Nanny taking pics

If this makes you feel so uncomfortable then simply sit down and tell her you'd prefer her not to take pics and that you don't want anything on Facebook etc. it's not a big deal..

I've always taken pictures of all my charges to send them to the parents so they'd know what their little ones were up to. I never delete them, always keep them for myself not to post on Facebook but simply because they mean a lot to me and I just enjoy looking back and re-viewing pictures of how young they were when I started etc. and I will very occasionally show them to my parents back home when they ask if I have a picture of the family and how the children have changed since I started but that's it.

This thread is from 2011.

Apologies if this has been mentioned but maybe buy a digital camera for her to use and leave in your home?

I take loads of photos, email them weekly to the parents. I am a nanny. These children are as part of mylife as my own and id be so upset if a parent felt howyou do.

Gosh, can't help feeling that this is all little ott and quite sad! I adore the kids I look after, take heaps of photos! I'll sometimes show them to a nanny friend or my sister in a 'oh you've got to see this cute photo; isn't she gorgeous!' Type of way. Is that really that bad!??? What exactly is the danger of showing your close family and friends a photo of your charge? Its because I love my charge that I want to take photos of her. It's the same as you showing a cute photo to your friend. It's lovely, it shows she cares. As long as they dont get emailed or put online, i don't see the problem.

I understand your discomfort! I would say directly how it makes me feel and ask not to photograph especially videos. It's their privacy after all...

gobblygook,

Hi when I first read your post I felt a bit sick and I too would feel uncomfortable if any child of mine was in the same situation. Your Nanny sounds amazing, genuine and very caring, which are great qualities. What you do not know is what else will happen with those photos?

The photos of your children are beyond your control unless you have a signed agreement with your Nanny that the pictures taken by her of your children do not end up on a website. I have read somewhere about some parents being very concerned about photos of their young children, taken by other people turning up on social networking sites, without their prior permission.

Some people will agree with this and some people will not, it is all a matter of opinion.

I'm glad you "get it" now.
As for your comments to thebody ...

Gobblygook if you are not happy with it just tell her, you are employing her. I am a nanny and a mum and from a mums point of view I can see your point. I cannot give a good reason why I feel like this I just would not like it.

totally agree Morgan and Blondes, as I said in my original post I would be shocked if a parent was upset that I took pics of their child as I HAVE to satisfy Ofsted we are doing the activities I state in daily diaries and much more importantly i want parents to feel happy that the children are happy and having fun while they are with me.

I would be insulted if parnets even thought for one moment that I would dream of putting their childrens photos on face book but understand that if a nanny is young then she has grown up with the normality of social networking and may need instructing that its not acceptable to post pics of children however innocently.

as I also said I think the op needs to tred carefully , she has a nanny who obviously loves her child and is interested in his happyness and well being, so what is really the problem here, think more in op than the nanny and I am not being horrible op, we are all mums and its not easy to resign care to another for our child or see another carer becoming important to your child.

good luck

This is a tricky one, if you don't like it you need to discuss it with the nanny in a calm non accusatory way and not let resentment fester.
I have taken pictures of children before but only after discussing it with thier parents and usually on a conventional camera, allthough the mother of two girls I cared for did ask if I could send phone pictures but at the time my phone didn't take photo's. I now have one that does but no longer work for that family.

I think its just a touch of the green eyed monster rearing his ugly head. You have put her in this position to grow to love your son and take care of him. Why wouldn't she want to take pictures and maybe have them as a screen saver? You would with friends you are close to. You should feel happy she obviosly has a lovely bond with your son. Its what you wanted right? Its so hard for nannies, they have to give but not too much, fill mummys shoes, but not too much, make their charges happy and laugh, but not too much. Try and feel like she is one of the family and not an outsider, she's not there to replace you and she sounds like shes great, don't lose her over a jealous feeling you have.

The question is - do you trust her judgement?

I don't imagine she will be showing pics to any random person she meets in her street like she won't take him to a random persons house for a cup of tea.

I totally understand thing but I feel that you are jeopardising the whole trust issue. Part of being a nany is taking photos for mb/dbs xmas presents or mothers day cards - if she has to show you the photos first she can't make it a surprise!

I feel that if my boss didn't trust me on this issue then what else doesn't she trust me on and I would constantly have a niggling feeling and would probably leave due to the lack of trust. We all hear about bosses who lock up bank statements, won't let the nanny have a bank card etc - and as Blondes say - you trust us with YOUR child the most important thing so if you don't feel you can trust us in other areas why are you leaving your child with her.

