Trying not to be precious - advice please

[PRBunny]

I've just come back from looking round a local nursery as I may have to return to work early.

While I was there, I put my DS (seven months) on the floor as he is very heavy for me to carry all the time. While I was talking to the Deputy Manager, another, much older, child came over and he put a blanket over his head.

I know the child was playing but he caught my DS squarely in the eye with his hand, because he couldn't see due to the blanket over his head. The Deputy Manager did make a point of saying to the other staff that child x was putting a blanket over his head. She said this while we were leaving the room.

I would have expected the older child to have been told to 'play nicely' or 'take the blanket off' or have the blanket taken away from him. I appreciate I don't know if that did happen after I left. Is it even appropriate for nursery staff to do this?

I am considering ringing up and asking what happens in situations such as these.

Please can anyone offer advice? I am trying not to be too precious about this as I am talking about children, after all. And I also do know that accidents happen and when DS grows up I will be dealing with scrapes, bumps and bruises that happen in the school playground.

I don't see anything wrong with an older child playing with a blanket, even if it is over his head.
I don't see why he would be told to 'play nicely' or have it taken off him.

I don't get what you are concerned about. You say you are considering ringing up and asking what happens in situations such as these
What situation exactly?
Is it that your baby was caught in the eye or the fact that a child was playing with a blanket?

I don't think you're being precious, but I don't think there is much to be gained in calling the nursery. If you don't think you're child will be looked after well don't send them there. I visited a small nursery with mixed ages and dd was putting small crayons in her mouth that the older ones were drawing with, none of the staff intervened or told the older ones to keep them away from babies. Needless to say I didnt send dd there. We found a fab nursery that has web cam so I can check in during the day.

Insancerre,

It's the fact my baby was struck in the eye. If the older child was playing with the blanket, fine, let him play with the blanket.

But surely if he was playing with it in a way which caused himself harm or hurt others, even accidentally, because he couldn't see what he was doing, then surely nursery staff should spot that at the very least?

Like I said in my OP, this is a whole new world for me and I would hope other posters would be gentle on me for that reason.

where did you put your child down op? were you walking round a toddler room? babies are normally kept seperate from older children so maybe the nursery staff saw your ds as your responsibility at this point iyswim.... ie, you put him down on the floor where toddlers were playing rather than in a safe baby room area.

Ringing the nursery would be ridiculous and wouldn't go down too well imo....

i know it's hard as a first time mum using childcare but these kind of things do happen in group situations and you have to let go to a certain extent.

if the older child had purposely come over to your baby and hit him then i would have expected the staff to discipline him but it sounds as though it was your mistake in putting him down in an area he shouldn't have been.

Hope you understand what i'm trying to say (knackered...)

ReetPetit,

We were in the baby room when I put him down. The older child was walking. I am guessing he was probably the eldest in the room. The other children in the babies room were anywhere between about four months and probably 10 months, as a very broad guess. In her defence, the Deputy Manager did say the older child would be moving rooms to the toddler room shortly.

I know what you mean about things happening in group situations. I guess I was just basing reactions when I have been out with friends and aquaintances and something's happened - there's usually a flurry of 'x, leave x alone,' etc.

I feel a bit better now I've slept on it, but I have other questions for the nursery so will be ringing them. There is also one other nursery locally that I would like to look around.

At the moment I am not 100% sure I will be going back to work early but have to do the groundwork just in case.

op, when you say much older, how much older do you mean? if you are talking 1 yr then i doubt it was done with any malice and wouldn't have warranted being told off....
maybe you should look at a childmindet instead as this kind of thing is to be expected in a nursery setting which is why i would never recommend one gore such a young child

Reet petit,

I am totally useless at guessing ages, but the little boy was walking confidently so I would guess anywhere from 1yr onwards.

I absolutely understand that it wasn't done with malice and that it was an accident. I guess I was just expecting the staff to say 'x, be careful' or whatever.

The extra questions I've got for the relate to mealtimes; for example tea-time is at 3.30pm. Even if my (potential) new boss allows me to flex hours, then the earliest I would be able to collect my son would be approx 5.30-ish. If the train is delayed for whatever reason, sometimes I won't make it until at least an hour later.

The nursery said they would keep him topped up with yogurt and snacks if he was hungry, but I would prefer it if he ate a baby jar, if I was v late. I want to ask them on Monday if I sent him to nursery with a baby jar, would they feed him this, rather than snacks, if I was massively delayed.

At the moment this would be interim care for May, June, July and maybe August, until the space becomes available in the nursery at my work place. I am looking at all kinds of alternatives, including possibly staying with my parents for two days a week, if I return early.

I'm only looking into this as I have applied for promotion. It would mean a move to another area in my office and no overnight or weekend shifts which my current job has. So hopefully the initial hardship / difficulties would be worth it in the longer term.

I will definitely look at the website you recommend too.

Thank you for listening and helping x

I don't really understand what happened - was your baby upset? Did you take the blanket off? Had the other baby been trying to hurt your baby?