To think the nanny in the 3 day baby shouldn't have given a small child salt to play with

[scottishegg]

I watched the 3 day nanny last night and normally I agree with a lot of her values such as giving your child freedom, letting them roam etc but was shocked to see her give two shall children ( boys aged 2 and 3) a salt shaker to play with in the garden.

Salt can be lethal to small children and sometimes 6 grams can be a fatal dose.

I'm a very relaxed parent normally but this made me a little uncomfortable.

Obviously the boys came to no harm although one did try to eat the salt but it may lead to people allowing children to play with salt which can be dangerous.

Am I being ridiculous?

[scottishegg]

Sorry should be 3 day nanny#

[monkeymamma]

Hmmm I do love this show and feel like they find something new each week that really resonates with me and helps me be a better parent. However, this week's episode had me a bit . Firstly leaving the 2yo alone in the room and 3D nanny made a big thing about the mum being silly not to want him out of her sight. Personally I think at 2yo they shouldn't be out of your sight!! Fine with a 3 or 4 yo but at 2 there's nothing wrong with keeping an eye on them. Secondly she told mum to leave them in the garden while she had a cup of tea in the kitchen. They were playing with water including a wee paddling pool with enough water to drown in and I had thought l official advice was never leave kids and pools unattended. I think I AM over anxious, a bit like the mum featured, but going against this type of advice on tv seems a bit risky?

[EsmeraldaEllaBella]

Is salt lethal?? Can you link me? Genuinely worried about that!

I don't like her, she seems "old fashioned" and does a lot of things that don't respect the child or show that she has any understandinh of their development. Chuldren need comfort

[KingJoffreyLikesJaffaCakes]

Salt shaker?

Why didn't she have any toys??

[T0ddlerSlave]

Agree about the salt, I was surprised at that, but the paddling pool was attended, she was watching from the kitchen. She had a full view only a couple of meters away, and the pool was small, the toddler would have had to lie on the grass with his head in the pool to drown...

[straightouttacompton]

Salt doesn't taste very nice on its own to small children (or adults). Very unlikely they'd consume much and certainly not enough to be damaging.

[RhubarbAndMustard]

I usually like this programme but I was a bit at some of the things she did. Yes to the salt - what kid enjoys playing with a salt cellar anyway? Also when she put the child in the bedroom and he trashed it- bed clothes everywhere, clothes out of the drawers, but he didn't get any kind of consequence for this, just a 'let's go downstairs now'.

One of the children was throwing things around the lounge and the dad was told just to distract him with something else. Again, no consequence for his actions or even a firm 'No'. How will the child know this is unacceptable behaviour?

[FreedomIsInPeril]

Salt dough is a popular thing to give kids, is that crazy too?

How are they going to shake enough salt into themselves, and swallow it, to harm them?

6 grams might possibly be a fatal dose for a newborn, but table salt has a potency of LD50=3,300 (mg/kg), so thats 3.3 grams per kilo. Average weight of a two year old is apparently 12.3kg, so that would be 40.5grms lethal dose.

[Paintedhandprints]

I've only seen this one show, but thought the whole thing was off. I try to treat my kids like people with thoughts and feelings rather than something to be bent to my will.
I agreed with the idea of using distraction to head off bad behavior. I'm all for allowomg children a bit of freedom too but the 1yo was definately too young to leave in the garden alone. I'm just allowing my 2.3yo to be out for a few minutes in my garden while I listen very carefully what he is doing. But I've also taught him what is safe etc. I'm working on the running off.
Was completely bemused the kid was sent to his room for putting a plastic plate in the hot oven, but not told why he was being punished. Not mentioning he was playing with the hot oven!
They were punished for wierd things too and not told why. Why did the older kid get sent to the naughty corner for not getting down from the table.

[Dripdrop]

I've never seen this programme before but i thought it was too strict and really didn't respect the children, and I'm not one for letting children rule the roost.

Much prefer Jo frost

[hotdiggedy]

Ive never heard of this, what channel is it on? what were they doing with the salt? Just sprinkling it on the ground or was it some sort of experiment? I would probably be quite happy with a supply of salt to pour out and make pretty patterns with on the ground!

