How important is free flow??

[harrietm87]

I’m choosing between 2 nurseries. Nursery A has a baby room for 12 months and under, and a second room for 12-18 months. Nursery B has a similar set up but the rooms are “free flow” so the children can move between them and also into the garden. Nursery A has the babies upstairs so they are taken to the garden for an hour a day.

My baby will be starting at 11 months so only in the baby room at nursery A for a month anyway. Nursery B make a big deal of this free flow thing but I don’t know if it actually makes much difference.

Your baby might be in the baby room until they are two.

A Lot of Nurseries keep the babies out of 'freeflow' for their own protection! Toddlers, en masse, can be quite dangerous to immobile babies.

I used to work in a nursery a few years ago. They were big on free flow to the point they had the door open leading to the garden on icy winter days right next to where the children were sleeping on mats on the floor. When I asked could the door be closed for that hour I was told no as it needed to be open for children to access the garden, even though there weren't enough staff to monitor both. Complete lack of common sense.

Thanks for these responses.

backforgood
*your baby might be in the baby room until they are two”

Sorry if I wasn’t clear. Both nurseries have 3 rooms for babies under 2: 0-12 months; 12-18 months; 18 months+. It’s not done strictly by age but roughly. In Nursery A the 0-12 months is for non walking babies, and those under 1 even if they can walk. Once they can walk and are 1 they go into the next room. In Nursery B rooms 1 and 2 are free flow, and they also have free access to the garden. Both have a separate area for 18 months+.

My question is whether this is necessarily a huge advantage over Nursery A - sounds like it probably isn’t? Nursery B makes a big deal of it.

For me it's a big deal as DD loves a garden and being outdoors etc. She also likes to wander from activity to activity every 15 minutes or so both inside and outside. With free flow it's nice that she doesn't always have to ask an adult to open the door to go outside several times a day she can just wander in and out when she wants. Also as they get older ratios change and you could have 16 energetic toddlers stuck in one room all day which to me is a recipe for disaster. At DD's nursery they close the door and pull the blinds down at nap time but otherwise door is always open

Mine is free flow and open plan. It's worked well, especially when I've had more than one child there so they can play with each other freely when they wanted to even though they're based in different areas. I don't have experience of the other type, but I'm sure that has other advantages so I wouldn't say it's a deciding factor in which one to go for.

DD is in a toddler class specifically for 15 months to 2 years. It’s a classroom style format with a lead teacher and 2 supporting staff members for 8-9 children and a very regimented schedule of activities. She loves it and we’re very happy with her care so it works perfectly for us. It depends what your daughter’s personality is like, what you want out of the nursery and most importantly the vibe you get when visiting.

The thing with free flow is it's meant to be child centric, which I think is is a very good thing.

I don't like the sound of nursery A having your daughter in one room for a month then moving her somewhere different, probably to a new keyworker too, just because she's turned 12m and can walk. That can't be good for settling and secure attachment. I would be looking for something with a bit more flex, eg taking her a month early into the older room rather than expecting her to move twice in such short succession.

My children were very secure in a nursery that really minimised these transitions. They moved children and their keyworkers up in little groups, kept my son down a few months because of speech delay, children could mix with their siblings. One boy went into preschool about a year early because he did better being with his big sister. It called free flow but it was a much "bigger", more fundamental thing than children being allowed to go through a doorway. In contrast my friend's child was in one that literally moved them from room to room, on their birthday. They'd have a couple of settling sessions but apart from that there was very little flex. Happy birthday, now you're in the toddler room split away from all your best friends, your favourite toys, and you have a new keyworker. Her DD does seem fine now and I'm sure it was a good nursery, but I'd choose ours every day of the week.