Cameras

[Anonymous]

I am a nanny and I can't imagine leaving a baby outside in the cold!! I am sorry that happened to you.
You would be surprised at how many nannies I know who ale references..I have had girls ask me to ( I wouldn't)
This is why longevity is important as well..it says something I a nanny was with 1 family long term

[Anonymous]

8:37 is right on. I did not use a camera with our current (and so far only) nanny but I definitely will in the beginning with a new one. I too worried about her finding out and quitting, but I have heard way too many horror stories from friends who have used cameras. One found the nanny would literally sit on the couch for hours on the phone and did not engage the 6 month old baby at all as soon as the parents left home. Another discovered her nanny let her toddler scream in his crib for over an hour while she watched TV. A third discoverd the nanny planting the kids in front of the TV regularly even though they have a no-TV policy. In all those cases, the kids were not in danger, but the nanny was not at all what the parents thought they had hired. And before the naysayers on this board say "you get what you pay for," all three were paid over $15 for one child, with good references, and at least one came from a reputable agency.

A nanny can seem great in the interview, her references can be glowing, she can come from a reputable agency, do a great trial/transition and charge well above market and still not be a great nanny, and sometimes the only way to know for sure is with a camera. If the nanny KNOWS there is a camera there, she may act differently in those rooms. At the end of the day, there is a lot of gray area between putting a child in danger and being a great nanny, but most MBs are paying for more than just someone to keep their kids out of danger ... And I would much rather have a good nanny find a camera and quit than risk a bad nanny with my children. Nannies are replaceable. Children are not.

FWIW - I am not advocating for using a camera for months and months - just in the beginning till you know for sure. If you can't trust your nanny after months or years, that is a different, much larger problem.

[Anonymous]

I believe the best thing to do is to let the candidates know there are cameras but not where they are in the interview. That way you weed out the nannies that are worried about getting caught doing stuff. Also, the nanny you hire will appreciate you being upfront with her and she still won't know where the cameras are located. This at least lowers the possibility of that one time abuse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I believe the best thing to do is to let the candidates know there are cameras but not where they are in the interview. That way you weed out the nannies that are worried about getting caught doing stuff. Also, the nanny you hire will appreciate you being upfront with her and she still won't know where the cameras are located. This at least lowers the possibility of that one time abuse.

To me that just means "Okay so be abusive and neglectful only when we're out of the house. Guess we're going to the park every day!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe the best thing to do is to let the candidates know there are cameras but not where they are in the interview. That way you weed out the nannies that are worried about getting caught doing stuff. Also, the nanny you hire will appreciate you being upfront with her and she still won't know where the cameras are located. This at least lowers the possibility of that one time abuse.

To me that just means "Okay so be abusive and neglectful only when we're out of the house. Guess we're going to the park every day!"

This has nothing to do with cameras. If a candidate is going to be abusive out of the house, cameras are not going to stop them whether they know about them or not. Letting the nannies know up front that their are cameras is going to deter the ones that are worried about getting caught. Also, isn't the most important thing prevention of abuse. As others have stated, yes you are going to catch them abusing your child with cameras but the abuse still happened and the damage is done. Letting the candidates know about the cameras during the interview but now where they are located is going to immediately weed out the nannies who knowingly abuse and for the ones who do it unknowingly, they still don't know where the cameras are located.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I believe the best thing to do is to let the candidates know there are cameras but not where they are in the interview. That way you weed out the nannies that are worried about getting caught doing stuff. Also, the nanny you hire will appreciate you being upfront with her and she still won't know where the cameras are located. This at least lowers the possibility of that one time abuse.

To me that just means "Okay so be abusive and neglectful only when we're out of the house. Guess we're going to the park every day!"

This has nothing to do with cameras. If a candidate is going to be abusive out of the house, cameras are not going to stop them whether they know about them or not. Letting the nannies know up front that their are cameras is going to deter the ones that are worried about getting caught. Also, isn't the most important thing prevention of abuse. As others have stated, yes you are going to catch them abusing your child with cameras but the abuse still happened and the damage is done. Letting the candidates know about the cameras during the interview but now where they are located is going to immediately weed out the nannies who knowingly abuse and for the ones who do it unknowingly, they still don't know where the cameras are located.

