Nursery handover - what does yours do?

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Please could you share with me how your nursery lets you know what’s gone on in the day? For example, how many wet/soiled nappies, what they’ve eaten and how long they’ve slept for.

Our has just changed what they do and now we just get a ‘verbal handover’ which is considerably less detailed than what we used to receive. I’m just wondering if I’m expecting too much?

Ours had an app that recorded this during the day for us.

During the worst of the pandemic they didn't use it as they spent the time they would have done on it, cleaning instead.

A verbal handover isn't likely to be as useful for you.

Depends on age of child though. My daughter is almost 3 and handover from preschool is just 'she had a good day'. She can tell me the rest.

I know at nursery once they got into preschool room they didn't update the app with nappies /
Toilets or meals. It was just photos.

Ours has a chart that lists meals, naps and toileting accidents/nappy changes.
This gets uploaded to tapestry about 5pm, so an hour before close meaning if parents need to ask they can. Although to be honest when we collect ds they do a "he's eaten well/badly he's napped x long, he didn't make it to the potty in time/hasn't had a poo today etc" so a brief verbal too.

Our nursery is still doing door drop off and collection, so turn around is quite fast, especially if other parents are waiting

We've got an app - they do updates on food and activities during the day (and nappies for the younger ones) then end of the day is just a quick chat, any issues or accident forms.

We have a notebook - varies in detail depending on who has filled it in and we run the risk of it going missing which it has a few times but I like it as I get to keep them all :)

DS is in the pre school class, we still get a daily sheet via app and email that details all activities and food but they haven't put toilet breaks on since he was potty trained, for the first week or two so we could see he was going regularly and without issue but not since. We also get a verbal handover, he's had a good day, we did X this afternoon in forest school or the children all sang with the piano this morning and make a point of saying which children he's played with most. Yesterday was they made mini quiches which they then ate at snack time, and were learning about weather, they encourage DS to talk about what they've been doing too and what he's liked best that day. They always say what he's had for dinner and how much he's eaten and we're always told if he's fallen over etc. We get sent photos once a week

Yes you’re expecting way too much. When my son was a baby they would tell us if he was in good mood, how long he slept, whether he ate all his food and whether he had soiled nappies.
Now he is almost 3 and they literally tell us if he ate his food and if he had had a good day :) that’s plenty and I wouldn’t expect more and would never keep other parents waiting. Now my son loves creche so mind you he always has great days.
There is one mother in our creche who always and I mean always talks and talked to the poor ladies for ages and doesn’t care that there are people waiting outside (often in the rain). She just talked about every aspect of her child’s day. (He is 3, so not a baby anymore!) everyone just hates her at this stage ( I’d say the Staff too) :)

Under 2 they talked through a sheet with nappies/food/activities/sleep details. 2 and over they get waved bye bye and we get told if they’ve had a nap. That’s it! Took some getting used to but DC were and are happy there so have just gone with it.

There’s one of those talkers at our nursery @Bluemamma. She does it at drop-off as well when there’s a queue of people trying to get to work. I am the queen of the hard stare but can’t quite get the look right with a mask on.

It depends on the worker who does the handover here - some are great, some need a bit of encouragement to give detail, one is hyper-detailed (he slept from 12.38pm until 1.43pm…). There is an app where they would record nappies, food and an overview of activities but that stopped ages ago. DS went to nursery from 10 months so I needed a decent update from staff - it bothers me but he’s getting toward being able to verbalise stuff like that so I’m less bothered.

@Traumdeuter yup, this mum just does it no matter what, rain or shine, whether there are 2 people in the queue or 15… there’s just no stopping her:) it shows zero respect for the Staff and all other parents who obviously want to get their children and go home

My daughter is in reception now but in nursery we used to get a sheet which shows us what she’d had to eat and how much, how many nappies and when and how long she’d napped as well as brief list of the day’s activities.

Under 2 years old (baby room) the keyworker updated the app daily with nappies, sleeps and meals along with a quick verbal handover at the end of the day.

Over 2 just 'she's had a good day' from whoever hands over (not just her keyworker) and that's it. She doesn't nap now but I usually ask how she's eaten so I know how much tea to present her with. They would mention anything important.

