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

[Anonymous]

We have one 9 month old baby. Our new nanny started off great - interacting a lot with our baby, she would document all that they did that day, etc. We have nanny cams, which we disclosed in our interview. We also made it clear in the interview that we really want a nanny who will interact with our baby and not spend excessive time distracted by TV or smart phones.

Four weeks later....I've noticed that our nanny is placing our daughter ALOT and then sitting in that same room and watching TV or texting on her phone. During her last 6 hr work day, I'd say our daughter spent 3-4 hrs in her play pen. Of the remaining time, about 1 hr was spent playing on the floor with our nanny sitting next to her with phone in hand texting away and the other hour our daughter napped. I was working from home today, and when I walked into the room they were in our nanny tried to stealthily put down her phone and started talking to our baby. So I know that she knows this is not good. On top of that, our daughter developed a diaper rash today. In the nanny's journal, the only thing the nanny listed was what time she changed diapers.

I'm very dissappointed at this discovery and am seeking advice on how to get our nanny to interact more (narrate, read books, sing music, etc, with our baby. I don't mind some individual play time, but this seems excessive.

Any suggestions?
And how much time is reasonable to leave a 9 month old in a play pen in a 6-8 hr day?

I was thinking about creating a structured schedule ( read books from 8-8:30, breakfast 8:30-9:30, play pen 9:30-10, nap 10-11, etc.) and asking the nanny to follow it. But would that be too much? Right now the only scheduling thing we require is that our baby naps at certain times.

Also thought I'd ask her to document everything they did that day like she use to do and list time in the play pen as a separate line item.

[Anonymous]

I think you need to find a new nanny and a brain . The order in which you do these things is up to you.

[Anonymous]

1 he max, preferably while the nanny was doing laundry, using the bathroom, vacuuming or something. Is she allowed to leave the house? Talking non stop to a baby is super boring for 7 hrs. At least let therm go for a walk, park, story time etc. Also No baby is going to sit and listen to books for 30 minutes. 5 is more realistic, but a few times throughout the day. She should be coming up with stuff to do even if it is just streaming the music together or sesame street (or whatever) channel on Pandora and sitting on the floor together while baby gnaws on some toys.

[Anonymous]

Op here. You didnt answer the questions and you can keep the nasty sarcasm to yourself.

I am sincerely looking for suggestions to improve this situation short of finding a new nanny.

Do many MBs give there nannies exact play schedules to follow? Is unreasonable to ask the nanny to only use her phone during nap time or to contact us?
What is a reasonable amount of time for "individual play" for a 9 month old?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your response. Our nanny does not have a car, so no they do not go out. We have a stroller and she is welcome to take our baby on walks to the park but the winter snow hasn't allowed for that yet. (We are in OH). So they have been limited to our house.

I've seen our nanny use Sesame Street other days. She use to hold our baby and interact some while it was on, but lately I see that my daughter is just sitting on the floor staring at the TV while our nanny is texting.

[Anonymous]

Do many MBs give there nannies exact play schedules to follow? My nanny gives me the schedule for the following week on the Thursday before, and I write in anything I know of coming up on that schedule. Playdates, fun things I think the babies would like in our area, etc.

Is unreasonable to ask the nanny to only use her phone during nap time or to contact us? The nanny is an adult. You should not have to ask at all. Unless you're employing a 12 yr old, your nanny should be mature enough to put the significant majority of her time into her job.

What is a reasonable amount of time for "individual play" for a 9 month old? A few minutes multiple times throughout the day.

OP, you want your DD to stop being dumped in the playpen? Here's an easy solution: take away the playpen.
You want your nanny to stop using her phone all the time? Tell her. "Hey Larla, we noticed every time we check the nanny cams to see what Baby Jane is doing, that she's sitting by herself and you're on your phone. We hired you to take care of Baby Jane. Tomorrow during her nap, please put together a list of games appropriate for her developmental stage. Next week, please start rotating through all of them."

If the above isn't done immediately, fire her. You don't need to pay someone to sit on their phone. My nanny is 28 and uses the phone maybe 3-4 times throughout the day at most.

[Anonymous]

Realistically OP, the downside to having cameras around is that it is almost a given that you will find at least ONE thing the nanny does during her shift that you think needs to change. I bet if all of us nannies were being filmed daily, whether we knew it or not, I am sure there is a one thing or another that our bosses wish we would do differently. It's par for the course.

Anyway, is your baby crying at all in the playpen? If she is happily in there, laying and playing with her toys and all, entertained, etc...Then I do not see the true harm in it as long as the baby is safe, content and all her needs are met. For a nine mos. old baby to spend such a significant amount of time in a play pen daily, I would think after a 20-min. increment, she would get bored, but maybe your baby prefers the playpen to being on the floor.

Also, are you paying your nanny a fair and competitive hourly wage? Just checking....Because if you were underpaying her, I could see why she was merely sitting with your child vs. actually interacting with her.

Anyway, your nanny sounds young to me and quite immature. Since you sound set on keeping her, my best advice is just to talk to her directly about these issues and see how she responds and just go from there.

Good luck to both of you.

[Anonymous]

The reality is that you have a crappy nanny. A great nanny wouldn't need to be told that interactig with the baby is part of her job. You can try to course correct by letting her know that you are monitoring her or by creating a schedule, but at the end of the day you can't reverse-engineer giving-a-shit. You can try and it might help, but I think you will continue to have problems with her failing to give your daughter the best care. If you are paying at the low end of the market, you may just settle for working on it with the nanny you have--At the least she doesn't sound abusive--but if you are paying a competitive rate then there's no reason to settle for a mediocre nanny.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

A loose schedule is fine. Read books from 9-9:30 is a bit too detailed. I would address your concerns but also be realistic - see how things are once the weather is better, and also maybe assign more baby-related chores while baby is in the playpen. As others have said, no snark intended, there is only so much to do with a 9 month old all day if you can't leave the house.

[Anonymous]

Where did you find this "nanny"?
I would like to know so I can avoid that source in the future.

[Anonymous]

You shouldn't need a schedule for your nanny to know how to interact with the baby. She should know how to do that. How to organize the day so the baby is getting enough stimulation and rest.

You should know that leaving your child in a playpen 3 to 4 hours a day is not okay. I mean come on?

Put your energy into finding a new nanny. If you would like tips on how to properly hire an actually nanny and not a lazy bum just in it for the cash we can help you.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

OP's babysitter is clearly bored with the babycare.

[Anonymous]

This nanny is doing everything wrong, why on earth would you want to keep her???? What are you paying? Surely you can find someone else if you're paying a reasonable wage.