I disagree. I think telling a nanny there are cameras will just mean they'll make it a point to do their abusing elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting that the remarks against cameras are all from nannies not from MBs. Why don't you try being in our shoes before you judge. I work because I HAVE to not because I want to so your comments about how we should stay home if we can't trust someone with our children are completely unhelpful. My husband is in the Army and while he is serving our country he doesn't make enough to support us on his own so I have to work too. Because of my husbands military service we live thousands of miles from any family so I have NO support here either. I have cameras, not because I'm afraid of abuse, all I can do it hope my instincts and research into nannies background etc is enough to ensure I haven't hired someone who is abusive. I have cameras because my children are too little to be able to talk and tell me how the nanny is with them. There are plenty of "ok" nannies who won't abuse my children and keep them safe but they won't be loving to them etc when I'm not around. THAT'S why I have cameras. We've had several nannies (not because they haven't been excellent but because they moved on to do other things with their lives) and when we have a new nanny start I find the cameras helpful (and for the record I tell the nannies about them). Once they've been with us for a while I don't use the cameras anymore. So before you start judging me why don't you think about what's it's like to HAVE to work and take care of my family by myself while my husband is deployed.

You do not have to work because your husband is paid a salary. If you live above yohr means, that is why you have to work, not because you would be homeless and stsrving. You get zero sympathy. You come across as angry with your nanny because she is giving your child(ren) tons of love during most of their waking hours ans she witnesses first steps, first words, and other milestones. I chose to stay home because I did not want to miss theze moments. Money was tight but we lived within our means. You do not have to work, you choose to do so.

[Anonymous]

OP here. A lot of PP are missing the main point of the cameras. It's NOT to look for serious abuse. The reason we have cameras is to make sure the nannies "click" with the kids. They are too little to tell me what she does with them and if she is even kind to them. As I said previously we had one nanny who wasn't abusive in any way but she just wasn't "nice" to my toddler when I wasn't around. It wasn't that she was a bad person, she just didn't click with him. I would never have known without the cameras. When I was around she would talk about how sweet and wonderful he is but she didn't act like she felt that way when I wasn't around. We've had some really fantastic nannies who really love my kids and even though they've moved on to do other things with their lives they still visit and stay in touch. I'm not going to waste my money paying someone who is going to be impatient and not loving towards my kids. We let that nanny go and now we have the best nanny in the entire world who is crazy about my kids and they are crazy about her in return. The cameras are worth every penny to know that I have someone who truly loves my kids and is so good with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting that the remarks against cameras are all from nannies not from MBs. Why don't you try being in our shoes before you judge. I work because I HAVE to not because I want to so your comments about how we should stay home if we can't trust someone with our children are completely unhelpful. My husband is in the Army and while he is serving our country he doesn't make enough to support us on his own so I have to work too. Because of my husbands military service we live thousands of miles from any family so I have NO support here either. I have cameras, not because I'm afraid of abuse, all I can do it hope my instincts and research into nannies background etc is enough to ensure I haven't hired someone who is abusive. I have cameras because my children are too little to be able to talk and tell me how the nanny is with them. There are plenty of "ok" nannies who won't abuse my children and keep them safe but they won't be loving to them etc when I'm not around. THAT'S why I have cameras. We've had several nannies (not because they haven't been excellent but because they moved on to do other things with their lives) and when we have a new nanny start I find the cameras helpful (and for the record I tell the nannies about them). Once they've been with us for a while I don't use the cameras anymore. So before you start judging me why don't you think about what's it's like to HAVE to work and take care of my family by myself while my husband is deployed.

You do not have to work because your husband is paid a salary. If you live above yohr means, that is why you have to work, not because you would be homeless and stsrving. You get zero sympathy. You come across as angry with your nanny because she is giving your child(ren) tons of love during most of their waking hours ans she witnesses first steps, first words, and other milestones. I chose to stay home because I did not want to miss theze moments. Money was tight but we lived within our means. You do not have to work, you choose to do so.

You know nothing about me or my family so you have no business saying I'm angry. I wasn't even going to waste my time responding to you because you are the type of person who will find fault with anything someone says. You don't know where we are stationed or anything about my life or needs of my kids. I know lots of military wives who work because they have to so don't say just because our husbands get a salary we don't have to work. That's degrading to all the military wives out there.