BTW how would you feel about DS having their photo taken at playdates/parties etc by other nannies/parents who want a photo of DS holding hands with their DD or DS and his friend covered in sudocream because they were left for literally 2 minutes and had plastered themselves in it to be ghosts?

ditto mog - many a time i would send a pic of us on a day out in the summer at the beach/in paddling pool/having ice cream etc with a note saying along the lines of 'a hard days work or fun in the sun and being paid for it' which always made mb laugh

op - do you think your nanny would show pics of your dc to her friends - and even if she did, is that really so bad?

as in do you not trust her judgement

Me too Blondes - it's just been an off the cuff thing and I've thought haha my boss would chuckle at this or this is very cute - snapped a pic and then sent it directly to them.

Never had any conversation about it!

no i didnt ask either mb or db - literally sent them a pic - was my 1st week and we went to brighton beach and sent pics of dc building sandcastles and playing in sea etc

both db/mb were thrilled and said thanks and said it was nice to see them have fun/what they are doing while they are in the office

and have always sent pics if out - iphones are so simple to email pic asap and easy to then download to lappy and transfer any other pics of our day and email in a folder

obv at op works from home its slightly different as can see/hear what they do, but i am truly surprised that the op feels this way

Blondes can see where you are comming from, but when you started your new job did you ask if they wanted pictures taken and sent to them? if you are happy and they are thats fine. The original post is not happy so I think she has the right to say so.

gobblygook - be grateful that your nanny loves and cares for your child and wants to share happy memories with you :)

obv no pics should be put on the internet without your permission

kelly, you really think a nanny is unprofessional because she takes photos of her charge and sends to her employers

seriously?????

christ, then im a very unprofessional nanny - i take pics all the time of my charges and then send them to mb/db and gp's as live far away

we have pics of us at a zoo/farms/swimming/parks/dressing up/jigsaws/playing in garden etc

and ALL my employers have LOVED seeing the pics, i email them to show what we have done during the day - its nice for mb/db to see what we have done and a LOVELY memory for them

and also for me as when i left my job in aug - where i had been for 5 years, mb made me a beautiful book with many of the pics i had sent over the last 5 years

If she is just doing it to show you, and then deletes them straight away and asks permission if she wants any copies herself and you are fine with that OK.

As said above I take photos of my charge and in fact all the photos are on my work laptop as I do all the printing and then making photo albums with them. I have copies of the best ones some of them on my photo wall at work in my room which my charge likes looking at as there are some of my friends children on there who are also friends of my charge (Must point out these are friends I have met through charge and have ended up best friends of mine!!)

Every so often I print photos for the photo album or make a dvd/cd copy of photos or let my boss access my laptop to download to her hard drive.

I have nothing to hide or feel guilty about but I would feel insulted that my boss wanted me to delete photos of my camera (she can often take the photo card to see whats on it) or ask her for copies of photos I have taken.

I do not think it is very nice that a nanny can show pictures of your child to anyone that she knows, if you do not feel comfortable with it then tell her if you have a good relationship she will not mind a bit, you are employing her so it is up to you.

Agree with kelly give her a camera that stays at our house.

She was unprofessional to do this without asking permission. If she is just doing it to show you, and then deletes them straight away and asks permission if she wants any copies herself and you are fine with that OK. But tell her she is not to upload them to any social networking site, or email them to people, and she needs to delete them as soon as you have a copy. I suggest you give her a cheap camera, even a film one, and get her to use that and tell her it stays at your house.

You are not allowed to take pictures of children without their parent's consent and put them on facebook, so if she did this facebook could in fact close her account.

yes, but you did say in your post that you felt 'uncomfertable' with her taking pics. surely this denotes a level of mistrust or not understanding her motives.

glad that you feel better about this though as your nanny sounds lovely and you do seem to have a good relationship generally.

tis a minefield when others are involved in the care of your children, we all know and experience it as Mums.

i find your post sad tbh, definatly agree with the face book thing and that should never ever happen, but as a cm i have to to take pictures of mindees to prove events and activities.

i often forward these to the parents during the day, especailly if mindee has been upset ,or more often mum upset or worried that child is happy and settled, new parents have lots during the firstfew weeks.

have to say if a parent questioned my motives then I would be horrified and as a mum myself feel actually insulted that i was trusted so little.

you say you have a good nanny here and she sounds lovely, tred carefully, or you could loose her.

I take loads of pics and send them to my bosses a few times a day. Plus I send them to extended family too. Everyone loves being kept laughing at her exploits etc. Her parents are often out of the country so its really important to them to feel included iyswim. At Xmas I choose the best photos from the last year and make calendars and photobooks. I love it.