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Nurseries

Find nursery advice from other Mumsnetters on our Nursery forum. For more guidance on early years development, sign up for Mumsnet Ages & Stages emails.

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Original poster

Is anybody happy with their nursery???

20 replies

dyzzidi · 05/04/2006 21:24

I have read through some of the threads and people seem to be not happy with most of their nurseries. DD has had her place for ages she is due to start onMay 22nd. I have been to this nursery to visit unannounced on five occaisions and have been happy with what I have seen. We will be going through induction on may 8th for two weeks. DD will be 18 wks old and is not really clingy or anything so i kind of expect it to be ok.

Did anyone have an easy time adjusting their baby? Are your nurseries of a good standard?

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mistressmiggins · 05/04/2006 21:28

I am really happy with my nursery
DS is nearly 4 and has been there since 6 mths.

Good staff - hardly any leave - in fact the only reason seems to be maternity leave, and they reutrn with their own babies

excellent ofsted
after school club
small
friendly
babysitting offered

only complaint woudl be that the food has ALWAYS been healthy BUT included milk & biscuit at mid morning - that has been changed to milk & fruit much to DS's disgust !!
and I wasnt bothered about 1 biscuit

I guess if thats my only moan, Im really lucky

Piffle · 05/04/2006 21:29

My dd adores ner nursery, it's a bit delapidated it smells of wee :) in a sweet way IYKWIM, but the kids are happy, the staff ratios are fantastic, dd gallops off to go there
I could not ask for more.
My ds went to a state of the art posh nursery with all the bells and whsitles - he screamed when I took him and when I picked him up and when he got asked about what he did in between
DD is happy = I'm very happy!

hulababy · 05/04/2006 21:30

I am very happy with DD's nursery. She begab their at 2y4m and is 4 today. She goes 2.5 days a week and loves it. She gets so much out of nursery and is eager to go each day and be with her friends. I can see the move form her to school in Septmeber being traumatic saying goodbye to her very good friends.

Prior to that DD was at a different nursery nearer my work. We moved her simply because I changed my job. Again I was very happy with that nursery too, although I think the new nursery is possibly even better. DD started that nursery at 22 weeks and was there until 2y3m. She always enjoyed her time there and was quite sad to leave, in her two year old way.

Both times we had no problems leaving DD or her settling in. Both times we just went for one settling in session and didn't feel the need for any more. At this latest nursery DD wanted to stay all day rather than just the hour allowed.

Our new nursery is definitely of a good standard. I am really really pleased with the care DD gets there in every aspect.

Both times I went with gut instinct. Didn;t bother witht he long lists of questions. Just went with what felt right. We are pretty flexible on many aspects of care though and I think that helps. I was happy for routines to be changed from those at home. I was happy for DD's nap times to be different. I was happy for her to try most foods, etc.Has worked both times for me.

Pruni · 05/04/2006 21:31

Oh god yes - the nursery we used was brilliant. Am now sahm but not because of the qulaity of the nursery.
DS's key person brilliant.
Not all nurseries are grimola.

hoxtonchick · 05/04/2006 21:33

ours is great. happy children, fantastic staff with low turnover, brilliant facilities, organic food from waitrose (), reasonable fees.

ds is 4 & adores it. dd is 9 months & is taking her time settling in (she's been there for about 6 weeks), but i utterly trust them with her. they both go 2 days a week.

Flum · 05/04/2006 21:34

V. happy with our nursery. Called Sixpenny and they take the kids out on little outings to see horses, and find frogspawn and stuff. And they have cuddly rabbits to nibble on the babbies fingers. its lovely. Took 18 month old about 6 weeks to settle though - ie not cry everytime was dropped off.

Original poster

dyzzidi · 05/04/2006 21:34

Thank god its not all gloom and doon. SHe will be going three full days a week and i have got to say i feel comfortable leaving her there.

OP posts:

moondog · 05/04/2006 21:35

Very happy.
No complaints whatsoever in the 31/2 years my dd was there,neither in the year my son has been attending on/off.
(They take the piss out of what they think are my barking bohemian ways however,with cotton nappies,purple clothes for ds and no haircuts but it's water off a duck's back.)

OldieMum · 05/04/2006 21:40

Ours is very good - a loving and happy place. It's small - only 12 children - and the staff take a lot of interest in each child. DD has been there since she was 8 months and loves it. I had difficulty getting her to come away from there this afternoon.

