How much time is reasonable to leave a 9 month old in a play pen in a 6-8 hr day?

[Anonymous]

Perhaps it's your typical bargain nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP's babysitter is clearly bored with the babycare.

She's obviously not a nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have never, in all of my years as a nanny many of which were caring for twins and children of multiple ages, used a play pen. Never.

I have only for the 5 minutes I needed to go to the bathroom and had no interest in leaving the twins unsupervised ( non baby proofed house) and I didn't want to bring them in the bathroom with me.

I wasn't crazy about that, but 3 hours. I mean really. I know we aren't supposed to call troll. But I just can't believe any parent would actually think this might possible be okay and then be considering keeping this person on. No . Just no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with PP - the reality is that you have a really crappy nanny. I put my charge in the play corral for only minutes a day while I clean up after his meals or start the laundry.

First, if you are intent about keeping this bad nanny, restrict her use of the play corral for certain times only and for no more than fifteen minutes at a time. Second, restrict all use of your TV and her phone when the baby is awake. The TV should never go on when you baby can hear it anyway and the constant phone use among nannies is just absurd. Third, there is nothing wrong with your setting and asking a nanny to keep a schedule with specifics in your situation because she clearly cannot do it herself. She should be talking to your baby, playing with her and reading to her.

I am a nanny and I find your nanny's behavior appalling.

+1 Make it a new rule that she is not allowed to use her cell phone AT ALL unless the baby is in her crib asleep or if she is calling 911 or you, the parents. NO EXCEPTIONS.

I am a surgical nurse and everyone in the OR somehow survives without the use of our cell phones for hours on end. A nanny can certainly do it.

[Anonymous]

If you otherwise want to keep the nanny, I think the schedule is an excellent idea. If nanny doesn't follow it however, it's definitely time to let her go. (By the way, a good nanny should always have some kind of flexible schedule like you've described going anyhow.)

[Anonymous]

Op here. thank you for your responses. Our nanny is 66 yrs old and a mother of 4. We found her on care.com.

To the person who suggested that unless our baby is crying, it's ok to leave her in the play pen: I'm sorry but its not ok with our daughter. She is a very pleasant and happy baby...to a fault. For example, she will happily sit in a poppy diaper for hours. Does that mean its ok to leave her in it? No! She gets a diaper rash and that is probably what happened yesterday. In the same way, she will quietly sit in the play pen for hours, but that doesn't mean she's happy. She's certainly not smiling. If you take her out of the play pen and let her crawl around or interact with her she is all smiles. Our nanny has commented on "how nice it is to care for such a happy and easy baby."

Taking away the play pen is a good idea but I'm afraid to do it if our nanny keeps texting so much. Our house is baby proffed, but I'm afraid our daughter will get hurt via a bad fall, sticking something in her mouth, etc.

MBs. - what limits do you set on your nanny's cell phone use?

[Anonymous]

Op here again...

For those of you who have good nannies, where did you find them?

[Anonymous]

OP again. I'm not a troll. This is really occurring with our nanny. Frankly this our second bad experience with a full time nanny. I guess I started wondering how much time is reasonable for a nanny to leave our baby in the play pen because I'm beginning to wonder if this I'm-gonna-do- as-little-as-I can-get -away-with is typical nanny behavior. I'm not saying that it is, just that this has been my experience so far and it's very frustrating. We have a part time nanny who is wonderful but is not available full time because she has a hospital job.

[Anonymous]

I mean this as kindly as possible, you need a new nanny...... Your nanny has zero interest in interacting with your baby.
Taking away the playpen and banning the phone will not fix that.
She may have forgotten how "boring" babies can be.
We found our nanny on care.com and she is wonderful. We requested and received references, we did a trial day. You really have to vet them.
Just someone being a mother with older or grown children really isn't enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. I'm not a troll. This is really occurring with our nanny. Frankly this our second bad experience with a full time nanny. I guess I started wondering how much time is reasonable for a nanny to leave our baby in the play pen because I'm beginning to wonder if this I'm-gonna-do- as-little-as-I can-get -away-with is typical nanny behavior. I'm not saying that it is, just that this has been my experience so far and it's very frustrating. We have a part time nanny who is wonderful but is not available full time because she has a hospital job.

It's the nanny hating troll. Points for creativity this time. You rreally need to get help your obsession with nanniessss is concerning

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP again. I'm not a troll. This is really occurring with our nanny. Frankly this our second bad experience with a full time nanny. I guess I started wondering how much time is reasonable for a nanny to leave our baby in the play pen because I'm beginning to wonder if this I'm-gonna-do- as-little-as-I can-get -away-with is typical nanny behavior. I'm not saying that it is, just that this has been my experience so far and it's very frustrating. We have a part time nanny who is wonderful but is not available full time because she has a hospital job.

Ask your part timer to help you find a full time nanny .

[Anonymous]

OP again.....just to be clear, when I care for my baby I rarely use the play pen except when I need to use the bathroom, prepare her food, put in a load of laundry, etc. I would love for a nanny to use it only for these purposes too, but I guess I've lowered the bar for nannies and i wonder if that is expecting too much. i get that the nanny does not love our child and probably most are doing just for the money. I'm becoming jaded because our nanny acts like she is so caring for our daughter and loves being a nanny when I'm physically present, when she was interviewed, and the first two weeks. But now 75% of the time I check into the camera she is on her phone and my daughter is doing "individual play."

[Anonymous]

This is ricidulous!!! I am NOT a troll !

I have sincerely asked for help ! I can't believe you assume I'm a troll ! If I were a nanny hater, I'd just fire this nanny!

[Anonymous]

"I'm-gonna-do- as-little-as-I can-get -away-with is typical nanny behavior"

Gave you away. Have a nice day!

[Anonymous]

Daycare seems like the perfect option for you and your baby.