In addition, if you saw my previous post, I LOVE our current nanny. She has become part of our family and I'm SO happy we have her to give my children tons of love when I'm not here. Not that you care but she actually isn't the one who is with them during most of their waking hours. She only works 30 hours a week, during which they nap about 10 hours so I'm only missing 20 waking hours in an entire week. I'm here when they wake up in the morning every day and I'm almost always home before they wake up from their afternoon nap. I've witnesses EVERY first and milestone for both my kids. I'm thankful every day to have the work schedule I have so I can be with them as much as I am and I'm also thankful every day to have the nanny I have to be here when I can't.

[Anonymous]

A nanny can seem great in the interview, her references can be glowing, she can come from a reputable agency, do a great trial/transition and charge well above market and still not be a great nanny, and sometimes the only way to know for sure is with a camera. If the nanny KNOWS there is a camera there, she may act differently in those rooms. At the end of the day, there is a lot of gray area between putting a child in danger and being a great nanny, but most MBs are paying for more than just someone to keep their kids out of danger ... And I would much rather have a good nanny find a camera and quit than risk a bad nanny with my children. Nannies are replaceable. Children are not.

FWIW - I am not advocating for using a camera for months and months - just in the beginning till you know for sure. If you can't trust your nanny after months or years, that is a different, much larger problem.

I agree with this. Cameras are not just about catching abuse but catching someone not doing their job which is why the nannies on this board freak out so much whenever a camera is mentioned. There seem to be a good number of nannies with a bad work ethic and skills in pretending to be active and attentive when the parent is around in the morning/evening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

A nanny can seem great in the interview, her references can be glowing, she can come from a reputable agency, do a great trial/transition and charge well above market and still not be a great nanny, and sometimes the only way to know for sure is with a camera. If the nanny KNOWS there is a camera there, she may act differently in those rooms. At the end of the day, there is a lot of gray area between putting a child in danger and being a great nanny, but most MBs are paying for more than just someone to keep their kids out of danger ... And I would much rather have a good nanny find a camera and quit than risk a bad nanny with my children. Nannies are replaceable. Children are not.

FWIW - I am not advocating for using a camera for months and months - just in the beginning till you know for sure. If you can't trust your nanny after months or years, that is a different, much larger problem.

I agree with this. Cameras are not just about catching abuse but catching someone not doing their job which is why the nannies on this board freak out so much whenever a camera is mentioned. There seem to be a good number of nannies with a bad work ethic and skills in pretending to be active and attentive when the parent is around in the morning/evening.

+1

[Anonymous]

I love my current nanny, but I'm still a 100% devotee to having a nanny cam. I was up front about it with my nanny and she was fine with it. I feel no need to justify having one to anyone else and either should any other family.They're your kids. End of story.

[Anonymous]

You do not have to work because your husband is paid a salary. If you live above yohr means, that is why you have to work, not because you would be homeless and stsrving. You get zero sympathy. You come across as angry with your nanny because she is giving your child(ren) tons of love during most of their waking hours ans she witnesses first steps, first words, and other milestones. I chose to stay home because I did not want to miss theze moments. Money was tight but we lived within our means. You do not have to work, you choose to do so.

Wow! This is very judgmental of you. Also, you're wrong about why people work. It isn't smart to leave the workplace for years at a time. You never know if your circumstances will change and you will have no recent experience to get hired and provide for yourself and your family. It is very irresponsible of you to suggest that she should not develop her skills to make her own money. Adults need to be able to be self sufficient.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love my current nanny, but I'm still a 100% devotee to having a nanny cam. I was up front about it with my nanny and she was fine with it. I feel no need to justify having one to anyone else and either should any other family.They're your kids. End of story.

I'm a nanny who's also fine with it as long as I know they're there - I actually feel like they offer protection to the nanny should any accidents happen on her watch - but I'll quit on the spot if I find out my employers have one and didn't tell me about it. I'm not doing anything bad, but I don't want to be picking my nose on camera or anything. It's just respectful to be honest.

[Anonymous]

I'll quit on the spot if I find out my employers have one and didn't tell me about it. I'm not doing anything bad, but I don't want to be picking my nose on camera or anything. It's just respectful to be honest.

This is just stupid and shows that you are someone who wants to be told about nanny cams so you can make a point to get out of the house to be on your phone but would be just as happy to stay home watching TV, chatting on your phone or surfing the web if you knew there wasn't a camera. If you are able to refrain from picking your nose instead of using a kleenex when you know a camera is there, you should be able to refrain when a camera isn't there.