I am not complaining about our nanny but...

[Anonymous]

Our nanny watches our baby when she sleeps. She is a great nanny, well-educated and experienced, and not only certified in infant CPR and safety but also certified to teach infant CPR and safety. When the baby naps, our nanny either sits and watches her sleep or does her other chores (baby's laundry, washing baby bottles, etc.) in 30 to 45 second increments, coming in to check on the baby in between. We have nanny-cameras and I've watched her walk into the baby's room chewing (we live in a small house where the baby's room is right next door to the kitchen and the washer/dryer) - so I assume she walks into the kitchen, takes a bite out of her sandwich and walks back into the baby's room to check on her. When our nanny is done with her chores and lunch, she sits and just watches the baby breathe! No kidding - she doesn't read, surf the net, watch TV - she doesn't even use her cell phone or sleep - she just sits and watches the baby breathing.

She once told us that over 70% of all SIDS cases happen in custodial care and admits that she is paranoid about it. Our daughter is three-months-old.

I really do love our nanny and so does our daughter, and, no matter what responses I receive here, I consider her a gift to us... but it's weird that she watches the baby sleep, isn't it?

[Anonymous]

Not really. Her job is to watch the baby. Would you rather pay her to ignore your baby and surf DCUM?

[Anonymous]

No, not weird at all. She sounds great actually. I'm sure she's very concerned about SIDS occurring on her watch. I think most nannies would be on their cell phones the second they put the baby down.

[Anonymous]

I did the same thing when my charge was little and guess what, he had his first seizure during a nap when he was 8 months. I caught it immediately and was able to get him medical help quickly. If I wasn't watching for even 5 minutes he could have had permeant brain damage had the seizure not stopped. He is now a healthy 4 yr old on seizure medication. I don't fuck around with young children, the liability is too high. Get your nanny a portable monitor with sound. Maybe in invest in a SIDS alarm that you attach to the diaper, it goes off if the baby stops breathing.

[Anonymous]

She sounds awesome! It sounds like she takes her job very seriously.

[Anonymous]

Permanent*

Heres a like to the SID prevention alarm. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B008OJ7C6Y/ref=mp_s_a_1_2/183-5057703-2579656?qid=1394806464&sr=1-2&pi=SX200_QL40

My current employers had it and gave me some peace of mind.

[Anonymous]

You, my friend, have a great nanny. Cherish her.

[Anonymous]

It's a bit over the top, but if your nanny is going to have a quirk, this is a great one! I check my charges every 15 minutes while under a year, but not in between bites lol.

[Anonymous]

My employers have a video baby monitor and I place it in a way so I can see the baby's chest rising and falling. I am also paranoid about something happening on my watch. Think about it OP, if something happens and even if it isn't the caregivers fault, the parents are going to be grieving and looking for someone to blame. Even when I'm out walking the baby in the stroller and the baby is sleeping I stop all the time and make sure she is ok.

[Anonymous]

I agree it's over the top but totally agree w/ 10:41 that if this is the quirk, you've done well.

A video monitor might help her - if she wants it - to feel a little less tied to the room.

One of our sitters did this for a while also until we encouraged her to just leave them to fall asleep. But ours are 2 year old toddlers so it was much more important that they NOT have company to play with.

Congrats on your baby.

[Anonymous]

I'm curious:

How old is your baby?
How long has this nanny been working for you?
How long has she been a nanny?

I was like this in my first nanny job, which started when the baby was two months old. I didn't take bites of my sandwich in the kitchen, though. I stood in her bedroom and ate while watching her. I don't know why I was watching her like that, but I just felt more comfortable. I relaxed with time - with that baby, and with other babies. Your nanny wants to do a great job. Good for you! Do what you have to do to keep her.

[Anonymous]

If your nanny was well-educated, she would know that in a true case of SIDS, the baby could not be resuscitated even if she was right there when the baby stopped breathing. She would also know how to provide a safe sleeping environment, minimizing the risk for suffocation, positional asphysixia, or anything else that is commonly mis-attributed to SIDS.

As long as it doesn't bother you, all the more power to your nanny. But she sounds incredibly anxious.

[Anonymous]

Super weird.

[Anonymous]

It's ott. I'm concerned about sids just as much as the next nanny but I wouldn't literally watch the baby while taking a nap. What, does she also watch babies sleep at night the whole time if/when doing overnights as well?

Nothing fireable of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your nanny was well-educated, she would know that in a true case of SIDS, the baby could not be resuscitated even if she was right there when the baby stopped breathing. She would also know how to provide a safe sleeping environment, minimizing the risk for suffocation, positional asphysixia, or anything else that is commonly mis-attributed to SIDS.

As long as it doesn't bother you, all the more power to your nanny. But she sounds incredibly anxious.

This may be the case, but if a baby dies on a caregiver's watch the cause of death is not known instantly. As a caregiver I would want to reassure myself and the parents that I did EVERYTHING possible to stop it. Say the baby were to stop breathing when the nanny was in the room watching it, she would be able to act immediately leaving no doubt to the parents that everything that could have been done was done.