Is this normal for a nursery?

[Tazema]

Hi

We have been having settling in sessions at a nursery for our one year old. She will be attending 4 days a week.

I have concerns and have spoken to other friends who have children in nurseries near me and it makes me more concerned. The waiting lists for getting babies into nurseries around here is really long so any moving DD somewhere else is a long term plan.

When I dropped her off at 8am (opening time) it was busy and you take your child right into the nursery room where the child will stay. I found there was only two nursery staff at hand and babies were crawling around your feet and could easily be stood on and what concerns me more is one could be picked up and taken and no one would notice. As well as that the shoes of parents dropping off were muddy and when I picked DC up later that day she had mud on her hands and clothes from this.

The staffing ratio I don’t think is right either, I counted 6 children and one member of staff, another member of staff at the other side of the room with more children and apparently there were more children napping in the sleep section and no one checked on them in the time I was there picking up DC and was being informed about how she did and signing forms which was about 10minutes.

The staff are lovely and I don’t think there is any malice or deliberate neglect from the staff but more a managerial concern with regards to safeguarding and staffing allocation and ensuring children are accounted for.

What I want to know is if this is normal and this is just what nurseries can be like? If anyone found anything similar or how to deal with it. I’m worried me complaining or mentioning it could mean DD is treated differently. This is our first child so I know I’m more of edge but it is just not sitting right this feeling I have.

Would love to hear peoples experiences

TIA

I would rather adjust my lifestyle to make it possible to stay with my baby than send them somewhere like what you’ve described. Especially when she’s only one and can’t really communicate properly about any issues.

Is this mixed ages for drop off and then they go to their rooms or all just babies? Our nursery operates a 1 member of staff to 3 children for all children under 2, and then 1 staff to 5 children aged 2 to 3, they are in seperate rooms by age .. pretty sure these are the ratios required by ofsted?. Our doors are coded and only staff have access and we meet the parents at the door when they ring the buzzer. Also no shoes in the baby rooms.

Our nursery buzzed us in at the front door. If they staff member didn’t know you they would ask for a password.
when picking up your child you’d speak to someone In their room to sign out so no way you could take a random child.

We drop off in the room, we have a fob to let us in through the main door then there’s 3 different rooms for different ages. I really like seeing her in the environment she is for hours a day

The doors are all locked and you need to ring the doorbell and be let in it’s not a free for all

Firstly I assume you needed to be buzzed into the nursery with your child and the door wasn’t open for anyone to just casually walk in so a staff member would have been aware of who was entering and leaving the building?.. secondly there are staff to child ratio’s and the ratio’s all depend on the childs age so under 1’s it’s one adult for 3 children then a different ratio for age 2-3 and a different ratio again for pre schoolers. I assume you were given some sort of handbook when you registered your child so you will find it all in there if bot you should ask for one. Napping the children should be checked every 15-20 minutes and i assume there will be a baby monitor somewhere so staff can hear when a child wakes. Regarding the floor and parents shoes i would have assumed there would be/should be some sort of stair gate seperating the area where the babies play once they have been handed to staff them and their hands safely away from the other parents feet if this is not the case i would raise it as a concern. More staff i assume will be arriving at the time or shortly after you drop your child off also they could be there but you can’t see them just see them for reasons such as they are changing a child, putting away food parents bring to be stored in the fridge or putting medication brought from home away or changing shoes as usually staff would have a set of indoor shoes and outdoor shoes.

1 to 3 and parents should not be going in , no shoes in baby room.
Maybe staff were making breakfast for the children , but this doesn't sound ideal.
Go with your gut.
Did someone recommend that nursery to you?
Is their Ofsted good / outstanding?

