Updates on the app

[Habaneroh]

FTM with 1 year old who has just started nursery. We seem to get all the updates on the app nearly a couple of hours after we've collected our daughter. Is this normal as I thought it would make more sense to send them throughout the day? Due to Covid chats with the staff are discouraged so until we get this update I don't really know how long she napped for, how much she ate, if she's done a dirty nappy etc.

They've also said that rules are changing and we'll no longer get daily updates and will be every few weeks. I know the app is a somewhat new thing and people managed without them before, but I find the updates reassuring.

We use tapestry and get the cat diary portion (food, naps, toileting) updated throughout the day. Photos and learning observations tend to be uploaded later in the day or the day after but with the change in the early years curriculum we’ve been told we won’t get observations only photos of activities with a monthly summary of development at the end of each month from the key worker as well as two parents evenings per year.

*care diary not cat diary 😂

@Namechange13101 The way your nursery does it totally makes sense to me. I'm now wondering if my nursery isn't very good if they can't provide a few key updates throughout the day. Pictures and observations etc at a later time/date is fine but the other stuff would make sense to be updated as and when. I don't know that I even believe what they submit. On collection I was told she barely touched her snack, on the app filled in by someone else it's saying she ate most of it. Not sure if my expectations are unreasonable

Yes, this is really sensible. You're paying them to provide childcare, not to be on an app all day. You want them actually interacting with your child. It isn't meant to be like a nanny cam where you see what they are doing in real time. In my experience, the updates all come through after hours or on weekends, whenever the key worker has time to catch up on admin work.

If you have questions about meals or sleep, just ask when you collect, though I rarely have. As long as they are happy and had a good day and there is nothing major to report, I don't really need to know what they ate or what time nappy changes were at. I'll still feed them at home and change them as always.

Our care diary updates come through during the day, BUT are sometimes wrong and get updated later - so it might say he used a potty when he's not trained yet, or he'll be down as eating something I know he hates and later on it gets changed.

I asked about it and they said they're short on time to do the updates during the day, so someone does the basics on the tablet quickly and then goes in and does child-specific changes once the room starts quieting down in late afternoon.

Observations tend to come through in the evening or the next day.

As a pp said, its better that they spend thier time interacting with your child than updating apps all day long.
Where I work we try to catch up on the ipads whilst the children are asleep after lunch.

But in the baby room the children all have their own routines, so there might not be a point in the day where they are all asleep and the staff are able to sit down and concentrate on uploading info.

Ask the staff at handover to tellvyou the vital things and they will get to know what you want to hear about. Parents all want different things, and the staff will adapt the handover to what they know is important to you.

I'm a childminder and use an app. I send the photos and a description of what we've done and eaten each day once they have left the building. I don't want the children seeing me on the phone all day - and also the apps often malfunction/delete everything you've written so it really does take me away from play. I used to do written diaries of nappy changes etc, but now don't unless a child had a specific issue. I found I was hurriedly updating these written ones at the end of the day so not a true reflection any way. If a child is potty training I'll update on successes verbally at end of day. If I'm concerned about a child's toileting then I'll also discuss verbally.