Would this worry you? Settling in day at nursery

[Catz]

We went for our first settling in day at nursery today. It was more of a look round again/chat to manager/talk about diet etc day. We spent about an hour in the baby room (3-12 months) and I felt quite unsettled by it. I am feeling a bit anxious about going back to work anyway so would appreciate views on whether this is a reason to be worried or just me being over protective. Sorry, it's a bit long.

Whilst I was in the room there were about 7/8 (not inc DD who was with me) babies and three members of staff on duty in the room. However, there was a good 10-15 mins when only one member of staff was actually in the room (and she was mainly talking to me) as the others were in adjoining rooms getting food together/changing nappies. These other rooms opened directly onto the baby room with 'stable doors' that were half open. I suppose that technically the right ratios were maintained but in reality it was one carer to 7ish babies. That meant that there were times when babies were upset and not comforted for a bit. Also, in this time the carer who was there popped out for no more than a minute to get something leaving me as the only adult actually in the room.

This nursery has a really good reputation and a long waiting list although they have had a new manager quite recently. To be fair to them it was clearly a very busy day, one carer in the baby room was off sick so an agency worker was in and there were a few new babies who were insecure. They did seem very caring and the babies were generally happy.

Would you worry? Thanks for any views.

catz,I would not worry if that was your only concern. Nursery baby rooms are busy places. The ladies are always on the go. You can't always get to a crying baby immediately - ask any mother of more than one child. So long as the ladies' aren't chatting about their previous night out and ignoring the babies, I would be inclined to think that a strict 3-1 ratio in the room at ALL times is unrealistic.

The most important thing is that you are generally satisfied with the environment and your baby settles and is happy.

Catz - as a nursery manager i would be concerned, it could just be a very bad day and we all have those. Book some more settling sessions and stay to get more of a feel for the place, if it happens reguarly i would speak to manager but wouldn't be happy to leave my little one there if it was a regular occurance.
Hope you get it sorted

Many thanks for your replies. I've got at least 3 more sessions so I'll keep an eye out for things. It's very difficult to know what is bad and what is simply something that you have to put up with.

It wasn't terrible but I have to say that I feel far more uncomfortable about leaving DD there since this session - it just felt hectic and a bit stressed but not dangerous. The original visits we made were very different and hte place felt very calm and all the children were occupied and interacting with staff/each other. That was 6 months ago though and the manager has changed/there are new staff so perhaps it has gone downhill... then again perhaps it was just a bad day...

Thanks again

Have you thought off using a childminder. Childminders are only allowed to have one baby under 1 years of age and only a maximum of 3 under 5 so will have more time for each child.

I feel children who stay with a good childminder get lots more love and attention.

I'm currently in the process of settling dd2 into the lovely nursery we've been using for dd1 for the last 3 years.

Strict staffing ratios not being maintained for 10 mins on a busy day wouldn't worry me. It's more the general atmosphere/staff turnover/age of staff that's important to me.

It strikes me as a bit odd that baby room staff are making food though, at our nursery they have a cook who sorts all that out. If the staff are making food they're setting themselves up to fail the staffing ratios iyswim.

If I was in your shoes I'd give it a few more settling sessions and see how it goes.

I would also watch what is happening over staff lunchtime and handover time morning to afternoon children as thats when ratios can slip. Perhaps you should ask the manager some questions about what you have seen. If its your first baby you will feel anxious. You can also arrive to pick up the baby when you want as a way of checking out whats going on. Is there an inspection report you can check out - should be.

I would second the suggestion of trying another settling in session. Go for your general feeling rather than one experience. Whilst no nursery should leave a child distressed for a long period of time, not every child will be able to be picked up straight away. As another poster says, if you have more than one child at home then there will be times when a child will be crying without being comforted straight away. My friend has 3 under 4 at home on her own 2 days a week, and I know that she physically cannot attend to them all straight away if they all kick off...which does happen!