Asquiths day nursery or the new Lavender hill nursery ???? Post Reply

[falconmum]

Trying to decide between the 2 nurseries for my 5 month old .

While the Lavender Hill nursery (in the ASDA carpark) has recd. good OFSTED reports and seems to have a good enviornment , couple of things make me think that they run on a shoestring at the moment . In the baby room , they have only one cot and no curtains or blinds to darken the room . Also, they dont seem to have any activities for younger kids (read babies upto 10 months old) ...
At Asquiths (also known as Battersea Day Nursery) , both these issues seem to be addressed but I am not sure how much of this is advertising . Does anyone have an infant in the baby room and has any feedback ?
The attendents at Asquiths seem to be more on the ball..
However, the Lavender Hill Nursery is spacious , clean and bright . Has anyone got a smaller child there ?

I would love to hear some insider reviews before I make up mind .

thanks for all your views ....

[supergirl]

Sorry i have no experience with these two nurseries, but i would personally not choose a nursery that has no activities for little ones.
Have you tried Bridge Lane, a bit further up tge road from Asquith? When i view the two (3,5 yrs ago) there was £200 difference between the two fir full time place and to me the fact that BL was much more homely than Asquith was the reason i chose BL over Asquith.
Good luck, it is hard choosing a nursery anc leaving your little ones. Sx

[falconmum]

Bridge Lane nursery doesnt have any full time places available sadly ....so am still stuck

[Tas]

Hi. I've friends with children at Asquiths (Battersea Day Nursery) and overall they have been very happy, however they put their prices up recently and I a few have discussed pulling the children out as a result but also a tad difficult if your child is well settled.

My LO is at Bridge Lane and was initially at Battersea Day Nursery. He was very happy at both but Bridge Lane is alot more homely with lots of TLC given to the children. I'm not saying BDN didn't but the atmosphere just is that bit warmer.

A few mums started their LO at Bridge Lane on a 2 or 3 day a week basis and the other days at BDN as there were no f/time spaces. It's not ideal I know but that way when the extra days become available you could then choose if you want your LO to go to Bridge Lane f/time. You also have a direct feel for both nurseries!

Hope that helps.

[falconmum]

Any views on Lavender Hill nursery? It's reopened under New management but old administration

[falconmum]

Any views on Lavender Hill nursery? It's reopened under New management but old administration

[Susannah]

Hello falconmum

This is probably too late for your choice, but I thought I would post anyway. My daughter has been at Lavender Hill for about 3 months. I think it is fine - not perfect, but no nursery is perfect. My daughter is in the baby room, and there are quite a few activities for them. They have a little 'gym' for babies to crawl on, and lots of sensory items made of metal and wood for them to explore. They have sessions of waterplay and messing about with shaving cream from time to time. The babies also visit the toddler room (which is for 12 -24 months) in quieter periods, where they are exposed to more complex items and activities. They bring out mats and blankets for nap times so everybody gets a bed, and there is a swinging cradle type seat for more fussy babies. And I think the food is good - it is all freshly prepared in their kitchen and aims to be healthy.

The carers seem fine to me: they are all attentive, and a few are really warm and caring (as would be the case everywhere). They have just hired a lot of new young girls though, who seem a little colder and less interested, but this might just be lack of confidence. They always have time to talk to me at the end of the day and answer my questions. The communication between carers isn't always great (if you tell someone in the morning about a concern or need you have for the day, the person you collect your child from in the evening sometimes hasn't been told) and I have seen them ignore distressed and weeping children, which is the one thing that does worry me.

I have never used another nursery so I don't have anything to compare my experience to. I chose Lavender Hill because when I was visiting places (I did not visit Asquiths) it seemed that LH staff had the closest connections with the children. At other places the carers were just sitting listlessly with babies hanging off them, but at LH the carers seemed to actually enjoy the babies and were speaking to them and responding to them. The location in the car park is unlovely and other nurseries had slightly shinier equipment, but it was the connection that was most important to me.

Which nursery did you decide on, and why, and how is it going?

[falconmum]

hi Susanah ,

we might have met at the nursery then...I finally went with Lavender Hill . My reasons are almost the same as yours with the added advantage of it being so close to Clapham Junction station .

I agree to most things you mention. The girls in the baby room are great . Some of the people in the toddler room are good . There seems to be some level of flexibility in care which is good.
The food , I guess as long as it is freshly prepared and not prepacked , its good . I have never tried , so cant comment on the taste etc but they seem to be doing fine with the weaning as well.
You are right about communication . It is not too good between shifts . I have taken to writing instructions down and giving them printouts of the baby's schedule.

The admin seems to be a bit haphazard but I guess they are trying to deal with a big influx at the moment . Seems like they suddenly have a lot of babies . Not sure if they enough staff on the busy days .

My biggest sticking point with them is that they do not really stick to the schedule I have given them . I understand that they need to be baby led but to an extent, they should be able to lead the baby as well . Which means that any progress I have made during the weekend gets lost because they will not really bother about timings of naps etc .
That brings me to the fact that they dont have a quiet area for babies to wind down and sleep which makes it difficult for active babies to calm down and sleep . So by the time evening comes around, you have a knackered baby on your hands who is over excited and over exerted and will not settle at night . I think if they were to create a quiet, dark area for the LOs to settle for naps , it would be close to perfect.
As is it is ,because of this reason, I am looking for a nanny share .

[busybee5]

I used to work in both the nurseries but now have become a ad hoc nanny if anyone is looking for childcare and are not sure about nurseries why not give me a call I am located in battersea also
I have 22 years experience and cover the battersea area I have many families I work with and can provide references from each one
At the moment I have a 8 month old but I do have a phil ted double pushchair if anyone has a younger child
I provide freshly cooked meals which I include in my price I do go on outting regularly to
I also do evening babysitting but need advance notice as im always booked you can email me for any question on luciekieron@aol.com
Look forward to hear from you

[izzye789]

go for a nanny the one to one.baby gets the right kind of love and affection.can go for walks and play groups meet up with other nannys.i wouldnt dream of leaving a baby in a nursery no fresh air and stuck in the same place all day and the girls are so young what do they know they have no idea.