Nursery not providing meals - dealbreaker?

[Bbbfurever]

We are considering a nursery that we like however it doesn’t provide meals for under 2s and my DD is 1. Im thinking this is a bit of a dealbreaker considering the prep time I’ll need to put into her meals and the little amount she eats… I asked the nursery why they don’t offer meals and their response was that under 2s all have different routines and they’ll adjust to each individual child’s routine but won’t they still need to have lunch and snacks anyway? I feel it’s an excuse more than anything. Thoughts?

Sounds very odd. I can understand them not wanting to provide food, but every childcare setting we’ve experienced have had all the children eating at the same time.

I think it depends how many hours they are there for. When they were in a full day it would be a pain for me to prep a full days meals, but my DD also did half day preschool type arrangement and I had to make a cold packed lunch for that and it was fine. She was literally just eating that meal and one bottle/snack though.

(Nursery do provide his snack x2 however)

Deal breaker.

When my DD was that age, she would have breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and tea at nursery. She was there 8.15ish to 4.30. That would have been a nightmare to provide.

So what do you do for breakfast and dinner? Packing lunch is one thing but not many children under 2 are only there for one meal a day?

@ZipZapZoom

I don't know any nurseries here that do breakfast and dinner. He eats those at home and goes to nursery 9-3.
Children who do wraparound care have an afternoon tea but it's not a full dinner.

Snack isn't at a set time where they must eat. Twice a day the table is set with healthy snacks and the children serve themselves when they want to over the course of an hour and staff check in that everyone has had a chance to come and eat if they want to.

Two opportunities for snack, a hot flask of soup etc., more fruit and snacks in his lunch a bag and not once has it all come away finished. He takes plenty with him and it only takes ten minutes to put together in the morning while he's eating breakfast.

Having read a thread here about a nursery that charged £20 a day for food, I’d be delighted!

😳

You don't know any nurseries that serve breakfast and dinner??? Where do you live?

What good is a nursery that's only open 9-3, or is this a school provision? Don't people work? I have so many questions?

@ZipZapZoom 9-3 is pretty typical for preschools and school nurseries. You pack a standard lunchbox, if they don’t provide a morning snack then you chuck in extra piece of fruit. Easy peasy. No classroom chaos as they usually don’t heat anything so if DC wants pasta you put it in a thermos pot. They’re home for breakfast and dinner though so most people don’t mind a cold lunch. Or might have access to the school breakfast club who would provide that meal. IME they’re mostly used by SAHPs, or by working parents who also have a childminder/nanny for the socialisation and school prep. I’ve never heard of one taking children under 2 though so I reckon it’s highly unlikely that’s the type of nursery OP is looking at.

Yes I appreciate it's pretty common for school nursery provision but surely it was obvious that this wasn't the type of nursery the OP was discussing hence why I was confused about the PP mentioning none of the nurseries near her did breakfast etc it was pretty obvious the OP was talking about a private nursery and surely most private nurseries serve 3 meals and snacks a day?

@ZipZapZoom

Scotland. It's not only open 9-3. You can book wraparound care in the morning and after 3 if you need it.

They take children from age 2 but don't have the provision to give hot meals to all so hot meals start when the funded hours start.

It's such a lovely nursery that it doesn't pain me to wait a year until he's entitled to hot meals. It's no bother to send in a flask of soup. Plenty of things matter to me more in my choice of nursery. It would be a shame for OP to reject a gem of a nursery for the sake of some lacked lunches until 3.

@ZipZapZoom

This is a private nursery

Would have been a deal-breaker for me. Childcare costs more than mortgage or rent for most. I don't want to be flapping around making packed lunches on top of that!

So where do children go under age 2 for childcare provision if none of the nurseries provide breakfast and dinner?

On one hand more faff but on the other you can be sure your child was eating well. My DD4 is on her 3rd nursery and each one I've been shocked by the garbage they've fed her. The last one I calculated that 64% of her meals had beans and cheese as key ingredients (beans and cheese on toast, cheesy bean bake, baked potato cheese and beans, cheese and bean toastie etc 🙃). I would have loved to be able to send in a packed lunch for her.

The new nursery still a fair amount of processed guff, beans and chicken nuggets etc but offer up a lot more variety so I'm happier. And its defo cheaper and less faff if they feed her.

I think i would've been much happier to prepare food at home when she was 1 so to make sure my child didn't develop a crazy beans and chicken nuggets preference at such an early age. Now she's 4 im less bothered as she has by now established great eating habits and preferences.

There are council nurseries outwith this local area that I know some friends' children go to. I don't know what they're provided with. The ones in my immediate locality are private and do afternoon tea for wraparound children.

The kids are well fed and have hot meals from age 3. I wouldn't worry yourself about them.

As for the OP, I'm just saying, it's not bother making up a flask of soup or yesterdays leftovers and a few healthy snacks.

Weird quirk of my area (not Scotland, actually London) but we have loads of preschool type places locally but very few day nurseries. The usual seems to be either SAHP or a nanny, or you move out of London!

But my point and that of others is for most people using childcare for children under 2 it's because we have to work so they attend the whole day and therefore it's not just packing a lunch it's sorting out breakfast, lunch and dinner plus snacks so it really is a huge bother as well as a great additional cost.

DD goes for lunch and dinner three times a week. I have a two layered lunch box and put dinner one level, lunch the other. The nursery provide snacks.

I make my own work lunch, and DH makes his so it's not too arduous for us to do hers as well.

Re it being a deal breaker, I did grimace when I heard it but the nursery was the only one where the staff paid attention to and played with my DD when we viewed. The others treated us like another number imo. I felt it was the best place for DD on that basis and could cope with making up lunch and dinner to ensure she went to the one where I thought she would be treated best.

I agree with other posters - it depends how long your DC will be there for. Just lunch and snacks - not a massive problem. But if you were hoping to pick them up at 6 or later having had their evening meal then I'd choose somewhere else.

@ZipZapZoom

Ok 🤷🏻‍♀️ OP wants opinions and that's mine. We don't know her child's hours.

My child’s hours will be 9am-5.30pm x4 a week. Apologies for not mentioning
earlier. Also, this is only for under 2s (so only a year of faff).

So you'll be providing at least 2 meals (and snacks?) 4 times a week.

It would be a no from me.

So this would be two meals a day plus snacks 4 days a week for a whole year presuming your child will have breakfast at home first? Honestly yes that would put me off completely. Presumably you'd be paying a fortune for the privilege still despite having to provide all their food?