who ran it, I wish I moved him sooner instead of ignoring that niggling doubt! Perhaps I'm not best placed to comment

I used to work in nurseries. Miss spelling of a child's name is awful but this could just be a simple mistake . People assume instead of double checking eg. Lucy or lucie . I still have distant family members spell my dd name wrong. Simple solution keep mentioning it until it's done . Mention it when u drop her off and pick her. That should do it x nurseries do have high staff turnovers . They are made up of mostly women mat leave is a regular occurrence. Positions are usually low paid so staff are always looking for a better paid position. Bank staff are there for when nurseries are short staffed. So it's good that they have them there , they were obviously needed. Sometimes they are the best but it's better than being under staffed.
Personally I've always gone with my gut feeling I e pulled my kids outa nurses and quit myself because I was happy with the quality of care.
If u want long term staff with brill reputations I would recommend a local pre school in a hall. I put my second child in one of these and much preferred this to nurseries.