Nursery pick up: state of DD

[LoveableLou]

My daughter attends nursery two days a week and each time I collect her I’m surprised at how mucky she is. I fully appreciate she’s going to get more grubby than when she’s at home, but I feel like basic personal care is being overlooked.

This week she had thick crust under her nose where it had been running and no one had wiped it, her hair looked like Ken Dodd and her cardie clearly had bits of food on it despite me asking them to use a bib.

Are all nurseries like this or is it reasonable to expect them to give the kids a quick wipe before parents arrive?

her hair looked like Ken Dodd - not much is making me smile today, but this image did make me laugh.

Honestly, no I don't think they do really worry about making the children look presentable - we used to have 'nursery clothes' i.e. stuff nearly ready for the rag-bag because they'd always come out covered in something. I tried to see the positives that at least it's evidence they've been fed & played with Play-Doh/paint/ mud that day, rather than left in a corner.

I would be sad about her crusty nose though, that will be sore if it's left wet.

The only bit that would vaguely bother me is the snotty nose

A running nose/dribble should be wiped, but everything else is pretty normal. DS is encrusted with dirt when he’s been digging in the nursery flowerbeds. I run the bath before tea these days.

Mine always came home with food stains even with using a bib, she's messy. She still gets food stains/pen etc on her at school or mud stains from the mud kitchen at after school club

I’m trying not to be precious about it but she really looked a mess. There’s been other things that I’ve found odd like doing water play fully clothed when I’ve provided waterproofs.

Always send them to nursery in cheap/old/already stained clothes. Yeah they could have wiped her nose but the rest is pretty standard I think. My DS comes out of preschool covered in food, paint, chalk, slime, mud and god knows what else. Whenever he's a mess I look at him and say "looks like you've had a fun day"

I wouldn't be overly impressed with the nose as it could get sore but the rest is fine. Ours will change them if they're wet or if they really cover themselves in food but not for things like food stains that aren't uncomfortable. Just keep a seperate stash of nursery clothes - ideally bright and patterned so they don't show stains as easily!

Water play in normal clothes is fine IMO, but ours do change them if they're properly wet afterwards.

I’m not sure I’d like it if they cleaned dc up just because I was coming to pick them up.. I turn up unannounced sometimes and they grab dc and bring him to me as is. Some times he’s crusty (food or snot) sometimes he’s not and is perfectly clean. Yesterday for example he was playing on the slide so when he came out to me he was raging and had a crusty nose, he stopped crying when he saw me and a quick wipe of the nose and it was gone.. nothing red or sore. So the way I see it if someone is looking after 3 dc and one is playing happily on the slide they will probably be more invested in the other two at that time and not hovering over them, I wouldn’t be if he was playing in the garden for a few minutes.

This is one of the reasons I didn’t feel comfortable putting my DC in nursery until at least 3 when they could do the basics for themselves. I don’t think nursery workers give kids sufficient attention and care - how can they when they’ve got 30 kids. My friend’s DC has been known to come out of nursery with bite marks and skiddy pants due to not being wiped properly, it’s awful.

The ken dodd hair made me smile hehe.
I had similar issues with my daughter at nursery. I just sent a polite email to the nursery manager asking them to wipe her nose when running, wipe food off her and also to change her if she has food on her, I'd rather wait a couple of minutes at pick up than her run out with a top drowned in baked beans.

I learned very early on not to send my dc into nursery in any of his 'best clothes'. Dress her in things they can easily change her nappy in and that you don't mind getting covered in nursery messy play stuff. I hate any sort of crafty messy/ playing in dirt stuff at home so I'm delighted dc gets to do it elsewhere and I have none of the clear up.

My dc had a perma cold the first whole year of nursery. At home I could be wiping a nose every two minutes, so if he occasionally came out of nursery with a bit of a crust I'd let it go as I knew there were a few other children and he'd also be playing (It's not classes of 30 like pp mentioned)

They won't have time to get her in and out of overalls every time they have water play - so I send mine in with 2x spare changes of clothes and often he'll go through both (a morning of water play and afternoon of moon sand or veggie curry lunch)

All the things you've described are the signs of a busy, happy day which is a positive.

