Starting to visit nurseries... what questions would you ask?

[alittleteapot]

Dd is 18 months and will start nursery at 2. Just booking in visits to some places. What should i make sure i ask?

hello, just bumping this for the morning crowd

Hey,

I got some good advice on chat the other day as im off to visit my first today.

I dont know how to do links but if you scroll down in chat the link is still there I think.

xx

thanks ! will check it out. good luck!

I'd ask about staff turnover. I think holding onto your staff is a sign of a well run nursery and provides consistency for your LO.

I'd also ask about the frequency with which the children move rooms. And the criteria for moving. At DDs nursery they move when they are ready developmentally rather than with age which I think is a good thing. EG they don't move out of tots room until they're walking etc.

Also they move rooms every 6-8 months at DDs nursery which I thought would be disuptive at first but it actually keeps things really fresh for her. She's always with children who are developmentally similar to her and she has a real spurt in development each time she moves. I think it's great. One of the smaller nursery's near us has all children together until 2, then they move to the next room. Far too wide an age group IMO to have babies in with 20 month olds. The older children get bored (and disruptive) and the babies get less attention

HTH

that's really helpful, thanks for posting.

Things I wish I'd asked (and are making me cross enough to think about moving nursery for DS)

• proportion of staff qualified

• source and quality of food (eg found them giving my DS toast with tesco value marg one morning as 'some of the children have a dairy allergy' which was basically yellow plastic when at 9 months he was getting organic unsalted butter at home)

• if your DD is there all day how well do they stick to the menu and what do they get for tea / who does it? At DS's nursery the staff do tea as the cook goes home after lunch and I complained as all they ever gave him for tea was crackers, raisins and assorted shit from the cupboards, he was always starving when I got to him!

• how do they deal with maintainance issues? my DS had soup for lunch for ages (not easy for a toddler!) when their oven was broken and on the first day back this year no heating oil so was freezing

• how often do they get outside? in summer was everyday although my DS is allergic to sunscreen and it was a bit too hot for the amount of time they were out imo (and would find him without his hat as a baby etc), now in winter they NEVER go outside although he has all the warm clothes I suspect the staff don't want to go outside

• how do they deal with tantrums? have seen ours being less than warm with other children but my DS has just started having them

• how do they report on what they've been doing all day? i get a verbal answer if i ask but is usually fairly lame and I've heard that other nurseries do a written every day

• how do they maintain ratios if staff are sick?

• policy on sick children, ie how long do they ask you to keep them home and what for, DS was ill all through oct, nov and dec with various infections and imo nursery were being really inconsistent applying their policies so the kids kept passing the bugs around, plus not getting any fresh air and I think with a nasty stomach bug they should have disinfected all the toys etc

but I'm a pain in the arse type of PFB mum and other more sane people might agree with my nursery manager that I 'worry too much'. should really do this rant on AIBU but can't take the flak if I'm wrong and am a bit traumatised about starting again if I'm right

Good luck getting the right one, for all my ranting about I should add that DS loves nursery and the staff are really affectionate with him lots of the time, I'm just unhappy with the overall standard of mine and felt a bit of a mug over the food and stuff.

I'm a pain in the arse type mum too, and I would be VERY ANNOYED at the tea situation you describe, notgettingmuchdone.
Having said that, my DD loves nursery too but I'm going to move her when she reaches age 2.

Anyway, back with the OP, things I would ask:
Food - do they have sample menus? Do staff eat with them? Are they encouraged to use cutlery?
Snacks - what is it? fruit? Are they allowed 'treats' like chocolate? (I was shocked when I picked DD up one day and found her eating an ice lolly ... am a bit more relaxed about food now though and do allow her the occasional sugary treat).
Routine - when do they change nappies? policy on toilet training?
Separate sleep room for naps?
How do the staff communicate between each other? ie how do all staff know about allergies your DC might have?
How do they communicate with you on a daily basis - we have a board where nap times are written down and how well they ate.
Discipline - In the toddler room of my DD's nursery they use 'time out' I know I'm being soft but I'm not sure how I feel about this.
Play - do they use food in messy play (my DD;s nursery does and I'm not sure this is a good policy)? Access to outside space? Do they have branded toys? Level of cheap plastic toys to wooden ones?
And the most important for me - Settling in policy - do they allow you to drop in whenever you like, unannounced?

That's all I can think of at moment. Wish I'd've posted like this before visiting nurseries for DD.

thanks v much, that's incredibly helpful.

Hey Girlie, I've just tried to look for your chat thread but can't find it. can you try and do a link? you just copy the web address of the other thread and paste it here with at the start and at the end. Thanks v m

Ask (or look as you go round) how old their staff are. DD's nursery has quite a mix from young girls (I must be getting old) to more mature ladies who are grandparents. I think I'd be wary of a nursery staffed almost entirely from staff straight out of college (however well qualified they might be).

Also ask about staff turnover and how long the staff have been there. I'd be worried if the staff was pretty much changing every year - if it's a good nursery why aren't they staying?

Also look round for how the children are behaving - are they playing nicely, are there lots of toys out, how are the staff interacting with the children.