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View Full Version : Help re: nursery pick up



Cazz
10-11-2009, 12:28 AM
I did my first Nursery pick up today - I discovered that the children wait inside for parents to collect them and they don't allow pushchairs inside the building.

I spoke to a member of staff who was on "door duty" and explained I was collecting F and have 2 little ones (mindee 6 mths and dd almost 2) in a double buggy so please could they bring her to the door? She said "no - you need to go in - put the buggy just there where I can watch them."

Obviously I'm not happy to do this as I know I shouldn't be leaving mindees unattended. She can't possibly watch them continously if she is handing out newsletters and checking that all children leave with an adult! However, it will be totally impractical to try and take the little ones in - the baby will invariably be asleep as that's her nap time and trying to carry her and holding onto my toddler will mean I have no hands free to assist F with her coat etc!

Tomorrow I plan to speak to the member of staff in charge of the nursery (who I do know as she used to teach my dd when she was in infants) and explain the situation and ask if they could assist by bringing F to the door.

However, what I want to know is what do I do if they refuse to co-operate for whatever reason? Is there any way round it? The only thing I can think of is to get signed permission from the parent (the baby is the sibling of the child I collect from nursery) for me to go inside but that doesn't stop the possibility of something happening for the few minutes I am gone or somebody reporting me as a childminder leaving children unattended.

What would you advise?

youarewhatyoueat
10-11-2009, 09:36 AM
If they won't help then you will have to take them in, no choice really. Can you use a sling or back carrier for the nursery run, take the double buggy with you and after picking up put the baby in the buggy so you don't have to carry both ways.

sweets
10-11-2009, 01:01 PM
personally i think its digusting that some nurseries and schools dont let you take buggies in, and if i was a parent i wouldnt choose one that had this rule.
(would they say the same if the child was in a wheelchair? i think not!)

BUT they are the rules and i suppose you have to stick to them, taking the baby in a sling is a good idea and may be worth trying.

Anne66
10-11-2009, 01:15 PM
cazz can't believe the nursery team won't help you out had a similar situation but i spoke to nursery manager and they were great had no problem bringing the child to the door for me i also asked parents to write me a little note for support. What i would say be very carefull with who may be watching you and possibly jumping to conclusions and putting in a complaint. Just make sure you have your risk assessments in place and also any written permissions from your parents. Also just go through your statutory requirements just to make sure you are keeping within the legal requirements set by ofsted. GRAY

Maguiresmonkeys
10-11-2009, 01:16 PM
I have the same problem at my DS school, they do allow buggys in but I cant get my double in as there are steps in and out of the door :rolleyes: I am lucky at the moment because me and my friend (who is also a childminder) take it in turns to go in and collect our own children and the other waits outside with LO's in pushchairs. When she isnt there I have to take the children out of puschairs and carry them both in :eek: But I look at it in a positive way- at least my arms are getting toned! :laughing:

Mouse
10-11-2009, 01:32 PM
personally i think its digusting that some nurseries and schools dont let you take buggies in, and if i was a parent i wouldnt choose one that had this rule.
(would they say the same if the child was in a wheelchair? i think not!)

BUT they are the rules and i suppose you have to stick to them, taking the baby in a sling is a good idea and may be worth trying.


I think it's perfectly reasonable that buggies aren't allowed in. Who wants dirty, muddy wheels pushed across the floors where children are going to play?
At our nursery there are probably 20 prams, pushchairs & buggies at dropping off & collecting time. It would be chaos if we were all trying to take them into the building. It is also much harder to keep an eye on the nursery children if the place is full of prams & pushchairs at what is a busy time.

We are lucky in that we have an area right outside the door where we can park the pushchairs and we can see them at all times while we collect the children. If I couldn't do that, I would take the little one out of the pushchair to go in.

I would suggest talking to the nursery staff & explaining the problem. Hopefully they will be willing to help out by bringing your mindee to the door.

Bevbeetle
10-11-2009, 02:11 PM
at our nursery a member of staff stands outside with prams i was horrified at first but it does work well

sweets
10-11-2009, 02:37 PM
Dirty muddy wheels are no different than dirty muddy feet! i wouldnt dream of going into a building with either. if the wheels were muddy then i would carry the children in.