Thanks for your comments, really helpful. Just wasn't sure what was considered normal or not as she's only been attending for a handful of weeks. Seeing as we're considering sending our DS there next year I wanted to make sure it was the right setting.

@RosyPoesy and back in the real world where mums have to go to work, children need to be in childcare. Shock, horror that they get dirty. I'd rather my child be filthy when I pick her up, that way I know she's had fun. If they're getting wet put extra clothes in. You might provide waterproofs or tell them to put a bib on them but when the other children aren't wearing them, they often refuse.
They also don't have 30 kids. The ratios are 1:4 for 2-3 year olds and 1:8 for 3-5 year olds. Cheap leggings and T-shirt's are what's needed.
And having beans down their top, that's really a non issue 🙄

I remember when my DC went to nursery I was advised always to dress her in old clothes as they’d be getting messy and dirty anyway. The snot would bother me as I assume it’s been a runny nose and it’s dried up and turned to crust. Can she keep a tissue in her pocket and wipe herself or is she really young?

Could of wiped her nose tbf.
I bought a load of cheap clothes for nursery as I expected him to be grubby and didn't want his normal/good clothes ruined.
I do have to say I was shocked in his first week at dirty they actually get 😂🤦🏻‍♀️

Yea dd1 until about the age of 2 every day would come home like she'd been dragged through a hedge backwards 🤣 they don't seem to care about keeping them clean, maybe they feel there's little point in trying 🤣 x

How old is she?

The snot would bother me a bit but the rest wouldn’t. But then my DD’s hair looks like a bird’s nest within 30 seconds regardless of what I do to it so I am used to her looking like she’s never seen a hairbrush before!

I used to work in a nursery and I think it’s down to the individual person. I would always make sure noses were clean as I just don’t like seeing children with a runny nose.

With regards to clothes, we wouldn’t change them unless they got super wet, really mucky or had had an accident. If the children did messy play or played in the water, they wore an overall that would cover their arms and front.

When they ate food, they wore an apron. However, depending on their ages, sometimes they didn’t have to. (:

My DS is always the filthiest child coming out of nursery - I can't work out if he avoids the cleaning up or if he just attracts muck.

I send him in clothes I don't mind getting dirty and stick him in the bath before bed.

The snot thing isn’t great, ideally it should be wiped, but equally I can see how it happens when all the kids are full of colds. The rest is par for the course. The first time DS went to nursery I sent him in some nice Frugi stuff my inlaws had got him. Big error, now it’s Asda all the way. We also stopped sending in his coverall bib when it was the only item coming home immaculate and untouched each day. Food stains on cheap clothes that get outgrown before being destroyed in the washing machine isn’t the end of the world. The mucky hair thing is annoying because washing my DS’ hair is, in his mind, a form of medieval torture but that’s my problem, not nurseries!

I wouldn't worry about any of it to be honest, my two come back a total mess but looks like they had fun!

I work in a nursery and crusty noses usually develop between 4-6 as we’re rushing to get kids ready for pick up. If we catch it we’ll clean it but there are often so many we are literally rushed off our feet.

When DD was in the baby room she came out impeccably clean and fresh looking each day, I guess because there’s less messy okay involved and a 1:3 adult ratio.

Now she’s in the preschool room she comes out looking like some kind of feral wild child. The dirt embedded under her nails after one day is impressive! So long as she’s happy, healthy and had fun I literally couldn’t care less.

As a primary teacher I feel like I should warn you about when they first start using whiteboard pens….top tip, buy second hand jumpers until Year 2. At least. Some of my Year 4s still can’t be trusted!

This is one of the reasons I didn’t feel comfortable putting my DC in nursery until at least 3 when they could do the basics for themselves. I don’t think nursery workers give kids sufficient attention and care - how can they when they’ve got 30 kids. My friend’s DC has been known to come out of nursery with bite marks and skiddy pants due to not being wiped properly, it’s awful.

That is sad - we need to put our son in nursery soon but stories like this really worry me.

@junns they don’t have 30+ kids.. they have 3 (maybe more depending on age) each. So whilst it isn’t the 1:1 that I give it’s not 1:30.