Am I too demanding? (nursery problems)

That sounds pretty neglectful and careless on their part. You’re definitely not too demanding at all.

Sounds neglectful. Even if they had turnover and lost/hired a bunch of new girls they should still be updating the app regularly.

Just another perspective to the ones already given, and as someone who has in the past worked in nurseries. Sometimes there can be changes that affect things like uploading to an app or filling out paperwork. But as long as your child is cared for appropriately and happy then thats sometimes just the main aim for the people working there. And personally I would rather if something took a back seat it would be posting on apps or taking photos over my child being interacted with or their needs met. But it’s always worth asking or mentioning then at least they can explain or correct something if people aren’t sure what they should be doing.

Thanks for the comments. I'm in UK and I'm not British, I don't know if it's the culture here to be more laid back and customers are too shy to complain. 🤷

@Justine I do understand some days they can get busy, and I don't demand they updated every one or two hours every session and have a photo every sessions. It's just been like this for 2-3 months now. Sure they can't be so busy every time. Actually one time I asked them 'are you guys busy today?', one of the staff said 'no, we have three kids gone for holidays. we're quite chilled today.'... At the end of the day, they put the platform there for parents to check on their children and know a bit of their time in nursery, isn't?

I would ask child’s key worker first, then if it doesn’t change speak to room supervisor then speak to management

Are you sure it wasn't just temporary when they started? I wouldn't expect a photo every day tbh other than when they're first settling in. Remember this using an app and getting updates this way is all pretty new anyway. I worked in a nursery years ago and parents just got a verbal update at pick up. We just get an update at pick up. We used to get an update on meals but don't anymore, if I want to know, I ask and they tell me. Tbh. I'd rather them be engaging with the children than taking photos and updating an app. All of this information you can ask at pick up and can be given at pick up. I wouldn't make a complaint I would just mention it. I wouldn't say it was neglectful. They're not neglecting your child, they're neglecting an application which is a relatively new and not necessary part of having a child in nursery. If you picked her up and they couldn't tell you any of this information, then I would be concerned. The fact that they haven't put it on the internet? Bit demanding personally

2-3 mo?? Sounds like the director just doesn't even care

For the photos, we use to get loads at the very start, and then it decreased. They have lots of kids to look after, personally I don't mind less photos, if that means my girl is well looked after. The time they spend posting photos for every kid is time they don't spend with the kids. For the direct debit, yeah that would be annoying me too

@Bethan I've given them many chances in my heart, maybe they're busy today, blah blah blah. And I did gently mention a few times it'd be nice to see some photos sometimes, like they used to do. I think having this kind of platform or even live camera in the nursery rooms is one of the criteria for many parents to choose a nursery now. The fact it's one of their selling points but they're not doing it. I wouldn't go so far to say they neglectful. I also notice my daughter does less crafts recently, and have less outings. I respect your opinion. For me, the nursery is not an NGO or public organisation like NHS. It's a profit making company, and we pay a lot for it. We deliberately choose one of the more expensive one in our area with low staff to children ratio(1:3 in my daughter's room). I'd expect them to do all the interactions with her and the updates and good admin.

I get updates of what my boy has eaten every day, but pictures of him and details re activities he’s done I get about 1 a week.

@Tiffany The fact is the director worked there for over a decade has just left for personal reasons, and my daughter's key person also left to migrate to an other country... More than half of the time I drop her off and pick her up, I can't see the new key person...

LIVE cameras in a room that you can view!??!?! Absolutely not want that in my child's nursery. Bearing in mind that that's not just you watchinh your child, that's everyone else who sends a child to that nursery watching your child. I'd probably report that as a concern to Ofsted if they did that.

They take photos continuously in the one we use then upload them in one go on a Friday as an update for what they've been up to that week. If I ever ring they can tell me precisely what my child has been doing and what they've eaten and how they've been. I really wouldn't want them spending more time uploading photos to an app than they are taking care ofy child. Bearing in mind. If they're putting 3 photos a day for example up of your child. They have to do that for every child. 10 children in a room. That's 30 photos being chosen and uploaded every day. That's a staff member out uploading 30 photos a day INSTEAD of doing their job and caring for children. It's nursery. Not Instagram.

I’d rather my child had the staff’s full attention than them uploading to an app constantly throughout the day. His last nursery before we moved we had an app and would get an update with a photo maybe once per month. Other than that I was told everything about food/naps/activities at handover when I collected him. At his new nursery, their app is uploaded daily with his food, but photos are much more sporadic. I wouldn’t say it’s neglectful at all personally.

@Jade I worked as a lead teacher for ages 2/3 and it literally took me less than 2 minutes to take individual pictures of all 8 kids and update their activities/ food/ diapers etc into the app. I never sat on an iPad. It was for like less than 2 minutes at any given time.

We usually get one update a day to their care diary - what they ate and when, nappies, general activities etc. A couple of times a week there might be photos. We get a quick verbal update on pick - up too, usually just "he's been fine" or "super smiley today". I like to think they are busy playing with and supporting my son as opposed to being on computers/phones all day. Live cameras are not allowed (even illegal I think) in the UK, massive safeguarding issues.

I’ve never had daily photos or hourly updates on the app for my little boys nursery. I’m not sure how old your child is or how long she has been there so those factors would play a massive part in wanting to be kept updated more. When the app isn’t updated I send them a message mid afternoon to “check in” and on pick up I make sure I have a thorough handover of his day

Hiya! Nursery Deputy manager with around 15 years experience in nurseries here :) at my current nursery (been here 11 years) we have been using an app for around 4 years now. We update daily in live time all nappies, food, sleep etc. Photos are normally uploaded at the end of the week of what they have been up to, unless something very out of the ordinary! Observations are minimum of 3 per month, these may be uploaded weekly or at the end of each month depending on key person. You would get an assessment summary every 4 months. We also upload an activity planner at the beginning of each week to show what is planned for that week. At the end of each day you get a verbal handover of the day which is more about how they have been rather than the info uploaded on the app. We encourage parents to message or call throughout the day if they are worried or have any questions. It's important to build a relationship with the families, you are trusting us with your pride and joy!

@Tiffany agreed. Don't understand why some people think it's so much of a tasks. And each staff should just look after 3 kids on average anyway. And the previous key person did very well and had a good bonding with my daughter too.

@Becky I don't know about that. I've just had a quick search and found many nurseries in the UK have live camera. Maybe I'm wrong and they need to be reported to Ofsted?

@Mia wow. I'm a bit envy of the parents of your nursery now...

Part of the reason I stopped working on the. (aside from having my own kids) Was the high turnover. Young kids really need security in the relationships they form with teachers but it pays like $10/12 an hour so women are always quitting or aren't invested in the children - it's just another min wage job to them. I had a great relationship with my kids and their parents too

I wouldn’t be worried about sporadic photos. We get 1 or 2 photo updates a week. They say they don’t want cameras out constantly and I think that’s a good thing. They do give verbal updates at the end of each day and you can ask questions then. We also get a daily diary with what they have eaten, sleep time and nappies etc.