Nursery short staffed - wwyd?

[Radio9998]

Hi all, new mum here, with a 5.5 months old. Had to go back to work and put the baby in the nursery. The baby’s key person quit quite suddenly and since then her room is probably short staffed. She was bitten by another bigger baby (still has marks on the arm…) - I know these things happen but what would you do? Is asking for CCTV over the top? She is so small I feel really sad that she is so helpless and does not have ‘her’ person atm.

I’m not sure I’d ask for CCTV as I don’t think it would change anything but I would want a properly explanation of what happened, how many children were there and how they were being supervised etc.
What age is the room your baby is in? Usually under 1’s have their own room and I’d be surprised if it’s not a toddler that’s bitten.

I'd report them to ofsted for not having the legally required ratios.

What do you mean short staffed? Do they not have the required staff ratios?

What @Pikachusbutt said. They're contravening rules on staff ratios and that could cause serious injury. As for my child being bitten by another, I would honestly hit the roof.

If it was a tiny mouth sized imprint then I’m not sure CCTV would help, unless you wanted it to prove that they weren’t supervising your DC correctly?

To be honest I found/am finding nursery tough going because of the lack of communication from DC (he’s one), I can only imagine that’s amplified if yours is 5.5m. There’s a lot of trust involved.

Have you spoken to them about staffing levels? Have they replaced the one who quit even if only on a temp basis?

They can't be under ratio legally? Are you sure they are short staffed. I would ask for cctv, I doubt they'd be able to give it to you anyway due to data protection

The ratio and their age is 3 to 1 so 3 babies to 1 staff member. I’d ask the manager if they are under staffed, challenge it?
I doubt they are actually under staffed, but maybe the staff aren’t great.

My DD was 6 months when she went to nursey full time as I went back to work and I trusted them 100%, they were a few whoopsies to be expected. Dd loved putting things in her mouth and did this with drawing materials at about 8 months old , que chocking and some heavy back hits and she was fine.
But this was just an accident as they do happen, I read the reports and I do trust them. My Ds went there too so used them for a while.

What do you want to do? Are you at the looking for another nursery stage?

They shouldn’t be short staffed, legally a nursery must have appropriate adult to child ratios. They will likely have to have someone else in the room to make up numbers- could be the manager or another member of staff covering, or agency workers.

Something you probably want to find out find is who is the interim key worker for your baby until they recruit someone else.

If there was a serious complaint being investigated, I’m sure the authorities could access CCTV but not necessarily parents. GDPR and all that.

Babies do bite, and it happens very quickly. Even if a member of staff was sitting beside her it could have happened.

I know it’s not a nice thing to have happened to your baby, but it is just one of those things.

Ex baby room leader here.
You can ask to watch cctv but I would be extremely surprised if you would be allowed and tbh what difference would it make?
It is against the law for them to be open if they are short staffed they need to have 1 staff member per 3 babies at all time, if they have less than that they shouldn’t be open.
If your baby’s key worker has left she should of been assigned a new key worker? Has this happened?
As for the biting, I’m sorry that has happened to you baby it’s really horrible but it does happen in nurseries unfortunately. I would be asking what they are doing to prevent it happening again? Are the smaller babies separated from the older ones?

Thank you all for such quick responses! Love this community. @Pikachusbutt I think the manager is substituting for now but she also has her ‘day job’… good point re data protection @wineandcheeseplease. @FTEngineerM I feel for you - and yes it was a tiny mouth, but a fierce one! They are in a small babies room but DD is the youngest one there.

I think I will give a call to the manager / speak to the head of the nursery just to find out exactly what happened for myself. Very helpful to hear other perspectives though, I’m doing this on my own as I never went to nursery and parents can’t offer advice!

Totally get that biting is something that will happen btw. And good point re it being quick. I am also worried that she will bite another baby one day - really want that to be supervised too!! Agree with @DragonDoor that it is not a ‘serious concern’ thing, just trying to find my way in the new world…

I also work in a busy baby room (well under 2s) and these things do just happen. We do try our best!

Why don't you send your baby to a childminder? We took our baby out of nursery after 1 day and he's thriving now at the childminder.

Obviously biting and things happen but I’d be concerned if they are under staffed as there should a strict child:adult ratio.

I think asking for cctv would be a bit ott, I've worked in a baby room and these things happen, babies are very quick and can be quite unpredictable. If it was a one off I wouldn't worry, if it becomes a reoccurring issue though I would be questioning what they are doing to make sure this doesn't keep happening (the biting child should be shadowed etc).
That said I would definitely be finding out what is happening staffing wise, they should still be maintaining ratios regardless to wether a staff member has quit it is the law. Your child should also still have a key worker wether the manager has taken them on or the other staff members in the room have taken on extra key children until the staff member is replaced.

Thank you again for the responses, super helpful to hear from those who worked in these environments too. I’m still developing a sense about these things.