Nursery - bad experience

[toddlermum101]

Always read these stories and followed influencers with those bad nursery experiences with their kids and thought it would never happen to me lol

Went to pick up DD from nursery today shes 2 and a half and I only put her in an afternoon a week to see how she gets on. Been going once a week for about a little over a month. First few sessions great and then some reluctance but then last week she went fine and today she waltzed in fine.

My partner had his concerns as when he dropped dd off he noticed the nursery workers were a little distant with DD but he shrugged it off thinking maybe because shes fairly new it. Shes also our first and only kid.

I also had a gut feeling that I wasn't getting a lot from them at pick up etc theres an app hut minimal info shared.

Today DD was sat in the corner of the room crying I could see as I entered the pick up area through the window, i held off for a bit to see if anyone went to her but nobody did after about a minute and a half i rang the bell and it took a while for someone to come and by this point DD had saw me and I could tell from her eyes she had been crying a while. I asked and they said it must have just happened now as they'd had a good day.

I had a word with the day manager and she said DD had just been back from a clothes change and was a little upset so maybe thats why.

But then surely someone should have been with her?? Rather than her sat there crying. I got quite upset by it. Her eyes were visibly red and tears flowing etc and I know that doesnt happen unless shes properly cried. And its not like she was crying for something in particular like to go outside etc.

If she was upset after a nappy change then comfort her or distract her or atleast be with her. She was at the side in the corner and then theres a little alcove before the rest of the room starts.

Feel terrible and frankly want to pull her out until she actually has to go next year and even then to a different setting.

Go with your gut instinct. If you aren't happy and she's not happy, move her. She needs to feel safe and happy and you need to know she is getting the care and attention she deserves.

They have now posted an update of dd playing happily earlier in the afternoon :(

Whereas I agree with Flo that I'd place a lot of importance on gut instinct, the fact that there wasn't a staff member available at those 2 mins doesn't make it a bad Nursery, or that it was a bad session.

I would also say that going to Nursery for just 1/2 a day a week can be very unsettling, and even challenging for a lot of children. Many Nurseries won't take dc for such a small amount of the week as it just isn't long enough for the children to settle, before they then have 6.5 days off before going next time. Every week, they are then back to square one.

@UsingChangeofName i totally agree, we did discuss that but we agreed that starting off one a day week and increasing to two is something we would look at but they were also really vague about how she was getting on after sessions. It also felt really chaotic on some of the drop offs. And I also get that someone maybe didn't get to her in those two mins however, if they recognised she was upset after her nappy change, why just let her wander off and sit and cry? :( get everything you're saying though. I just feel absolutely awful.