Under 2's here. We have an app for meals, sleep, nappies, the occasional head bump. Then at pick up we have a quick chat about what he did that day. Then every few days they put pictures onto the app and give more details about the activities they've been doing (practicing their balancing outside ect). Then we get 'observations' every couple of weeks.

We can also message the room on the app. So DS cried at drop off the other day so I messaged an hour later to check he was ok because it's really not like him to cry. Or I've messaged before and asked them to wake him as he'd been asleep way too long.

Under 2s: They keep a notebook with details of each day that they quickly chat through on pick up and we can never open from one month to the next read through at home.

Over 2s: Verbal handover with a quick account of what they ate and slept. Info on nappies/toileting for the younger ones or if there's any issues.

I'm happy with it, all I need to know is if they're hungry/exhausted/sick etc. We have two in the nursery full time though so there's a good relationship and we trust them implicitly. I'd feel differently if they'd only just started.

Ours have an app and nappies (wet or soiled and whether nappy cream applied), food, milk type and times are all entered (eg Meal: spaghetti bolognese, 1 portion: ate all. Dessert: natural yoghurt: ate some). They have also started doing a little update (a short para and a couple of pics) at the end of each day because the handover is now in reception to avoid parents going into the rooms due to Covid levels. Only one person is allowed in reception at a time so the handovers need to be quicker as there's sometimes a queue and no time for a verbal update.

Sometimes they don't get round to the little update/pics or a nappy or food is missed but usually it's all there. I think it's really good and don't actually know how they get time to do all of it!! For a baby or young child who can't tell you much about their day, I'd definitely expect a bit more than a verbal handover.

I never got any feedback unless a problem - ok that was 17 years ago. I'm not sure what you need daily?

Ours used to give you a paper form each day with nappy changes, naps,meals all filled in and about 3-5 lines of text on what they played with. They've recently switched to an app instead - there have been a few tech troubles with the app but seems to work well now. We still can't go inside the nursery due to Covid so it's nice to see photos and videos.

We have a nursery app that is updated regularly throughout the day with all meals, toilets, naps, accidents listed. We receive all communications, messages, pictures, newsletters etc via the app too. We do have a verbal handover too on collection, mostly short and sweet but sometimes longer ones if not many parents are waiting around (door drop off / collections).

Thank you all. It seems there is a change at age 2 for many.

We’ve gone from receiving a slip of paper detailing nappy changes, sleep times, amount of food eaten to a verbal handover which today mentioned ‘there was some sleep’ and that half of the lunch was eaten. I’m not sure I’m happy that this is enough.. child is coming up to 2.

What else do you need to know?

In the baby room there was a book filled in daily with nappies, milk, food, naps etc. We could also fill it in with any details of e.g. how well they’d slept overnight that might be useful for the staff to know. In toddler room it moved to a verbal update at the end of each day about the same things. Now in preschool room it’s more of just a general rundown of what sort of things they’ve been doing and did they eat their lunch and tea.

At some nurseries where I’ve worked we had ‘day books’ which were a total waste of time (since we would basically jot the same thing in every book) and very hard to find time to do during the day. One place we had an app where we would just check off boxes eg dinner all/half/some/none, which was fine.

My kids I just wanted to know if they’d been happy, and obviously anything unusual. So if they’d had no food at all, not slept, and not had wet nappies I’d want to know. If it was ‘he ate all his mash, half a sausage, had one poo and three wet nappies, slept 1 hour 11 mins’ then no I wouldn’t really want to know because that’s just an average day. So yeah, I’d be fine with ‘ate his dinner, had a sleep, been a happy chappy.’

Verbal handover with activities she’s done that day, what she’s eaten, how long she napped for. I’ve really never felt like I needed to know how many nappy changes she’s had, but they say if there’s a problem eg a bit of nappy rash.

That's enough for me OP. I would maybe want more info on the sleep timing, just something rough so I know if we're in for a difficult evening.

Just seen your latest post OP. At our nursery we used an app and would always put how long any child has slept, regardless of age. Also any nappy changes, wet soiled or occasionally dry. Food was also logged but not how much each child has eaten. If they didn’t eat anything we’d let the parents know though.