Nanny with child not dressed for cold weather

[Anonymous]

I just saw a nanny with a small child and the child had no hat on, his/her coat was not fully buttoned and he/she was crying. The child was small enough to be worn in a sling. WTF? It's like 20 degrees out! What do you do when you see this kind of stuff?

[Anonymous]

I don’t think you can do really anything about it. But where were they? Going from a store to a car? If that was the case, the kid’s fine for such a short distance. But if they were walking along, getting to a metro stop or something, I’d really be shaking my head.

[Anonymous]

No, they were out for a stroll. The nanny was with another woman pushing a baby in a carriage. In this kind of weather, I really don't see a good reason for being outside with babies.

[Anonymous]

Well, if it were me, and I had my toddler gear with me (my son's backpack), I would have said, "oh my goodness, she looks really cold, do you want my son's blanket?"

Now, I'm hoping she wouldn't take it, but perhaps get the message to reassess her kid's comfort (and health).

[Anonymous]

While a child should be properly dressed for the cold, I think the PP goes to far by saying there is no good reason to be out with a baby. I grew up in New England. We would never have gone out if we didn't go out in the cold! As long as kids are appropriately dressed, they're fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While a child should be properly dressed for the cold, I think the PP goes to far by saying there is no good reason to be out with a baby. I grew up in New England. We would never have gone out if we didn't go out in the cold! As long as kids are appropriately dressed, they're fine.

Yeah, but that's New England. Here in DC, cold spells don't last forever. Is it really a big deal to keep a baby indoors for a couple of days?

[Anonymous]

Ugh. I hate seeing stuff like that. Before I had kids I would walk past gaggles of nannies every day in Old Town Alexandria sitting on the benches near city hall and the fountain there. The nannies would be smoking usually and there would be a line of baby strollers with babies crying and no mittens on, no hats. Made me sad and frankly also impacted my decision to use daycare rather than a nanny. I don't know what you do if they are a one time sighting on a walk. Take a picture with you cell phone and post it here? I used to try and find an Alexandria City Police Officer to go check out the line of cold babies. Generally, the sight of a uniform would send them home or indoors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While a child should be properly dressed for the cold, I think the PP goes to far by saying there is no good reason to be out with a baby. I grew up in New England. We would never have gone out if we didn't go out in the cold! As long as kids are appropriately dressed, they're fine.

Yeah, but that's New England. Here in DC, cold spells don't last forever. Is it really a big deal to keep a baby indoors for a couple of days?

But why? I don't understand your reasoning. I took my baby out today and he was fine because he was properly dressed. We were both stir crazy after being home all day yesterday.

[Anonymous]

Weird, I usually see babies that are completely OVERdressed for the weather... faces flushed, panting, etc. I'm usually the person who gets the dirty looks for a seemingly underdressed child, but I know that my kid would way rather be a little chilled than immobilized with layers. Plus, there are wonderful lightweight fabrics that pack a lot of punch in terms of warmth.

I probably would have said "oops, looks like the little one pulled off her hat!" or "so young to be able to unbutton her own coat!" if you really felt like something needed to be done.

[Anonymous]

I wonder how did OP know it was the nanny...

[Anonymous]

What neighborhood was this in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While a child should be properly dressed for the cold, I think the PP goes to far by saying there is no good reason to be out with a baby. I grew up in New England. We would never have gone out if we didn't go out in the cold! As long as kids are appropriately dressed, they're fine.

Yeah, but that's New England. Here in DC, cold spells don't last forever. Is it really a big deal to keep a baby indoors for a couple of days?

But why? I don't understand your reasoning. I took my baby out today and he was fine because he was properly dressed. We were both stir crazy after being home all day yesterday.

I agree. I take both of my kids out for walks throughout the winter, and I'm from this area. Appropriately dressed, a baby will be fine, and it certainly boosts my kids' moods. Sounds, though, like this child wasn't appropriately dressed -- that's the problem, not the jaunt itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how did OP know it was the nanny...

That was my first thought-how did OP know this was a nanny? PS-I'm a nanny and when the weather is like this, I keep my kids indoors as much as possible. If they argue with me about wearing a hat or a coat or mittens or whatever, I don't let them out to freeze. Still, answer the question OP-how do you know it was a nanny and not a mommy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. I hate seeing stuff like that. Before I had kids I would walk past gaggles of nannies every day in Old Town Alexandria sitting on the benches near city hall and the fountain there. The nannies would be smoking usually and there would be a line of baby strollers with babies crying and no mittens on, no hats. Made me sad and frankly also impacted my decision to use daycare rather than a nanny. I don't know what you do if they are a one time sighting on a walk. Take a picture with you cell phone and post it here? I used to try and find an Alexandria City Police Officer to go check out the line of cold babies. Generally, the sight of a uniform would send them home or indoors.

You really saw a bunch of people you assumed to be nannies outside in very cold weather with their charges underdressed and they were standing around smoking? What were you smoking? I don't buy this for a minute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder how did OP know it was the nanny...

OP here. It was a dark-skinned, African-American woman carrying a white child with long blond hair. She was walking with another African-American woman who was pushing a white baby in a carriage. This was in the middle of the afternoon. Call me crazy, but I assumed that they were nannies.