Its so hard leaving them especially if you don't feel comfortable. I would think ratio wise, because it's the law (if you're in the UK anyway- I've assumed you are) then it's probably they've staff elsewhere (doing nappies or sorting activities behind the scene) so that you don't see them at drop off. A nursery operating with the wrong ratio would be in serious trouble. So that wouldn't really worry me, funding/staffing is always tight in nurseries so you'll almost never get anywhere with a higher ratio than the legal minimum.
I think lots of parents prefer being able to go inside to drop their babies off, as handing them over at the door can feel really impersonal and like you don't know where you are leaving them, but I'm really surprised they're not asking shoes to be covered or removed for this. Are they checking at the door who anyone is at all? It'd also be really easy for the code to be shared (grandparents, uncles/aunties etc) so anyone who has ever picked up there would have access? That would really worry me tbh. I'd casually approach a member of staff (does your baby have a keyworker?) Just initially ask how it's been going, settling in, then say you've noticed that parents aren't checked in and do they have anyone checking this? Also just mention you found mud on her when she'd been inside and think it might be from shoes, do they often have this problem? You can bring these things up in a casual/chatty way, initially, just in case there's something easy they say that puts your mind at rest or that reaffirms there is an issue. I'm really surprised the keyworker hasn't already chatted a lot to you at pick up, if it's all new for your baby and you. Every day at pick up I'd get a "been a great day, ate xyz, really enjoyed messy play, see you tomorrow baby" big smile and wave bye, and the first few weeks I'd get a much more detailed chat about how settling in was going, what they enjoyed eating, what hadn't they liked, how had naps gone etc. The fact you're not getting this is also a bit odd in my experience. It's hard to check in with things and find out how the days been (I know there are apps but it's not the same).
Ask casually to just check you're not incorrect about anything. If you really can't get a place elsewhere, speak to the manager and see what they say. Also look for childminders, we did a childminder the 1st 2 years for my son and it was so lovely having a personal connection with a single individual who loved him. We still speak to her now he's 10.

To all those saying that there are staff to child ratios, this is no longer the case in Scotland. One of the other volunteers at the uniformed organisation I volunteer with works in a nursery. As a team we recently had a discussion about the fact that we no longer have ratios and she confirmed that it's the same in nurseries.

I'd be concerned about the ratio and the mud, and I would be sorting out an alternative

Not normal at all. They should always be working within ratio for staff. Plus it sounds very unsafe if parents are allowed to trudge in and out. Our nursery has a gate you have to get buzzed through, then a key coded door you have to enter through and even then you are in the "welcome room" where there are no actual children. You can see the babies over a gate but can't access them. Always trust your gut. You'd never forgive yourself if something untoward happened to your little one.

You need to speak to the management. If you highlight it they can’t fix anything.

Ratio depends on the qualifications of the staff members. However if you have Safeguarding concerns raise them 100% better safe than sorry.

I dont like this at all!! Doesn't seem secure at all. Would it be possible to get a childminder instead? In the mean time definitely raise these concerns!

@Tazema have you looked at your council website to see if any Ofsted registered childminders near you have space? Childminders typically have a shorter wait time for spaces. For My childminder I also spoke to the other parents using her as references - one had a four year old who cried every day she went to nursery and begged to go to the childminders instead as "it's so much nicer".

I get some people are concerned about leaving their baby with just one individual - but they have Ofsted inspections/more background checks than either nursery staff or nannies, so personally I like childminders.

I would say trust your instinct, for DD the first nursery I tried she never settled and i felt uncomfortable and I pulled her out (cost me a months fees in notice) a few months later Ofsted were coming down on them because a toddler had escaped from the building into a large car park.

My DC’s nursery had a no shoes policy in the baby room, which i’d expect most to have when babies are crawling around. We had to be buzzed in and then staff obviously present in room so couldn’t just get in without staff letting you. I did find though that ratios weren’t always strictly adhered to and I felt much better about them being in nursery when they were more mobile and in toddler room. They were fine though, both young adults now and none have any memories of their time there.

We are let into the building with a video intercom, then drop our DD at the door of her room. It doesn't sound normal to go into the room itself amongst the other children. I wouldn't be happy about the muddy shoes. How are you let into the building itself? The ratio I'm unsure about...I would raise all these issues with the manager. Could you look into childminder in the interim?

Of course parents drop children on room it helps them settle.

Our first nursery just had everyone walking in and out, the main door was locked but because there were so many parents picking up everyone held the door open for everyone else, all the rooms inside were open inside and people in and out of all the rooms.
There was loads of problems with the nursery so I ended up changing and it was the complete opposite at the new nursery.
You ring the buzzer, explain who you were, the door was opened and someone met you. Even if another parent arrived at the same time they would then wait, the door would be closed on them and they would ring the buzzer. It really made me realise how unsafe the first nursery was.

My DD was in nursery/childcare for years and I only was allowed to get in on parents day activities and two days that was raining heavily and they allow me in the entrance. So for me is not normal.
I don't know about the ratios.

I've used 3 nurseries with my DC and worked at 2. None of them have not allowed parents in to the setting. I visited one nursery like that when looking for my youngest and I didn't chose that one as I was uncomfortable that parents never see what is going on.

Surely if a staff member has to bring out the child to another room or main entrance, and then do handover, there is even less staff in the rooms than the parent going to the room itself (and handover just inside the door to that room?)

Is it a chain nursery? As it sounds like one where my little one started and we soon moved her.

I totally understand how difficult it is,all of mine went to nursery
But I had no concerns about it
In my view it you are genuinely concerned about safety you simply can’t leave them in that setting