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Area to change nappies in a park away playschool.


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Hi i work at a pack away pre school that is based in a church Hall which has very limited storage.

We have been advised by our early years adviser that we should have a changing station with steps up to it to change our nappies ! .

At present we have always changed nappies on the stage behind a curtain.

Of course in the past most children who entered pre school were not in nappies but as the age has dropped most of the 2 yr olds we have a now in nappies !

 

I just wondered what have pack away pre schools do ? This piece of equipment is going to be very expensive and bulky and not easy to move .

 

Ant advice and experience would be appreciated .

 

regards

 

Chrissie

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Well Chrissie, we have a changing table in the boys loo for the older children and I do mean a table - nothing fancy, but they could launch themselves onto it via a small step, and in the girls loo there is a drop down changer unit for younger children.

 

You may be able to get one of the units you are speaking of second hand of course. worth a look

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We have a changing mat on the floor of the toilets - Ofsted came in February and were quite happy with the arrangements we use.

I'll second that - we have the same arrangement and Ofsted were perfectly happy with that! :1b

 

Not sure about the H & S for staff members - we are all rather 'mature' but we manage :rolleyes:

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I would be more concerned with where the hand washing facilities were in relation to the changing mat than anything else. Frankly, it's safer to change on the floor than on any type of raised surface as far I'm concerened. If you can't get down on the floor to change a child, how on earth can you manage all the other tasks we need to do in early years? Its constant up, down, up down for all of us isn't it?

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We are on the floor in the disabled loo which has space. No space in the regular loos. There is talk of the scouts committee installing a changing unit, but it would be one of the pull-down ones that are too small for large 2 and 3 year olds still in nappies, I'm sure. We're fine as we are, after all, I change my own 3 year old on the floor at home! Ofsted didn't mention when inspected last year :)

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you could argue that the reason you use a mat on the floor is for H&S reasons.. as it means staff do not have to lift a child up onto a table, not all children are able to climb up and it is possible the child could slip and cause a back issue if staff has to catch them.It could also be argued to be safer for a child to be changed somewhere they cannot fall off..

 

I am sure there are reasons that both ways are fine..

 

I would ask to see the written health and safety legislation that relates to this.. where is it found..

 

Ours was also a changing mat on floor in a toilet.. Ofsted very happy with it.. never an issue

 

Remember they are advisor's and while they can advise there really is no reason to do all they say.. we found they used to get a bee in their bonnet about one thing and it seemed like a stuck record, even if we could say why we were not doing it.. WE used to consider it and then say why we were not changing not adopting it..

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We have a table in disabled toilet but older children or heavy children are changed on Matt on floor. Steps up to changing area ! Oh yes how lovely to have that type of unit, oh and the space for it to go in, before this table we just did all on floor never had a complaint from Ofsted about it on inspections.

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Now this may be the madness descending from writing reports but go tell your advisor to get lost! load of rubbish IMO ...much more dangerous to lift children up or to have them on a high surface if you ask me.....if in doubt write a risk assessment but ofsted do not have any rules about this to my knowledge and they were quite happy with the way we did it!

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We use a changing mat on the floor in or toilet area. Much as these changing units are lovely we would not be able to lift it up and down the stairs - our storage is in a basement.

 

There is a drop down changing unit fixed to the wall in one of the toilets which I am sure is safely fitted but for some of our older children they wouldn't be safe on it and if it is a three or four year old you are having to change they are really just too big for it.

 

We tell parents of children joining us in nappies that this is what we do and if it is not a suitable arrangement for them then we advise them to look for a setting with more suitable facilities.

 

As far as lifting is concerned - and that includes children - 7kg is recommended by the Health and Safety Executive as the maximum weight that should be lifted above waist height.

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we used to use an old drawer unit......................until we had a major flood and it had to be replaced. We then bought the CP changing table ( without steps, due to space restrictions). We don't change nappies on the floor because of backs and knees.

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we used to use an old drawer unit......................until we had a major flood and it had to be replaced. We then bought the CP changing table ( without steps, due to space restrictions). We don't change nappies on the floor because of backs and knees.

 

I now have a very silly image in my mind of children inside drawers :oxDxD but I do know what you mean really! :1b

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7KG?????? You should see some of the children I have here........... :( Lunch today for one little angel: two chocolate bars, a few cheesey biscuits and some dippy cheese; a fruit bar and 6.....yes, SIX raisins. One child who is morbidly obese ( don't even go there!), told me through a mouthful of malt loaf, 'apples are really bad for you, daddy told me'.

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Hi packaway setting here. Ofsted OK for us changing on mat on floor last year in disabled toilet. There is a flimsy pull down changing station but I took one look at it and thought it didn't look too stable. Manual handling rep that visited was concerned about staff backs but there is no room for other sort of unit and realised that we only rent the hall. My ey advisor recommended the sort you see at swimming baths but they look flimsy too...floor for us!!

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