We think it's a bit too small for a 3 year-old, however, as there will not be many children of her age there next year, so we are moving her to a larger nursery which is more of a pre-school from September. All reports of this new place are that it's magical - with a huge garden, lots of time spent on nature projects and art and lovely staff.

expatcat · 06/04/2006 13:19

We love our nursery! Took a while for DS to settle in (at around 7 months) but he now goes 4 days per week and is very happy! They do a lot of interesting things with him that I would struggle to do at home. I must admit I was unprepared for the amount of bugs that he got initially, but that seems to have passed now (touchwood!)

sunandmoon · 06/04/2006 13:58

DD has started nursery about 3 months ago. The staff is wonderful. The nursery have babies between the age of 6 months and 2 years and the 2yrs to 5 yrs is few houses away. DD smiles at everybody in the morning and always looks happy when I pick her up. The nursery only register 20 babies and it is very rare to see 20 of them in a day. The nursery is located in a park so they take them for an hour walk when there is sunshine. So this week they went everyday!!!

NomDePlume · 06/04/2006 14:02

Yes. DD goes to the same nursery as her brothers went to 10 years ago and the staff has barely changed ! Of the 8 members of staff, 5 are the same. Fab. I'll be really sad when she leaves to go to school in Sept

fennel · 06/04/2006 14:02

i loved our old nursery, which all 3 went to, two from babies and they all settled easily. it was a workplace (uni) nursery though, so not for profit, and very carefully run. most of the other parents and children who use it are also rather attached to the place. so yes there are some good nurseries. all mine went very enthusiastically and when they went to school they begged to go back in the holidays.

we did use a crummy nursery briefly before that. you can really tell the difference once you've had experience of good and mediocre childcare.

Oblomov · 06/04/2006 14:06

Very happy with ours.
Sometimes have a few grumbles here and there, but overall fantastic.
Ds so happy, that , when I recently got a new job, with a nursery on site, I have not... as yet, moved him.
Our nursery is in a total class of its own.
They are not all bad, you know.
We all have little gripes about...
childminders, our jobs... our friends, our husbands.
But basically, I am very happy with ds's and he appears to be too - end of story.

wilbur · 06/04/2006 14:18

Ds1 and dd both were in part-time nursery as babies and toddlers and it was a wonderful place. They were so loved and looked after and it really got family life off to a cracking start for us. They made lovely friends, I made lovely friends, and I will think of that place fondly for the rest of my life.

annh · 06/04/2006 14:18

Dyziddi, remember also that people will usually only start threads when they have something negative to say about their nursery or are encountering a problem. The probably thousands of people on this forum who are perfectly happy with their childcare arrangements don't usually start a thread to say so!

sunandmoon · 06/04/2006 15:25

This is so true Annnh

rarrie · 06/04/2006 20:33

I am very happy with my DD's nursery:

All the staff have at least a level 3 qualification, many are mums and have their own children there.

My DD is very happy there and loves going. She has a very good relationship with the staff and even asks to go on non nursery days!

The food is all homecooked and is fairtrade / organic if they can - to the extent that chicken nuggets are made from chicken breast and dipped in breadcrumbs, rather than being brought in.

The range of activities they provide is great, and she gets to do opportunites that I would never be able to provide her.

I think she has a fab time, she says she has a fab time, she settled in with minimal fuss and I would happily recommend it to anyone!

expectingsummerihope · 07/04/2006 20:05

If the children looked happy on the 5 times you visited I'd say that's a good sign. My ds nursery (there from 7.5 mo)sounds a bit like Piffle's dds. It's an NHS one which caters for NHS staff (hence is run down like most hospitals)but from the word go he has loved it. He knows all the other children by name (quite good for 22 mo I think?)and the staff and when we pick him up he doesn't want to leave. I think they have been very nurturing and have encouraged his sociable nature. One negative is that the food is awful (same as the hospital food) but it's only 3 days a week and as he likes it I don't want to make him feel left out by giving him something different to eat. Go with your gut instinct I'd say.

mumtoone · 12/04/2006 21:44

My ds loves his nursery. He has been there since 6 months and I've never had a problem leaving him there. He settled in before there was a chance of seperation anxiety. He has lots of friends at nursery and he enjoys lots of activities. One of the nursery nurses now baby sits for us. My only concern is how he will cope when he has to leave and go to school.

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