2 parents leave there prams with me during the day as mums bring the LO's in the morn and dads pick them up. i provide a large mat in the hallway to pop the prams on, its no hassle.

Nurseries and schools should do the same.

little daisies
10-11-2009, 03:45 PM
tell the nursery that they either bring the child to you or they keep her for the rest of the day as you are not prepared to leave your mindees outide

nikim
10-11-2009, 04:49 PM
our school brought this rule in a few years ago ,it was decided that due to the sheer amount of prams brought in , nothing to do with dirty wheels but it started to become a hazard if there had been a fire all the buggys were blocking the escape routes :eek: , of course wheelchairs are an exception and our school are very helpful , and obviously if all of our parents brought the mindees in buggys would you let them bring them into your house? probably not for the same reasons , everything has to be risk assesed and this is probably why this rule has been brought in , the nursery are protecting themselves and of course the children attending :)

donnagwynne
10-11-2009, 04:55 PM
You could always make sure that you are last to collect the lo from nursery, when there is less risk that the member of staff on the door will be preoccupied.

Although I can imagine that this would become a bit distressing for the child to be the last one everyday!!

So maybe you could arrange to collect first instead!!!


Donna

Mouse
10-11-2009, 04:59 PM
Dirty muddy wheels are no different than dirty muddy feet! i wouldnt dream of going into a building with either. if the wheels were muddy then i would carry the children in.

2 parents leave there prams with me during the day as mums bring the LO's in the morn and dads pick them up. i provide a large mat in the hallway to pop the prams on, its no hassle.

Nurseries and schools should do the same.


There's a bit of a difference between 2 prams & 20 :laughing: I'd like to see nursery provide a mat big enough to stand them all on!

And as someone else pointed out, it's really more of a safety issue than the mess. It really would be so difficult to watch all the children if everyone was taking a buggy in with them.

As for the person above saying "tell the nursery that they either bring the child to you or they keep her for the rest of the day as you are not prepared to leave your mindees outide", how daft :rolleyes: That is no way to earn the respect of the nursery staff! You'd soon find yourself very unpopular. I've found that in this job it does pay to be respectful to others if you want them to respect you.

Daftbat
10-11-2009, 06:43 PM
At our nursery i went to collect today and was amazed at the group of pushchairs which were outside with children in them. One lady was "on watch" duty and it looked quite comical - like a pushchair car park! I was happy that all was well - the nursery is at the back of the school, well away from the road - so only people attending the nursery have any access.

Because of the layout of out nursery there is no way that more than one pushchair would fit inside so there is no alternative but to leave them outside - even single ones. As someone else said its not really the dirt from wheels which is the issue when not allowing pushchairs in to school its the hazard casued by such large pieces of equipment.

Cazz
10-11-2009, 11:12 PM
Well I did speak to the senior staff member and they can't help although she could see what a tricky situation it was! So I have no option but to wake the sleeping baby and carry her in whilst holding on to the reins of my toddler daughter. Mindee is going to have to do her own coat and carry everything out as my hands will be full!

It did enter my head about waiting to all others have left so it wasn't busy but that's really not fair on the mindee who may become upset and tell mum that I was late for her!

The sling idea is one option but to be honest I've never ever used one and am personally not keen on them - I always worry about falling over and crushing the baby. :rolleyes:

For the last 6 months or so my mum has had my dd at her house on a Tuesday and wants to continue doing so which means I will only have this nursery pick-up situation on a Monday, so not too bad I suppose.

Thanks for all your replies and suggestions :thumbsup:

cuffleygirl
11-11-2009, 08:07 AM
Grr at the nursery - we try and put the needs of ALL our children first and they are not accommodating over something so petty its silly.

Surely its good preparation for school for the parents/guardians to wait outside and the staff call the children to door and to the care of p/g? Its H&S vs. RA - not good to have muddy wheels vs. not safe to leave children unattended and so easily solved!

Good luck I really feel its worth persisting or speaking to the manager or head if its attached to an infant school. You can't be the only one with this prob?

