Mum horrified by what she hears after bugging daughter's cuddly toy at nursery

A mother was left "heartbroken" after bugging her daughter's nursery with a recording device that uncovered some difficult truths for the concerned parent.

A concerned mother has revealed how she bugged her daughter's nursery after having an "uneasy feeling" about the childcare practice. Taking to Reddit, the unnamed mother said the nursery had banned parents from entering the premise, putting it down to Covid-19 procedures that saw restrictions put in place.

But despite having an 'outstanding' rating with Ofsted, the mother claims she had a bad feeling about her daughter's nursery, and wanted to see what was going on behind closed doors. "They don’t let you in the building," she wrote.

"I’ve always had a feeling about the nursery that’s made me uneasy, but I had to return to work and she only goes for two days a week," she adds.

The mother put her 15-month-old in the nursery after returning to work following maternity leave. After going to collect her last week, she discovered her daughter "in the corner crying".

"Not a little cry, full on belting," she explains. "No one acknowledged her or comforted her."

While watching her daughter through the window, she waited for a staff member to come to the door after she had rung the bell. "When her key-worker came to the door she explained how they’d had the most brilliant and happy day so far," she adds.

Confused at her daughter's crying state, the mother decided to "bug" her cuddly toy with a recording device. Without going into detail, she reveals she was "heartbroken" after listening to three out of eight hours of the recording.

"I don’t need to go into the details, but I was justified in my concerns," she says. Now, the anonymous mother is asking for advice on bringing the evidence to local authorities.

She says: "Where do I stand legally having bugged the room without permission? And will I face any consequences if I bring this to the relevant authorities attention.

"I will listen to the rest [later] but it was the hardest listen of my life and I needed to take a break."

She then confirmed she has removed her daughter from the nursery. Probing for more information in the comments, one user wrote: "Have you tried asking the nursery about that day in writing? Because it seems a serious concern of yours is that they misrepresented your child’s experience."

Another said: "You should not share the recordings with anyone or on social media. You should escalate your concerns to Ofsted."

A third user encouraged her to let the nursery know to avoid any unwanted "legal disputes" from the childcare setting.

"Your legal position in regards to having a recording is entirely dependent on what the recording reveals," a fourth claims. "On the face of it, placing a recording device into a nursery that monitors children other than your own would raise serious concerns against you."