Nursery’s

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You can ask about meal if they give hot n cold, snack, nappy brands, regarding naps, discuss any allergy issues

Ask about bank holidays etc. also if you are entitled to any funding make sure they take it. We had to sign our little one up when I was 4 months pregnant!

Someone asked me this question the other day, here are some suggestions I gave: - how many children per staff member? (Usually it’s 3 children per adult from the ones I’ve looked at) - ⁠what types of food do they get given/ is it made fresh on premises? - ⁠drop off and pick up times/ is it flexible within opening and closing hours (in case you might want to pick your child up early one day for example) - ⁠how do they update you on how your child is doing e.g all nurseries I have looked at have an app that gets updated throughout the day on nappy changes, what they ate etc. - ⁠also worth asking about staff turnover, as it’s a good sign of staff have been there a while, not so good if all staff are very new - ⁠they should tell you this, but if not worth probing on what type of activities they do with the children in the baby room

as someone who works in a nursery ask if apprentices are immediately counted into ratio! When apprentices first start they shouldn’t be as won’t know what they’re doing! Also when you’re there watch to see if the children are happy and how staff are interacting with them and if it seems forced! You also want the rooms to look played in but not so messy that it’s a trip hazard. Also just see if it seems chaotic in a bad way. Obviously nursery’s aren’t probably going to be calm but see if staff seem stressed. If your child has allergies see how they ensure there is no contamination but that they’re given the same meals as the other children just adapted accordingly same with if your child has any additional needs. Want to know if you need to provide nappies/wipes/formula or if they do. Might want to also know how often they’re in the garden?

Yep, already got my babys place booked and she was only born in May!

Yes my baby is registered with his older brother's nursery, does the nursery you've looked at have a prospectus? They are usually great with answering all of the questions you will have x

We’ve just got our boy registered, we only looked at 2 and went off gut feel! This list is pretty helpful https://www.madeformums.com/baby/12-questions-you-need-to-ask-when-you-visit-a-nursery/ I really liked seeing that they had a range of different wipes at their changing tables, they adjusted activities based on what parents tell them children are enjoying, and they have lots of little trips out. We live in a small town and the nursery is central, so they often walk the older children to the flower stall at the market or take them to watch the trams set off. We really liked this and the variety of experiences they give them, but wanted to ask how they ensure safety when doing this of course

My newborn has been signed up since I was 4 weeks pregnant 😂 Her older sister already goes to a brilliant nursery and we knew they had waiting lists of over a year so I got in quick with our request for a space and specific days. You get a good feel for seeing somewhere (we visited one and it was gross and smelt! Old food on the floor, toys dirty 🤢….we knew straight away it wasn’t for us) The nursery we go to were brilliant as soon as they opened the door and started telling us about their safety procedures 😍 Questions you could ask are:- * what is the staff/children ratio per room? * what is their staff illness procedure? If they have staff off sick how will they ensure there are still enough staff to safely look after the children. * how do they structure the day? What toys/resources will be used and do they rotate the toys/equipment to keep children engaged. * do they provide snacks (our nursery provided a mid morning and afternoon snack of fruit ect)

* what is their procedure around people picking up your child. For example if anyone not on the pre approved list tries to pick up our daughter they have to give our “safe word” so the staff know we have given permission. * how do the staff deal with children who struggle to nap? Would they be prepared to rock little one to sleep or walk in the stroller round the garden initially until little one is able to settle like the other children on the mats at nap time. * do they have a nursery app (lots use one called Famly where they upload pictures and videos of what the children have been doing but it also notifies you when and what your child has eaten/been to the toilet/ had an accident ect * what is their sickness policy (we are not allowed to send our daughter if she has been given calpol ect) * do they give a discount when you are on holiday (ours allow 2 weeks per year free for holiday. Anymore and you continue to pay full price). Hope this helps :)

@Brittany these are great questions. I've looked at a few nurseries but definitely need to follow up with a few of these questions.