Look around

[FirstTimeMummyDS88]

I'm taking my DS who turned 1 last weekend to look at a Nursery this week with a view to starting 2 days a week 8am until 1pm. My son has a bit of a developmental delay due to being 7 weeks early and only 2lb 9ozs and me and my DP really feel that seeing other babies his own age moving around may encourage him, also I'm hoping to pick up more hours in work while he's in nursery

I was just hoping that some mums with babies a similar age could give me some questions to ask at the look around, I know what I'm like my mind will go blank and I will think of a million things I should have asked after we have left

I think the most important thing is the feeling you get when you visit- do the staff seem friendly and happy in their jobs, do the kids seem happy etc?
Some questions might be just about the daily routine, activities, nap times, do they fed them? What happens if child is sick? How long does it generally take to settle in? What is the staff to child ratio?

The main ones I had so far were

• Would they give him breakfast or would need to do it at home just because he wakes up around 7 so to have him in for 8 we would struggle (does not take kindly to being woken up haha) and if they will would they also give him a bottle of milk as he still has that

• He usually goes down for a nap between 10.30 and 11 so would that be ok
He still has 2 naps a day, a 1 hour one in the morning and 30-40 minutes in the afternoon but I would have picked him up by then

I will ask about what if he is I'll but I imagine it will be that we still have to pay for the place and that's fine and I will ask about the ratios of staff to children

I’d ask about staff turnover, qualifications and first aid
What happens if they get hurt/have an accident.
What food hygiene rating do they have (should have a sticker displayed)
Where do they sleep & how is that monitored
How do they share information with parents
Then look at the staff team, range of ages, are they interacting with the children / each other / you as a visitor? Do they and the children seem happy?
As a pp says, gut feeling is a great measure!
Good luck!

He doesn’t have to be there at 8 o’clock
It’s fine to give him breakfast at home and then take him in
In fact I think it’s cruel to not give a baby breakfast and a bottle when they wake and to make them wait till they get to nursery

@insancerre

I'm probably going to give him the bottle at home then he can have breakfast in nursery. He usually has breakfast a bit after his bottle as he's usually a bit sick if he haves them together

My DD has a developmental delay, she's a bit older at 4. But for me questions would be:

1. How will they ensure that he is progressing and if he's not how will they meet with you and discuss this?

1. Are rooms done on age or on skillset? My DDs Nursery moved them up to the next room as and when they needed so she stayed in baby room until aged 2 because she didn't walk until then

1. Do they allow professionals to come into the Nursery to work with particular children? My DDs Nursery allow SALT, Physio and others in to help with DD (and other children)

1. Can I change days or use them for ad hoc days? So if my DD has an appointment I get the day at Nursery or half day back which makes working easier. I can also use them for half a day or day extra if it's needed if they have room just by calling them,

Good Luck. My DDs Nursery have been fantastic with her and although she's still delayed she's come on leaps and bounds which I truly believe is down to the Nursery. A good Nursery at this stage can really make a difference.

@YouWinAgain

Thank you so much

I'd maybe ask about food or for sample menus, they often have these, or my DD's nursery has the menu up in reception for that term or whatever so we can check it. She's one and has been at nursery 3 days a week since she was 9 months old. I'd also ask about naps and how flexible they are with sleep times, where they sleep too. Also what the meal times are. Access to water. What products they use for nappy changing. What products do you need to supply e.g. in our nursery we supply nappies, and Metanium, but they supply baby wipes (or conti wipes I think they're called? Basically just water wipe things), nappy sacks, Sudocrem. They also provided some stage 1 formulas until the child turned 1 and now they provide cows milk but she doesn't have a bottle at nursery anyway since she turned 1. What about supply of things like sunhats and suncream? We supply them ourselves but the baby room does have a supply of sunhats too. Do they have an open door policy so you can drop off and collect whenever you want within your hours? But anyway don't worry too much because you can ask questions later anyway! If you forget anything you can always call them at a later date and ask.

Regarding breakfast btw, on a normal day I wake DD up at 7.30am which she's not happy about but needs must. She has a bottle of milk and a change, teeth, etc and the nursery is only a few mins walk away so she is there around 8 or 8.05am. They give her breakfast as soon as she arrives, which is always toast and cereal and water. I generally agree it's not nice not to feed them first but she does have her milk and we are only talking about an approximately 30-45min gap from waking to being fed.

Ratios will be 1:3
What might be worth asking, is if he will be in the baby room from when he arrives. Some Nurseries that don't start filling up until 9, sometimes have different age groups together before then - that might, or might not be an issue for you, but might mean he isn't with his key worker when you arrive / hand him over.
Try to remember that he won't actually be this age for long. Try to think about things you might need to think about when he is 2 or 3.
Be clear about costs - what is the hourly charge, but what happens about Bank Holidays, or if the Nursery shuts at another time (say for a complete week at Christmas). Be clear what is included or not. (food, for example).
Ask to see menus (see earlier point about thinking about when he is older)
Ask if they have a trained cook or if the Nursery staff are putting stuff in an oven around their other jobs.
Ask about outside time - do they go out and about, away from the Nursery ? (A big plus for some parents, but others worry about safety). Or, when they are a bit bigger, do they have a 'half hour slot' in the garden or can they spend all day out there is they want to?

Oh, and IME, there is nothing wrong with a child having their breakfast when they arrive at Nursery, within 30mins of them being woken up. Odd thing for pp to say.

Thanks so much everyone