Nanny obsessed with bathing kids

[Anonymous]

Our nanny is very sweet and does a great job but we’ve noticed she’s bathing the kids 1-3 times a day.

I find this odd. We do bathes most nights so perplexed why she needs to bathe them again? We’ve asked and she just says they were dirty/smelled/made a mess. Isn’t this what wipes are for?

The kids are 9 months and 2-year-old twins. Do other nannies bathe your charges?

[Anonymous]

There is something deeply wrong with your nanny if what you write is true.

Are the twins potty trained? If not, she may just be washing their bums under the bathtub faucet after a poop diaper. This is common in some cultures.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely not okay. I would flat out make it a rule that she is NOT to bathe them.

[Anonymous]

Maybe she is trying to pass the time, the tub would keep them confined, making it easier to watch them.

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry? How is this weird?

I wash my charges during the day because my employers don’t know how to and they stink.

I’ve watched how their parents bathe them and it’s literally a dip in the water and then out. I remember once the kids had a stomach bug and had vomited all over themselves all night and their parents just wiped them down with wipes and changed their outfits. They absolutely stunk.

Possibly you aren’t properly cleaning your children?

You bet that I’ll bathe my infant charge after a super messy BM or meal because I don’t want to carry around a stinky, messy child.

If you are suggesting your nanny gets something out of bathing them that’s not so innocent why the hell are you on here? If that’s your suspicion let her go.

But I don’t find it odd she bathed them. I have charges around the same age and with the weather changes they’re a snotty mess. They wake up from naps a snotty mess with it caked in their hair and yep, they get a bath. They enjoy it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely not okay. I would flat out make it a rule that she is NOT to bathe them.

So, you hire someone to be with your kids all day but they can’t bathe them when needed?

Are they allowed to change diapers? Can they feed them?

[Anonymous]

What do you mean by bathe? Like a full on bubble bath?

I worked with one family as a second nanny. Their FT nanny was from another country and part of their culture was cleaning children differently. After dirty diapers, she ran water (in a sink, not a bath) over the 1-year-olds bottom. I think she used this instead of wipes, but I'm not completely sure. Whenever I changed the diaper I just used wipes because that's what I was used to. As long as their bottoms were clean, the parents were fine with either method and saw both of us with the kids.

However, if you are talking about a full on bath several times a day, that's actually bad for kid's skin. I would ask more about the reason and agree with PP about indicating you prefer the nanny does not bathe the kids.

[Anonymous]

I would love it if my Nanny bathed my kids.

Bathing three young children is a huge chore & I would be grateful that she relieved me of this tedious task so that I could spend more time playing w/my kids after work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you mean by bathe? Like a full on bubble bath?

I worked with one family as a second nanny. Their FT nanny was from another country and part of their culture was cleaning children differently. After dirty diapers, she ran water (in a sink, not a bath) over the 1-year-olds bottom. I think she used this instead of wipes, but I'm not completely sure. Whenever I changed the diaper I just used wipes because that's what I was used to. As long as their bottoms were clean, the parents were fine with either method and saw both of us with the kids.

However, if you are talking about a full on bath several times a day, that's actually bad for kid's skin. I would ask more about the reason and agree with PP about indicating you prefer the nanny does not bathe the kids.

This is what we did and our nanny did for my oldest who had a sensitive butt and was pretty much allergic to maornwioes and for diaper rash from them. She got sink or tub washed after every poop change. But definitely not a full on bath.

[Anonymous]

I worked with two Muslim nannies who always washed the baby’s diaper area after a poop under the bathtub faucet. Their charges never once had diaper rash so I started doing it. Not one diaper rash on my charges either.

I’ve also worked for one employer who insisted on doing the bath but often skipped it and rarely used soap. My poor little charge smelled bad! She was still in night diapers and the cumulative effect of no good bath was stinky. I would always sponge bathe her once the parents left.

OP, you should clarify what you mean by “bath”.

[Anonymous]

What culture is she?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely not okay. I would flat out make it a rule that she is NOT to bathe them.

So, you hire someone to be with your kids all day but they can’t bathe them when needed?

Are they allowed to change diapers? Can they feed them?

Part of my bonding with my daughters when they were babies was giving them a bath when I got home from work. Babies do not need more than one bath per day. So yes, the nanny was not to bathe them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely not okay. I would flat out make it a rule that she is NOT to bathe them.

So, you hire someone to be with your kids all day but they can’t bathe them when needed?

Are they allowed to change diapers? Can they feed them?

Part of my bonding with my daughters when they were babies was giving them a bath when I got home from work. Babies do not need more than one bath per day. So yes, the nanny was not to bathe them.

Glad I don’t work for you.

Micromanagers see a lot of caregiver turnover.

[Anonymous]

OP needs to define “bath” and what her bathing her child “most nights” amounts to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely not okay. I would flat out make it a rule that she is NOT to bathe them.

So, you hire someone to be with your kids all day but they can’t bathe them when needed?

Are they allowed to change diapers? Can they feed them?

Part of my bonding with my daughters when they were babies was giving them a bath when I got home from work. Babies do not need more than one bath per day. So yes, the nanny was not to bathe them.

Glad I don’t work for you.

Micromanagers see a lot of caregiver turnover.

I'm glad you don't work with me too. We've had the same nanny for eight years, and still going strong.