Nappies = no preschool!?

[Freya]

Ive been looking into putting Ds1 on the waitlist for preschool as he is 3 next month.

Ive noticed on alot of their websites they have a no TT = no preschool policy............


Um at current Ds is not toilet trainined and I wouldnt feel right pushing him too just for preschool but he s definately ready for preschool next year as daycare just isnt cutting it anymore stimulation wise.

Are they allowed to do that!? Is it a normal request?

Guess I'll be starting TTing as of now if it is.

[~clover~]

I think its more because there have been alot of mothers of late just not bothering to TT.
There are women sending their kids to kindergarten (primary school) not TT & expecting the teachers to deal with it.

Have you started at all yet? If you are in the process they probably won't mind so much. They don't mind accidents, but don't want it to be left to them to actually TT your child iykwim.

I'm not saying this is what you are doing, hope you don't think that

[Mak]

Perhaps put him on the list and see what happens in the mean time. Would he be starting there straight away? I know at our daycare they say TT is a requirement for kinder but they also work with the kids that are in pullups etc rather than nappies.
Personally I would not be pushing the TT - I tried with DD1 and is was not worth the angst - but you could get some undies and talk about it. It may also be worth discussing it with daycare as that was where it all started for us.
Good luck!

[Pandora]

At DS1s 3yo kinder they have this policy. If your child has an accident there they can call you in to "deal with it" as they put it.

You may find that by the time he starts kinder he will be TT, summer is a great time to start and some kids only take a week or two to be dry thru the day

[Rouge]

Its health and safety. They aren't allowed to change nappies (unless its a child care centre) so if they do have a dirty nappy they have to call you and ask you to come to the kinder and change it. (Well its like that here anyway).

We started toilet training DS 6 months before Kinder for this reason.

[Erin_25]

Does the Daycare have a kindy room? perhaps you could go with that option until he is TT.

It's a tough one, I'm guessing they can say that as they are "teachers".....nappy changing isn't part of their job & unlike a Daycare facility they might not have the set up to deal with frequent nappy changes IYKWIM. I can see if from a Kidny Teachers perspective also. It's tough really as they are offering the places to 3yo, & that is young & some may not be TT. I guess they just have to be ready if all aspects.

[sushee]

I would put him on the waitlist and see what happens in the meantime. At his 3rd birthday, Charlie didn't look like he was ever going to TT. Then (after some encouragement) he did his first wee in the toilet at 3 years and 1 month. A month later, he was fully TTed.

It happened so quickly once he was ready, that you may find that the same will occur for your son.

So I reckon get on the waitlist first and see how he goes between now and then.

[snugglybean]

Some states can get away with it, others can't. Depending where you are, call your state department that regulates childcare and pre-schools, and ask them. I know a mum who was told no TT = no kinder for her 3 year old, but called the Dept, they said not acceptable, she challenged them, he got into kindy.
But, as some PPs have said, if they don't have the facilities to change him, then it's reasonable that they not do it.
Get yourself on the waitlist. Easier to get off it if you change your mind than it is to get on later. (I know, I say this in every post...)

[Rouge]

The thing to remember is Kinder adult to child ratio is different to Child Care. The other reason its an issue is due to the fact that if one of the carers has to leave the room to change a nappy (which can take 5 minutes) that means that 20 odd children are left to be cared for by one adult (and possibly a parent helper) where as child care mostly has a 5-6 children per adult ratio.

I personally think its good that there is a TT Policy. But I guess because I was told why it made sense.

[Bathsheba]

It was the policy of the ELC where I worked to keep children in the 0-2 room util they were fully TT... they didn't mind the odd accident though (in the 3yo room). I agree with the health aspect... most kinder rooms are just not set up to deal with a continuous stream of dirty nappies... and yes, the ratio there wouldn't support it from a safety point of view.

But I know that the local council run kinders can't exclude a child because they are not TT. I was speaking to a centre director about it last week. My 3yo is almost TT and I'm sure by the start of next year he will be fine.

[Liz]

Yeah, depends I think. The daycare/preschools probably have the facilities to change them. The preschool DS goes to is purely a preschool, so he had to be TT.

DS trained at 2yr9mths, and we waited until he was ready, so it was really really quick. He did still have accidents now & then (as they do) and I just told the teachers in the early days that he still needed reminding to go, and I think he's only ever had 2 accidents at preschool. One of the times was when he woke up wet from a nap.. which is when I told them he still needs to be reminded as he wasn't night trained at that stage so still normally wore a nappy to sleep. He was fine after that.

[bon]

I think it's a reasonable policy. They have the same policy at DD's kindy, but that kindy is for 4-5 year olds only so I think it's just an expectation that by that age your child will be TT. Having said that though, they accept that accidents do happen even at that age and they deal with it - they don't expect the parents to come in. They ask that you always pack a change of clothes and undies for that reason, and even if you happen to forget, they have a box full of spare clothes that they will dress your child in if need be. It's handy also because the children do a lot of messy play - water, mud etc so they sometimes need a fresh set of clothes.

Like others have said, I would put him on the waitlist and see what happens re TT - you might be surprised how quickly he picks it up. I know my friend was despairing of her DS ever TT, but within a week of his 3rd birthday he was out of nappies and now even takes himself to the toilet if he needs to!

[ausgirl]

I think it is quite fair to have these policies in place - they could not possibly handle a whole class in nappies - alot of extra work and resources required. And as previously mentioned, the ratio of staff is alot different too as may well be the regulations regarding health and hygeine.
I wouldn't go down the taking legal action or seeking help from deptartments to get the rule changed for your child was (not saying you would do that) as you will automatically get yourself offside with staff who are often already stressed and overworked and doing their very best to provide fantastically educational programs.

[~breeze~]

At DD's old daycare in Sydney the pre-school class was for 4-5 yr olds (the ones pre starting school) but the kindy class was 3-4yr olds & they didnt have to be TT (to get into the pre school class the HAD to be TT) is it a daycare centre or just pre-school? If it's a daycare centre see if he can go into the kindy room instead of straight into pre-school?

Good luck hun

[Freya]

I have no problems with the policy now I know the reasons behind it. Its fair enough.

Its a preschool and daycare so I guess if he isnt TTed by Feb then he'll just have to go to the daycare until the year after. Its just he is SO ready for preschool.

But we're starting TTing as of today, no more excuses.

[SamiH]

Alot can happen in 6 months time! In my experience - boys might start a bit later - but then they just do it!