Please let us know how you get on?

babs
11-11-2009, 08:19 AM
at the school by me the parents or anyone who is collecting the children wait outside in the yard as each class room has a door that opens on to it and the teacher sees the parent and calls the children one by one, so this works well all children come out with thier coats on and stuff in thier bags. all u have to do is maybe do thier coat up, put hood up and gloves on etc ...

little miss chatterbox
11-11-2009, 08:20 AM
I have a similar problem, not that I can't take the buggy in but very often I can't get it in with the amount of buggies in there!

So I either make sure I'm first or last! If I'm first I can get in, if I'm last then I wait for the rush to go before I get in. Different situation though coz it's my own daughter so not quite as bad if I'm late!

I don't really know what to suggest which isn't helpful i know. Have you asked the nursery manager if they can bring the mindee to the door for you?

Hope you get it sorted

Erika
13-11-2009, 08:54 PM
Our local nursery has a rule of no pushchairs as they are a hazard clogging up the corridor (escape route in the case of a fire), however they will bring the children to the door for those who have buggies.

sophiestars
13-11-2009, 09:50 PM
I have the same problem with the nursery my son has recently started at. It is a large open plan nursery with 78 children per session and at pick up time you go to their little area where they spend the last 20 mins or so with their key worker (12 to a group).

They won't let buggies in and you can't see them while in the nursery. There is a childminder who picks up who usually leaves her double buggy with children in (sometimes asleep) in the hallway but i am not prepared to do that and risk my registration if someone decided to report me.

At the mo my son is only there 2 mornings and I have a 19 mth old and a 13 mth old on those days, so I have to lead the older one by the hand through the nursery (my son's room is one of the furthest away!) and carry the very heavy 13mth old, collect my son's coat and bag then try and control them back through to the double buggy outside while holding the bag and trying to get his coat on! It's hard work but will get even worse in Jan because I have another baby starting and my son will be at nursery every day, so on Mondays and tuesdays I will have a very heavy 11 month old and the heavy 13mth old who will be 15mths. How am I meant to carry them both? It's ridiculous! I haven't spoken to the nursery yet but they see me struggle at the moment and haven't offered any help so I don't know what they'll say.
I understand the nursery not wanting buggies in and if I do it then other people will want to etc etc but this nursery is graded as outstanding and is attatched to the children's centre which does alot of work to help families etc so they should be a bit more understanding!

Cazz
13-11-2009, 10:08 PM
Well at least it's not just our Nursery that's awkward like this. :rolleyes:

All I wanted was for them to bring the mindee to the door for me but they're not prepared to do that. She said I could come into the foyer rather than the main room and if they see me they will send her over to me but that's still not a help as I can't get the double pushchair through the door even if I was allowed to. They have a member of staff by the door giving out newsletters etc so it wouldn't really put them out too much in my opinion!

I agree that it would make more sense to let them out one at a time to parents waiting outside as this is what they do when they start at the school.

I'm going to try carrying the baby and using reins for my toddler on Monday but if I'm finding it's a real problem then I will speak to the head of the attached infant school as was suggested :thumbsup:

sophiestars
13-11-2009, 11:59 PM
I really feel for you as having gone through it myself I know what a problem it is! I hope they come to some sort of comprimise and let little one come to the door with a member of staff.
I would just make it clear to the head if you get to speak to her/him that it is a breach of your registration if the little ones are not in sight or hearing of you even if a member of staff has said they will keep an eye out. I think alot of people don't realise that it's a bit different for us childminders when we are looking after other people's children and it's not the same as leaving our own children in a hallway!! It only takes one phone call to ofsted from someone and they'll be on your doorstep asking you what's been going on!

Cazz
14-11-2009, 12:14 AM
I really feel for you as having gone through it myself I know what a problem it is! I hope they come to some sort of comprimise and let little one come to the door with a member of staff.
I would just make it clear to the head if you get to speak to her/him that it is a breach of your registration if the little ones are not in sight or hearing of you even if a member of staff has said they will keep an eye out. I think alot of people don't realise that it's a bit different for us childminders when we are looking after other people's children and it's not the same as leaving our own children in a hallway!! It only takes one phone call to ofsted from someone and they'll be on your doorstep asking you what's been going on!

