Young nanny should be energetic, no?

None of your what ifs answer the questions I was asking of the OP. Only they know the answers.

No one was suggesting ‘lying’ but sometimes people require more careful management. It’s a bit of a carrot and stick approach. Or, a shit sandwich, you know- this could be improved, you do this brilliantly, but you need to focus more on this. You must have encountered the concept before?

No one is saying unnecessary phone use around a child you are meant to be engaging with is a good thing. No one. They have said it needs a professional approach and should never take your attention away from a child you are supposed to be looking after.

Ok, interesting!

What is it that you're objecting to?

Mobile phones as a safeguarding risk requiring careful management and agreement?

Or my preference for nannies not to advocate for lying when describing a child's behaviour?

Not really, but you are certainly making yourself sound incredibly obtuse and not a knowledgeable source on the subject. Also woefully misunderstanding of emotion if you think you’ve upset anyone in real life, just for responding to the way you word your posts. You get good childcarers and average ones and terrible ones, just like in all professions- it’s a mixed bag. In general it might help to to adjust your blank and white thinking.

*(Healthy) lunch

Again, I can hear that you are upset and, regrettably, taking this personally, but this is a work matter. It's about competence and standards.

High expectations are not "venom" or "nastiness". You do surely see the distinction?

As a nanny, you ought to be aware that mobile phone use in any childcare setting is automatically a safeguarding issue and requires careful agreement and management.

The earlier poster also asserting themselves as a nanny was happy to advocate for the mischaracterisation of a child's behaviour in order to manage a challenging situation. Shows a clear lack of probity.

As things stand, you are both rather niftly making my point about low standards in the UK childcare sector for me!

I nannied on one day a week for a while after crippling osteoarthritis in both my hips put an end to my 30 year career as a childminder.
The parents knew I couldn’t take the little girl out of the house as I couldn’t walk very far but that certainly didn’t stop us having a full day of activities.
I baked cakes with her, did arts and crafts, played pretend, read books and generally did everything I had done for all the years I was a childminder.
I sat and ate the (healthy ) I had made for us and then cooked tea for her and her older brother when he arrived home from school.
What I lacked in physical ability I more than made up for in energy and enthusiasm!
Get rid and find someone who really wants to do the job.

What are you paying her? A decent nanny is at least £18 an hour. If you're paying babysitter rates then you will get a babysitter who will keep your child safe and that's it. I don't really see why you want her to play at the park, the whole point of the park is that children can play independently for a bit.

This doesn't sounds right, especially the phone.

I think you need to set out your expectations with her and see if there is a change.

We have an excellent nanny for my 3yo during the day and 5yo after school.

She covers the early years cirriculum with my 3yo as would happen at a child care setting. Socialises with other nannies/children for playdates and is very involed in playing, outings to library, playgrounds, local museums, swimming, baking and crafts etc.

I wouldn't worry about the nanny's diet, though i'm sure it is contrubuting to lethargy!

She should be prepping healthy meals and snacks for the child. I have a chart on the fridge listing ideas for snacks, lunch and supper.

As per the OPs earlier post, the matter from her point of view has been resolved.

No harm in a little discussion around the topic, surely?

Jesus wept, there’s absolutely no need to be so nasty. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the way @DaisyChain505 responded. I hope you’re not a nanny employer, you sound horrid.

Also as a nanny I don’t ’lock my phone away’ because I’m a professional adult who can be trusted to use it when appropriate. (Checking recipes, booking activities, responding to the parents, googling the library opening times, checking the bus route, reading an email about forest school, watching a YouTube tutorial about how to make paper dolls because my charge is on at me to produce them suddenly…I do not need training or micro-management in phone use around children)

Is she parking your dd in front of the tv or a tablet when you arent looking/there? It’s lazy parenting frankly

Oh great a massive derail between two posters.

I thought the reply from @QuinqueremeofNiveneh hits the nail on the head. In the UK we don’t value childcare jobs so it is underpaid.

What do you think incompetent means, @DaisyChain505?

When a trained practitioner (presumably) like yourself misses very obvious safeguarding concerns and instead homes in on irrelevancies and then uses manipulative language to misrepresent facts, yes, that does make you incompetent.

Instead of attaching emotive adjectives to my factual assessment of your response, please reflect and raise your standards.

what a venomous reply.

just because I didn’t comment on every single detail doesn’t make me incompetent in my own job thank you very much.

You set the job expectations, not her. So she can’t say she wants to “supervise calmly” from a distance if that’s not what you’re looking for.

I think you do get to say what you expect, eg -

1. phone completely away whilst looking after your child - nurseries require phones to be locked away other than on a lunch break. You can’t really say that but you can give an emergency number her friends and family can call, and require to have her phone out of sight and reach except during her lunch break.
2. you can require her to engage with your dd - play games, participate in activities, etc Nannies are meant to be early educators, not babysitters to literally just get through the time with everyone still alive.
3. you can’t tell her what to have for lunch but perhaps she could eat separately from your DD? Does dd nap for example?

Sounds like she’s a bad fit though.

Oh I used to run a toddler group when mine were small and you would see Nannie’s like this: just not interested in the kids. It can be a bit heartbreaking to watch, I always have those kids an extra clap and a bit of engagement.

I would let her go. I think it’s awful for a child to be minded by someone who has no real interest or engagement with them all day.

No minder will be perfect but I do think this is is bad.

Your post is very ageist!
What was the job spec? What did references say? Some families would be happy with the supervising at an arm’s length but you want someone more actively involved. But you will
only get that if you specify that and then ask appropriate questions in the interview and if referees. That’s not fail safe as they might describe what they think will be your ideal day but you can ask questions like whether they’d go cycling with your DC or take them running and so on

The nanny is on her phone during working hours, did you miss that? This is a major safeguarding issue, major. How can you possibly, as a self-identified nanny, miss/ignore that??

And what is with this wishy, washy, roundabout language and mollycoddling? Clarity matters in the workplace. The family are not struggling with their child's energy levels, they're struggling with a lazy and incompetent nanny. Plus it's inaccurate! Do you manipulate the families you work for in this way?

Absolutely inexcusable.

Possibly some CPD needed on the basics of childcare and safeguarding for you @DaisyChain505...

Nanny here, as much as I believe it is important that children can sit and play, do crafts etc without having to have an adult do it for them/with them, this shouldn’t be the only type of play she’s getting.

I would ask for a catch up with her, let her know the positives that you’re really pleased with and then drop in that you’re struggling with DDs energy levels and you’d love it if she could incorporate some higher energy burning activites.

When I have looked after children of that age we would do things like go swimming, ride bikes to the park for a play, bake at home, toddler groups, soft plays.

Some parents do use both. There are a number of after-school nannying positions I see come up, for children who go to pre-school with short hours ie 9-3 or even 9-12 in some Montessori settings, and who are off for all holidays. The child may not be long four, so not due to go to primary school until this September but that doesn’t mean she’s never set foot in a nursery.

Just go back to the agency and say she's not a good fit

Is there any reason why your daughter isn't at nursery or even pre-school? Children of that age really need to be socialising with peers, rather than being merely babysat. Is this girl in any way qualified to be called a nanny? If she is, you should be making the agency aware that she's not behaving professionally - she's being paid, after all. If she isn't, why do you call her a nanny, rather than a baby sitter, which is how she seems to see herself?

Sorry @OnePoisedLilacEagle, I somehow missed your latest update! Best of luck with the new nanny, hope you find someone really excellent.