I was a nursery worker for 8 years but will never send my baby to one – the staff & other kids put me off for starters
A FORMER nursery worker of eight years has revealed why she’d never send her baby to one.
Heather, who recently handed in her notice at the nursery where she worked to become a stay at home mum, explained how she’s developed a strong opinion on the controversial topic based on her knowledge and experience.
In a clip posted to TikTok (@heather_mummyandme), she begins: “So I’m going to start a little series on why I am strong believer that if you can and are able to stay at home with your child, then I believe it’s the best thing.”
However, she goes on to say that she’s fully aware that it won’t work for everyone because unfortunately some people aren’t able to do that and have to send that child to nursery.
“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I just personally will not send my child to a nursery while she is in those early baby years,” Heather continues.
In a second video, Heather proceeds to share the pros and cons of sending your young children to nursery.
She begins with the positives and explains what she absolutely loves about a nursery, which is the artwork and keepsakes you get.
“It was one of my favourite things to do as a nursery practitioner -making those special pieces of work for parents – so that is a big, big pro for me,” Heather says.
“The second one is giving us as parents time to do things – whether that’s going to work or just when you finish work, you don’t have to rush back – you can get to nursery whenever you’re ready.”
She goes on to say that the next one is that your child will become a lot more independent.
“The independence of children that go to nursery is crazy and it comes on so quickly no matter what age they start,” the former nursery worker explains.
Amongst the other pros Heather mentions is the socialising and building bonds with other children of their age, building up their immune system and learning activities and experiences.
However, she then moves onto the cons, which she notes includes that the parents don’t personally know the people looking after your children.
“All I can say is all the people that’ll be looking after your children will be qualified, DBS checked,” she says.
“It’s just you don’t personally know them as a person and what they’re like as a character and how they are with their wording, and how they act and things.
“The second one is other children – you don’t know what they’re like and their behaviour.”
Moving on, she proceeds to say that another issue is the nursery’s opening and shutting times which can restrict parents.
“They may not work around your schedule which can be a problem for some people – and they don’t open at weekends,” she adds.
Heather continues: “Late fees is a big one – we used to have this a lot when I worked at a nursery.
“People turned up just that little bit late – you get charged very quickly, by every five minutes.
“Also if you come in early and you wasn’t booked in for that early session, you get charged again so there’s lots of hidden fees if you are late, for example, if you’re stuck in traffic.”
The mum also explains how missing milestones is another hard one for parents – especially if they put their little ones in nursery in those early years and they start to walk.
Next, she highlights that ratios is also one of the bigger factors for her.
“The ratios change for different ages so babies, they are 1/3, so if you have a baby, we all know it’s hard to look after one,” she notes.
Finally, she concludes with the issue of your child getting out of routine.
“For me, this is another big one only because I’m such a routine mum and the thought of my little girl not having a nap at a certain time and it throwing all things out of proportions scares me a little bit too much,” Heather notes.