Despite me starting off the conversation and saying that I am now childminding she asked me if they were my own children - I said the baby isn't but the toddler is, that makes no difference though as I don't want to leave my own dd unattended either! :rolleyes:

She also asked me what mindee's mum would do?!! :eek: I said I expect she brings the baby in and will still have a hand free but what she does is not relevant - as a childminder I cannot leave children unattended even for a few minutes! Came out feeling like I was banging my head against a brick wall!

mummyroysof3
14-11-2009, 06:10 AM
was oing to sujest if you are friendly with one of the other parents to collect child for you while you wait outside, but its not your child you are collecting is it? are you friendly with another parent that could watch your child in the buggy outside so you just take one child in with you?

ive proberly got confused and been no help at all sorry:laughing:

charlotte x

helenlc
14-11-2009, 08:56 AM
was oing to sujest if you are friendly with one of the other parents to collect child for you while you wait outside, but its not your child you are collecting is it? are you friendly with another parent that could watch your child in the buggy outside so you just take one child in with you?

ive proberly got confused and been no help at all sorry:laughing:

charlotte x

I know what you are saying, Charlotte, dont worry.:laughing:

You are suggesting that Cazz leaves HER DD in the buggy outside with a friend watching. She then carries baby mindee in to get other mindee from nursery, then come back out and place baby mindee back in double buggy. Yes?

I think this would work as you are not leaving the mindee unattended and are leaving your DD under the watchful eye of a trusted friend/other parent.

mummyroysof3
14-11-2009, 09:43 AM
:clapping: someone understood me :laughing:

when i have my 2 year old on reins i get my friend to get my son at the same time as hers while i stand outside, the teacher can see me through the window anyway :laughing: , otherwise one she sees the toys i cant get her out of there

charlotte x

Pudding Girl
14-11-2009, 10:00 AM
oh gawd, I've just realised I am going to be in this pickle myself 2 days next week grrr!

our nursery do allow buggies in but I won't be able to fit my double through the door, and I have a non walker and a very new walker of only a couple weeks who doesn't like the feeling of outside under his feet just yet and simply drops to the ground.

I wish I had thought in advance and would have had a word last week with them and asl them to leave my mindee till last and tell her to get her coat and shoes on herself and I can wait at the corner of the corridor whereby I can see both babies and the nursery door.

Bums.

singingcactus
14-11-2009, 03:48 PM
I am sure you will get into a routine really quickly with lifting out the baby and the toddler. Your nursery child should be able to put on their own coat by now and carry their bag to the buggy. You will be able to fasten up their coat their and organise their backpack onto their back for them to carry home.
I really don't think it is entirely unreasonable for your nursery to expect buggies to be left outside. If there was an emergency evacuation that bottle necked because of loads of buggies blocking the hallways then that would be way worse than expecting parents and childminder to carry and hand hold little ones.

Pudding Girl
14-11-2009, 03:56 PM
it's just the shoes really, they have to change from their plimsolls into outdoor shoes in the corridor where the pegs are and the fact that we all line up (with assorted younger children too) (and buggies down the bottom end) and collect and go in and out of same corridor and there's 20 3yo trying to get coats and shoes on makes it very hectic.

Cazz
14-11-2009, 09:41 PM
I know what you are saying, Charlotte, dont worry.:laughing:

You are suggesting that Cazz leaves HER DD in the buggy outside with a friend watching. She then carries baby mindee in to get other mindee from nursery, then come back out and place baby mindee back in double buggy. Yes?

I think this would work as you are not leaving the mindee unattended and are leaving your DD under the watchful eye of a trusted friend/other parent.

I understood what you were saying as well Charlotte!

Thanks for the suggestion which would be a good one except I don't know any of the other mums collecting at the same time. My dd obviously hasn't started nursery yet and my other children are 12 so it's ages since I was in this environment!

It'll be easier when I get to know some more people but in the meantime I'm sure I'll cope with the situation - well I've got no choice really! :rolleyes:

Thanks for all your suggestions.