Water only rule

[RedDragon]

We have introduced a water only rule into Playgroup this week. Lots of Mum's have complained but I have explained that it's following Ofsted guidelines and it is a rule of school where they will go up anyway in Sept. Today the y have come in with juice again, what do I do?

[Mouseketeer]

we recently did this too, most parents respected our wishes, we gave the reasons for introducing this health, wasps, ants.... (they are only offered water or milk at snack time anyway) we got the 'my child won't drink water' from a few and a couple have gone down the 'i'll decided what my child brings as their lunch drink not you', one child telling us 'Mummy said I haven't got squash, it's flavoured water" lol short of emptying the squash and refilling with water or stopping them bringing drinks all together and supplying I'm not sure either what next step should be, but I have had a couple parents now saying 'I know so and so still brings squash'.

[RedDragon]

^{That's the next step I suppose in just not letting them bring drinks in,but I have spoken to my lead manager who says if they continue to come in with squash to replace it with water,just dreading the come back.}

[zigzag]

We supply water and milk at snack time, but allow parents to provide whatever drink they want at lunch time (as long as it is not fizzy) I personally do not want to go down the road of telling parents what they can and cant provide for their children in there lunch boxes.

[RedDragon]

lunch boxes we are fine with its just for them to drink during the day we do provide milk/water throughout the day too.

[Mouseketeer]

ours bring a drinks bottle that they can access all day, so not just lunch time, but if they've run out of whatever was in the bottle they have it refilled with water, i know the answer is provide the water and do away with bringing from home...but its just another where will that go, how will we manage it type can't be bothered reluctance at the moment

[blondie]

we make sure water is available all day - we have a plastic jug with a lid - think its one that you buy to go in door of fridge - then plastic cups - the children access the water themselves and throw away the cups afterwards. all this is on a tray so any spills don;t go everywhere :1b

what drink the children bring in their lunch box is upto the parent as long as its not a fizzy drink

Edited January 15, 2015 by blondie

[lashes2508]

We state parents do not need to supply a drink with lunch , and we have no problems fortunately. If it is part of your policy then enforce it. Remove any juice before hand and then offer water all of ours happy with this , they pour their own water and even those who don't drink water do . Explain to parents why you do this , we found so much waste with juice cartons etc hence our decision. This had been in force for 3 years . At snack we offer both milk and water .

[narnia]

We have a 'rehydration Station'............ a trolley with water bottles that we provide. Each bottle has the child's name and photograph, so even the youngest know which is theirs. Ofsted actually liked that

[diesel10]

We started providing water at lunchtime (no own drinks) last September. No problems. Children used to bring in own bottles of 'water' but lots had squash / juice. and lots of leaking wasted cartons.

I brought in the change because of all the media on children's teeth.

[Mouseketeer]

I like that idea Narnia, all bottles go in a crate so could use that, do you just rinse out bottles and refill each time they are in ?, how often do you supply new bottles ? is this the sports type bottles or just type of bottles bought water comes in ? Thank You

[Cait]

I used a jug and cups and said it was all about learning skills. We also kept those juice bottles with pull up spouts when children brought them in for lunches and we had those outside for children to move about with if they needed a drink. They could fill them up themselves. If the tops got bitten they were easily replaced from the next lunches!

[narnia]

We store them on an Ikea trolley, spares are kept in a milk crate for those children not in on any particular day. We wash bottles at the end of the day and then rinse out in a weak solution of Milton, then drip dry. They don't need replacing vey often ( we had to dump one because the child kept chewing the top, so we kept that particular one for him until it got tatty, then gave him a new one). We bought them in bulk via ebay it was about £40 for 50 bottles, but we've been using them for over a year, so good value I think. I will look for an ebay link, see if I can find it. We use key fobs for the names and a small laminated print ( copy of their self-registration photo) of the child,

[narnia]

170890382606 found them The trolley they are on is on wheels so when we go outside, the trolley goes too

Edited January 16, 2015 by narnia

[Mouseketeer]

Thank You :)I was thinking jugs, water everywhere, using same cup someone had used etc...don't know why as they use own bottles....sometimes just can't see the wood for the trees duh

[Guest]

We do the same as Narnia for help themselves water during the day, water and milk is offered at snack time. We tell parents that we will provide a drink at lunch if they should wish. When they first start we give them info on healthy practice and lunch boxes with activities and further info periodically throughout the year. As a setting we promote healthy lifestyles but feel that we can make our parents aware but we don't tell them what they can bring in lunch boxes. Most of them leave drinks out as it is easier to let us do it. We also give children stickers for eating the fruit in their lunch box a bit of peer pressure helps a child to give up the chocolate biscuits.

[louby loo]

We ask for water only bottles to be brought in by parents for throughout the day free access- we tell the parents not to put juice in- and explain if juice is added.... other children will 'sniff it out' and drink so not ideal as y ou wouldn't really want others drinking out of their child's bottle :-o......This usually has the desired affect of horrifying parents :-)

 

If we see juice we replace with water.

 

Lunch time they can provide own choice as long as it's not fizzy.