Concerned with Nursery...but a i expecting too much?

sugarbabe1

I have had my now 7 month old daughter in a local nursery for the last 3 months. However a few things have happened and I am concerned about their capability to look afterher...however as this is my first baby I am not sure if I am overreacting and expecting too much.

For example...they dont give her water with her lunch/dinner despite asking continuously and providing a sterilized cup daily? Other simple instructions dont seem to be actioned without having to repeat several times
Also they never seem to do any activites with her eg painting, dancing and in 3 months have only taken her for a walk twice.....is this normal?

I am considering looking at alternative options but not sure if this is the norm.....
Any advise would be very much appreciated.

Apricot

no drink is definitely not normal but do you think they are maybe using one of their own cups or are they definitely not giving her anything at all?
What activities do they do? Painting and dancing would be pretty difficult for a 7 month old IMO, but if they are not doing any stimulating activities I would be a little concerned.

SkintGypsy

It's difficult to say when you haven't advised when they DO give her a drink, and what they DO do with her. Is she happy? Does she cry when you take her in? Does she have wet nappies when you collect her? Is her bottom sore through lack of changing? How do you know what they aren't doing?

GobbledyGook

At 7 months I think you are expecting a bit much of them to be painting and dancing with her tbh. Can she use a cup for water? Do they give her anything to drink in another way?

Same with going out for walks - firstly the weather hasn't been great until recently and it's not always possible to take children out because of staff ratios (the ratios are different outdoors than they are at nursery).

As babies I just wanted my children looked after, cuddled if they were upset, played with and generally looked after in a similar way to how I would look after them myself.

pandora205

Trust your instincts and look for somewhere that you are happy with. There is a lot of mediocre childcare around - You'll know you have found the best place when you visit.

I'd expect parents' wishes to be adhered to at this stage, especially regarding feeding and drinking, as long as they are reasonable, which giving water at meal times certainly is. And there should be lots of stimulating play, exploring outdoors, simple messy play and fun times generally, which seems to be missing here.

alwaysonthego_2

When dd2 was in nursery at a similar age I was provided with a diary of what she ate and drank, the activities she did and nappy changes.

sugarbabe1

Thanks you for your comments....i do appreciate what you are saying however I have gone it at dinner time and seen for myself that they are not giving her anything to drink.....I have mentioned it several times and like i say i do provide the cup.

In terms of activities they keep a log book of what happens during the day and there is never any mention of anything even thou at our induction day we were told that they paint weekly and also have a music/sensory/dance hour to develop skills.....so far have not seen these happen.

I dont want to unnecessary complain and I do think that she is safe and looked after but I just wonder for the money i pay should they not be able to follow simple instructions.....

peachyprice

Is she still having milk and what sort of food is she eating now? At 7 months, if she's still having milk and is eating pureed/sloppy food it isn't strictly necessary to have a drink with food, infact some babies will drink the drink because it's easy then be too full to eat.

Painting with a 7 month old is expecting a bit much TBH, at this age it's mostly stimulation by communication, so as long as they're taling to her, singing to her and generally interacting with her, it's fine. Not sure what you mean by dancing with her.

I'm not sure many nurseries do take young babies out for a walk regularly, did they say they would?

FATBALLZ

alwaysonthego wrote: »

When dd2 was in nursery at a similar age I was provided with a diary of what she ate and drank, the activities she did and nappy changes.

Same, we had a breakdown of what things they'd done in the day, and the nursery keeps a folder of each childs development and what skills they're working on etc.

If a nursery is too lazy even to fake the evidence I'd look elsewhere.

Nicki

I've never had a child in nursery but I am a mum to three who have been looked after at home

Ay the age of 7 months, a baby is only just able to sit unsupported. Some may not even be able to do this and will need a cushioned back rest. They will not have a pincer grip and their palmer grip will be crude at best. They definitely can't walk even supported. Their attention span will be very short.

On that basis, yes I can confidently say you are being completely unreasonable to expect that your 7 month old child should ever be offered painting or dance sessions. At that age, I would expect them to have tummy time, and exploration play and maybe some music.

I strongly suspect that when the nursery discussed the regular painting and dancing they meant this to happen in the older children's room and that your child will graduate to this when they are 1 or when they are walking.

As for water, I personally didn't offer this with meals either, because as others say it can deter babies from eating or drinking their milk. Have you asked for a chart of food and drink over a day to see whether the baby is being offered drinks at other points in the day. Though at 7 months my children weren't drinking a lot other than milk to be honest.

onlyroz

What most babies at that age like to do best is to watch the older children play, and maybe sing/clap/play along as best as they can.

However, I've always been given a break-down of whatever my kids have been doing that day, including what they've eaten, drank, and when younger I was told about nappy changes etc. If you have concerns then I'd make sure that you get a proper answer out of them about what they are doing. In things like this trust your instincts rather than the Ofsted report.