Just watched Whistleblower about Day Nurseries and i'm interested in what others think about it?

[aims1202]

I am not surprised by what i saw but it breaks my heart. I used to work in day nurseries and my experience was not good. The ones i worked in were not even as bad as those shown on this programme but it was still soul destroying to work in them. They still had staff shortages and did not keep to ratios. Ofsted are a complete joke, they may as well not even exist. It's not really right for children under 2.5yrs to be in institutional care and definitely not in nurseries like the ones we saw on this programme, and there are many like that around. There is an excellent book about this issue called 'Raising Babies, why your love is best,' by Steve Biddulph. I recommend it.

[helliebobs]

Sorry aims1202, but it's the right choice for me and some people don't really have a choice other than to put their children in nurseries.

[aims1202]

I think there is a choice, when i went to work when my son was 2.5yrs i chose a childminder, i looked at 20 before i found one that i knew i could leave him with. There is also the option of a nanny share. I then made the choice of leaving my job after only a few months to be at home with him full time and i know it was the right one, despite having less money.

[godlovesatry]

watching the programme made me realise how lucky i am, my son attended pre-school from the age of 2, hes going to real school in september and hes well socialised balance and incredibly happy as all the other children are there. i volunteer and help out there (which id never have thought id do) it has to be one of the happiest places iv ever spent time.

not all people have choices lifes not that simple, however if you knowingly send your child to a bad place then some of the blame lays there

[scoobysoo]

I used to be a Nursery Nurse, and I have only ever worked in really professional nurseries, working with people who really cared about the children. I've worked in 5 different nurseries over many years and the children were always well looked after and happy. Ofsted are very strict, and I think they do a good job. When I have children I will be a stay at home Mum, but I will send my child to Nursery a couple of times a week when they are around 3 years old, as there are many things they can experience at nursery that they may not at home. I think this programme was just scare mongering, showing the worst case scenario. Obviously standards like that should not even exist, but it is not a true reprosentation of nurseries in the country.

[aims1202]

I do not agree that most nurseries in this country are not like the ones shown. I worked in a few different nurseries and i also spent a day or two in a lot of others. I agree there are better ones, but in all but one of them there were staff who may have been qualified but some were clueless, or they were overworked, undervalued and not always caring towards the children. The way some nurseries are run worries me, they are run like a business with the main aim to make a big profit. One manager i knew was proud to run his nursery this way, he was a business man and had no idea about the care of young children. The nursery appeared to be wonderful, beautifully decorated in a lovely refurbished old building. It was expensive and used by highly professional parents who never knew what it was really like. The staff did their best most of the time but with only three of them and at least 13 babies its impossible to give those babies what they need - one to one. I was told off for telling a parent their 10mth old baby had cried nearly the whole day. We were told to lie. When they knew Ofsted were coming they would get bank staff in. The only one i worked in that was run well was a creche at a sports centre, but the children were never there very long and it was a very small number of children.
Its not only that a lot of the day nurseries are not good, its the fact that babies should not be in them. They are never good for babies and children under 2.5yrs. Scoobysoo, can i ask why you are not going to put your baby into a nursery?

[scoobysoo]

Simply because I'm lucky enough to not have to. My husband and I both work from home, so we're very fortunate in that respect. As I said before though, I would take them a few times a week from about the age of 3, just so they can get to experience certain things, and learn to socialise. Again, I'm lucky, as I will be able to choose a good nursery that I've seen from the inside.