So upset with my church nursery

Bamamom wrote: My church is small but we have paid nursery workers - a controversery for another thread. Today I left Katie (and Tripp) in the nursery while I went to Bible study. When I went to pick them up and was gathering up their stufff and one of the worker said "Let me get her bottle of milk" I didn't carry her a bottle this morning. Our nursery workers are from the Philippeans so there is a bit of a language barrier - so when I told them that they kept telling me they had given her a bottle. Even went so far as to look in my bag for the bottle.

So there are two possibilities - 1) they gave her another child's formula, but since she was the only infant there today the formula would have to have been left over from last night, or worse - last Sunday. 2) they gave her milk out of one of the kids sippy cups.

Either way I am furious and have complained to our pastor and the head of the nursery committee.

Sorry - I just had to vent!!!!!!!!!

luvbug00 replied: I can understand your fusteration but it's a church not a daycare. they aren't required to have certs or i'm sure they aren't insured. as for thembeing payed i don't know the cercumstances behind it so i can't say much more then

Calimama replied: I would be mad too. God forbid your child have an allergy to a certain kind of formula...

HuskerMom replied:
No kidding!

skinkybaby replied:
Our church's nursery workers are required to be certified out the wazoo.


I'd be mad too. I can only imagine what they gave her!

A&A'smommy replied: Oh I would be upset too!!!! I don't honestly think its a good idea to hire anyone who is limited with their english, mostly because of situations like you faced today. As far as having paid workers i don't see anything wrong with it especially when you have a small church and not enough volunteers its not any worse than hiring a babysitter!!

luvmykids replied: Nothing wrong with the church having a daycare imho, lots of churches here hire people so the church can provide the moms day out service

The fact of the matter is, it's unacceptable period, whether it's a daycare in the church or on the nearest street corner. I'd be upset too

kimberley replied: i can understand your frustration but wonder if you had given any instructions when dropping them off. does she usually take a bottle when she's there? is it the same workers all the time? maybe they made a bottle for her because you didn't bring one or they just thought u brought one but never gave her anything i would think if you spoke to them calmly about your concerns they would definitely listen and work with you. i certainly would have clarified if they gave her milk or formula before going to the pastor.

as for the language barrier, English is the second language of the Phillipines. they understand far more than they can speak.

hope u get it all resolved.

TrulyBlessed replied: Our church nursery workers is made up of volunteers, but we have rules and guidelines that we follow. The language barrier would bother me. I would appreciate them caring for my child while I attend service, but when I am trusting them with my children I do feel that they should be qualified. I would be a little upset too and I would have said something to the nursery director so they are aware of the situation. My biggest concern would be if this happens a lot or could it have been just one of rare occasions.

Kirstenmumof3 replied: That's awful! I'm glad you said something about it!

gr33n3y3z replied:
They are just a baby sitting service hun while you do your thing in church
sorry accidents can happen even in the best of places
Maybe if you talk to them you can find out more of what went on or maybe if they go back lable their drink cups or bottles and put a matching name tag on them so this way no mix up

Bamamom replied: So for more details - Katie never gets a bottle at nursery except on Sunday morning. I always hand the bottle and Katie to them and tell them they are to give it to her immediately and put her down for her nap. Thursday Bible Study is later so she has already had her nap - thus no bottle.

She was (and always is) the only infant in the nursery on Thursday morning - so it wasn't like they just got her mixed up with another infant. And there were only 6 kids there (including Katie) and 2 workers - so it wasn't mass chaos with bunches of kids and not enough workers. And they were given instructions - she isn't old enough for goldfish so please don't give her anything. Bible study is over at 11:45 so I just feed them as soon as we get home.

The reason I mentioned the language barrier is because they couldn't tell me when asked if it was a bottle or a sippy. She just got very nervous (I'm assuming because she immediately realized this was bad) and starting looking for the container - which she couldn't find and we finally gave up and I took the kids and left. So I did try to verify whether it was formula that was left over or a sippy cup of milk.

There are ongoing nursery issues - I'm actually on our nursery committee. We've suggested and it has been approved by our ruling body that there is to be a sign in sheet for the kids - listing who dropped them off, who will be picking them up, what, if anything, was brought from home (milk, formula, or juice) and whether they are allowed to have snack (we only have water and goldfish in the nursery). So some, but certainly not all, of my frustration comes from the fact that though this has been approved it has not been implemented. That was my reason for going to my pastor. Guess I should have included all that earlier but while I was typing Katie fell and busted her lip. Got distracted by First Aid

My first concern was of course for Katie's health. After talking to the other moms who had kids in the nursery this morning and then to the mother of the one other infant from last night we have determined that Katie was given a sippy cup of milk. So it's not as bad as I originally feared. Still unacceptable - but at least it wasn't formula that had been sitting out since last night.

Thanks all for your advice/opinion/support

emiliosmom replied:
Exactly!

Even if they aren't held as accountable, they are still taking care of a child and need to be responsible.

kimberley replied: that clears up a lot. good thing you are on the committee. they sound very disorganized and unprofessional and that's the last thing you want when it comes to kids. i agree with Lisa that everything down to diapers should be labelled. most daycares have bins with those clear holders that you can slip a paper in with the child's name and all their stuff goes in there. i'd even give the kids name tags in case a newbie is there. even ikea does that lol. they should also have some sort of "log" that the parent can write in specific instructions when dropping the child off, then the worker can later log the child's activities while you were gone. when i babysat, i wrote out all times of feedings, how much, diaper changes or anything of significance. does sound like her english vanished because she knew she did something wrong . this could have been disastrous if Katie was lactose intolerant. it's unacceptable.

i hope things get better and Katie's lip heals fast.

gr33n3y3z replied: Wow even worse then what I thought
Well I guess maybe some new ppl. would be better for the job it sounds like
I hope you get it all worked out and hire ppl. who know what to do.
But I think Kimberley is right about the time list and what that child needs and at what times is in order for all children that go there actually any child in a day care any where.

lesliesmom replied: That's really scary. Glad you found out what was in that sippy/bottle. Our church has a nursery as well. We do have a sign-in sheet where we put the childs name, age and sign in or out. We also have a pager system. You put the pager # you are assigned down and if there is any problem while your child is in the nursery they will page you for you to return to the nursery. Thankfully, although the nursery position is paid, they hired from parents in the church. I am actually an alternate and will be running the nursery temporarily while she is on maternity leave. And in our church certification is not required but a great plus - the reason I didn't get the full time position was because I was not certified. I hope you get this straightened out with your pastor and things start going better in the nursery. You go to church for a spiritual experience, you don't need to be worrying about your kids in the nursery.

MommyToAshley replied: I would be upset too. I'm glad you said something. I would definitely push to have the changes that the committee passed enforced.