[reallyanotherone]

Children and babies are far more susceptible to salt poisoning than adults. They can get pretty severe symptoms from a very small amount. The salt content of oxo cubes have made babies seriously unwell.

Salt dough is a relatively common cause of poisoning in children too.

So yes, very irresponsible.

[SaltyMyDear]

I thought the mum seemed really depressed. And I think that was the problem not her parenting.

I really didn't like the program at all

[polkadotdelight]

I found the whole episode very upsetting. It's easy for me to say I know, I only have one child and he is about to turn two so he hasn't hit the really difficult phase yet (as many people post about here).

It all seemed really heavy handed but I don't know how much was down to the editing. They showed mum singing 'row, row, row your boat' witj the kids and the moment one of them bumped heads with the other he was immediately marched upstairs. Call me soft but it was only shown happening once and the other boy wasn't crying - maybe he had been doing it repeatedly and had warnings, I don't know. I am worried that I am going to be too soft with pfb but there is now way I would make him stand facing the wall in a toddler group. Apologies to the other child and a stern word, yes and removal/distraction to play elsewhere but it all seemed so harsh.

DS is never indoors all day though, he always goes for a walk or something to break the monotomy up.

[hownottofuckup]

I thought leaving the youngest in his bedroom for 20 mins as a punishment was OTT.

[MinnowAndTheBear]

I was worried about the chest of drawers in the bedroom - "nothing in there can hurt him!" - yet the drawers were clearly very wobbly and could have tipped on top of him easily, especially with the way he was trashing the bedroom.

[polkadotdelight]

Going back to the original post - I have never knowingly given DS salt dough. He gets play dough but only under supervision as Im not sure if it is the same. I wouldnt give him a salt cellar to play with when there are plenty of other options.

[shinynewusername]

Freedom that is the dose that will kill 50% of subjects - deaths have been reported at much lower doses - apparently as low as 0.5 g/kg body weight (though of course it can be difficult to assess the exact dose taken of a substance that also occurs naturally in the body).

Having said that, accidental poisoning with salt from one-off consumption is rare - probably because people tend to vomit if they eat a lot in one go. Most cases of accidental and non-accidental salt poisoning of children have been when it has been added to food over some time.

[IneedAdinosaurNickname]

I couldn't work out what the salt was for. It's hardly an exciting toy for a toddler!
I used to like the 3 day nanny but thought she was all over the place this week. Aren't 2 years olds too young to understand why they are stood facing a wall anyway? And distracting them when they are chucking stuff around? Hmmm.
I felt so sorry for the mum. She seemed so nervy

[Muzzcub]

I really like the 3 day nanny and have eaten up the last two series of her show.
I thought it was odd that she was okay sending the youngest up to his bedroom on his own too though. What if he pulled those drawers over!
I did feel that both those parents had severely lost their way. Felt very sorry for the mum. Thought her husband was very kind and understanding of her state of mind.
I remember reading an interview someone did with the 3d nanny where she said having her own child completely blew her mind and all her years of experience couldn't help her

[soundsystem]

I thought that about the salt as well!

I wasn't that impressed with the nanny at all, I thought she was pretty old school. I understand that some form of discipline is important, obviously, but I like to treat my children like actual human beings.

[TheEagle]

I don't like her methods - I read that article too muzz.

She found it a whole new ball game when she had her own baby. Funny that

[alwaystimeforgin]

I actually saw the 3 day nanny out and about in a cafe and she was incredibly patronising with a parent and her son. She was talking to the child like he was a dog "sit down! Good boy etc." It was really weird as the child was sat with his mum and didn't really need her input at all

[facepalming]

This was the first one I've seen and I couldn't work out if I was a total freak for thinKing some things were a bit off or I really need her help!!

I had all of the concerns you've raised above but I couldn't also believe that the park she took that mum too was not fenced off and near what looked like busy roads! then she told her not to be daft to try and make sure they were both within her reach!

I also with all the adults there (dad, the nanny lady and the crew) how the feck the kid got in the oven?!

I like she watched him scale all those boxes without intervening too....

[TimidYetCurious]

I think a few things she does are weird. I wouldn't want her caring for my ds.