Guess who was holding my baby when I went to collect him...

[Washersaurus]

The nursery chef ! He has been sat in the room before when I have been to collect DS2 from nursery, but today he was actually holding DS2 when I arrived. I'm not very happy about it tbh (he smokes aswell), how do I go about raising it with the nursery manager without upsetting everyone?

why do you think you need some with a nvq?
did you get a childcare qualifivcation before you had a baby?

Kew - very possibly!

Awww - I thought it was going to be someone famous - along the lines of "guess who was holding my baby when I went to collect him - Jude Law"!

I don't know if this point has already been made, but I sometimes help out in my children's classes at school. I'd be horrified if a parent objected to this as I'm not 'qualified'.

i thought it was goign to be Arabella Weir

So what are you happy for him to do? There's a continuum between "do not speak to children, interact only with your saucepans" and "forget you are a chef and pretend you are a nursery nurse". I think many of us on this thread think that briefly holding a child is a long way from the second scenario.

I like a nursery where all the staff are part of a big happy family thing and all interact well with the children. If this means that a properly-vetted-but-not-formally-qualified person occasionally touches or even cuddles my child, then I'm quite happy (provided the child is happy). If he were being used as cheap cover when they were shortstaffed I'd be less happy, admittedly.

I am 100% with you on the smoking -- never acceptable in view of the children, and in fact IMO not acceptable during the working day for nursery staff (so wouldn't be happy about regular smoker holding child, whether qualified or not). I was put off one highly rated local nursery because some of the staff used to smoke outside the front gate on their breaks.

Before working as a nursery nurse I completed my A levels and the CACHE DCE (NNEB equivelant)which covers practical and theory work over a 2 year period which covered
Observation and assessment work with young children
Work with young children
Foundations to caring
The developing child
Health and community care
Play, curriculum and early learning
Work with babies 0 to 1 years
Preparation for employment
The provision of services and the protection of children in the countries of the UK
Anti-discriminatory practice
Work with parents

The nursery cook was held with great esteem by the children at the nursery our 1-2's would get all excited when she came in to visit us or to bring dinner, giving her hugs, chatting to her, showing her the toys, as a room leader I had no problems with the cook being involved in our day to day life at nursery and liked it when she came to say Hi, as the children thoroughly loved her.

OK so it seems this isn't that unusual after all. I was suprised as DS1 has been attending the nursery for 2 years, and I only know the chef because I've seen him out the front in his checked trousers smoking. His photo is not on the wall, I do not know his name, we have never been introduced.

Namechanger - you must feel very proud of yourself; long may your smugness continue

AT least the cook is caring towards children. Some people would turn their back on a crying child and walk off you know.

Chef is definitely not Jude Law unfortunately!

Gawd now I'll be accused of only wanting attractive people holding my baby.

utterly utterly ridiculous - my dt's nursery is one big family, I often find my boys talking to, interacting with the gardener and the cook....they have not been 'looking after' my boys, more passing through and they cornered them asking questions about lawnmowers and cookers. Theres no way I would see that as a bad thing.

As long as the chef wasn't taking the place of a nursery nurse, was just on his way through the baby room, or killing time until his lift arrived, why can't he have a cuddle?

You are a fool Washer

Not a fool at all, just a protective parent like all of us, unsure what is right and wrong anymore because we are being told no-one is to be trusted EVER!!!

And you are very rude and clearly on the wrong thread namechangers. Be gone, back to your perfect parenting why don't you.

trust = two way street surely

Unfortunalty for you washer, you cannot tell me where I can and cannot post

I have scanned down this thread and read some ridiculous things.

At our nursery the children all loved "Pat Cook". And were sometimes allowed into the kitchen to cook, obviously under supervision and not when meals were being prepared. Just because he was holding the child does not mean they were short staffed. Maybe he actually likes to interact with the children. If you took your dog to the vet you would not expect the receptionist to examine it but a quick stroke might be OK?

The chef at DD's nursery is adored by the children- he makes all their yummy food for a start!

There was one little lad who spent most of his first week howling- the only time he stopped was when the chef popped into the room.

I'm sure the chef hadn't been holding your lo all day Washersaurus.

The smoking thing is entirely separate though- I wouldn't like a smoker holding my DD, so I'm with you there.

But you've come onto an Op in the Nursery section to tell me that you are a better mother than me because you don't use paid childcare. Thanks for that Namechangers - very useful. Don't slam the door on your way out.

I think it depends on the circumstance.

If the nursery was short staffed due to illness so a member of staff could not get their break and the CRB checked chef happened to not be busy and be walking past I would much rather my child be held by the chef than by someone who desperately needed a break or be left by themselves.

If, however, there were plenty of staff around that were trained to look after my child and they weren't doing so then I'd be miffed.

However I think it very unlikely that the second were the case.

Umm .. No. I came on to tell you that you were a fool for hating working class overweight chefs.

And then you implied I didn't care who was looking after my child.
I then told you that I look after my children so you are mistaken.

tbf what namechange says is true.
you did imply she didn't care who was looking after her child.

I think I actually suggested that maybe I care more than SOME people do. There was no need for you to be all competitive about it - unless you feel you have something to prove of course

LOL at my hatred of overweight working class chefs! I think chefs are actually very talented and skilled.

I can cook quite well for my family, but am sure people in a restaurant who are paying for a meal would be shocked to discover me cooking their food instead of a trained chef.

Thanks everyone else for your opinions and advice - I probably won't mention my suprise to the nursery staff after all

Only after some pretty ferocious posts by namechanger though. Mild retaliation I feel.

when i worked at a nursery the chef was an integral part of the childrens day- i dont see a problem with it tbh ,hed be crb checked,he would be in the room in addition to the staff and always good to be pally with the chef ........i know you pay for your child to attend i know you want the best for your child etc etc but truth is that nursery doesnt revolve around your dc- in real life if you were a sahm you couldnt stop your child coming into contact with people who smoke etc etc so just accept your child is building good relationships with a variety of people.