Nanny and her mobile phone... wwyd?

IF she has her phone ALWAYS and constaintly texting then I would have a word with her. As it will distract her looking after child/ren. But if its now and then I dont see problem why she cant use her phone.

Of course not... but it's not the nanny's place to question these things

Bimi, of course not

They love to make our lives tough (joke mums, joke)

PS Why, thank you, cinnamonbun.

Slightly off topic, Missus, but do the parents always follow their own rules about such things? I know of one nanny whose employers have given her a list of 'banned' foods - which they promptly stuff the child full of when they get home from work (he complains that Nanny won't let him have x, y and z...)

Lol

I have worked for families where TV is totally banned, where certain programmes/TV time is allowed, and where children are free to watch whatever they want! I always follow the parents preferences on the matter.

Oh missus84, you've opened up another can of worms there by mentioning the TV

Wait for the replies saying "we don't pay you to sit our kids in front of the TV" etc etc.

It seems a bit petty to me, but then I don't know any nannies who are on their phones constantly.

I always have my phone on me (as it's my clock and camera too!) and have never really thought about it! I receive calls from my boss, text other nannies to arrange things, get the odd text from friends and occasionally get a call from my partner or mum. Obviously there are times and places where it is appropriate to use a phone though - I wouldn't call or text during teatime, bathtime, while on a playdate etc, but would when children are playing happily or watching TV.

maybe i a biased as the nanny i see who texts always gets me as she never seems interested i in the kids

there are plenty of fab nannys around who do not have phone in their hand

cant they check their phone every few hours. Its about focus imo

"There is, of course, always the option of looking after your own children if you don't like the way that other people do it."

Comments like that on nanny threads are pretty rude, even when followed by a smiley.

I can't believe this thread is still going on. I just can't see the being on the phone / texting is worth getting upset over. Maybe MN has softened me over the years. But, really, what is the big deal?

Well said, BimiBluebell.

McB: what break, exactly? When does a nanny get a break? Is she supposed to drug the children for half an hour so she can read the paper and text her children's friends' parents to arrange tea?

There are good nannies and crap ones, just as there are good parents and crap ones. If there are other reasons why the OP thinks her nanny is crap, she should sack her - but in itself, using a mobile to text people every now and then is not indicative of crapness. Obviously, a nanny who baths a baby with her phone in her hand is pretty crap - but who in their right minds employs someone like that?

There is, of course, always the option of looking after your own children if you don't like the way that other people do it.

I assume a nanny can check her phone in her break
I asume you would feel fine about your icu nurse to having one eye on her phone as she checks your vitals?

Garibaldi, McBitchy etc....I assume you spend every nanosecond of your working day actually working then? God forbid that your employer should pay you for time not spent working...every minute counts!

i dont think the op is petty at all
I had commented to dp that a nanny who goes to our toddlers texts often - not nice
i am home all day with children phone not carried with me so i can 'catch up' but in bouts not all the time

to the poster who said 'texting is todays communication' no it's not it's speech

I would speak to the nanny...

mummywoowoo - i have 100% sympathy. my last few nannies have phones in their hands most the day - once even when bathing my baby and it has started to annoy me intensely - it's like they can't concentrate 100% on my children and are always slightly disconnected. i am not alone in this irritation - my friends with nannies say the same thing. actually it's not just nannies - it seems to be young people in general (speaking as an old fart!). have decided they can text to their hearts content outside of work but not while i'm paying them to look after my children. i have decided that my next nanny will be given a mobile phone by me for work related use (playdates etc) - and i will ask her to check her own personal phone only on a few occasions (maybe once/hour max). it's completely unprofessional if you ask me....

mummywoowoo: I find it very odd that you're happy for your child to be looked after by a nanny whom, so it would seem, you don't entirely trust.

I have a good friend who is nanny to two of my DCs' friends (plus their little sibling). She is superb in every possible way. She sends and receives texts from her brothers (and me!) while looking after the children. She will often talk to the children about whom she's texting and why (she treats the children as if they were her own). She also receives countless texts from her employers. Like any decent mother, she doesn't respond to her phone when she's actively involved in doing something with the children: she does it when she's having a cup of tea while they play after tea. She is on full-time duty from 6.45am - 7.30pm five days a week.

The idea that this would make her a bad nanny is, frankly, ridiculous. There are obviously other issues with the OP's nanny. If you don't trust someone to be looking after your children properly, why on earth let them do it at all?

Like others on this thread, I'd be a bit concerned about the lack of playdates, though.

Fab and Bluegreen, if you read my post above you will see that yes people like this do exist.

Hopefully if OP is for real she will soon realise the error of her ways

This post cant be real! Are you feeling lonely or what? Trying to get peoples attention? Do it some other way as this is annoying, well it did annoyed me!

I have to say I think you're being petty. I could of course be wrong but most probably - like most nannies - this nanny is using her common sense and do you really begrudge her spending a few minutes every day reading/replying to texts? It is quite a lonely job and, unlike nursery workers, they don't have that much contact with other adults during what is often a long working day. I employ a childminder and I really don't mind if she makes a couple of phone calls or sends a few texts during the day as the most important thing is that my daughter loves her and she's being well look after. Just try and relax a little.

I have only read the OP and I am .

Are you for real? Seriously, you don't want your nanny to send or receive any texts/calls while she is looking after your son?

I am nanny and i think that unless you are going to give your nanny a lunch hour and breaks in the day, i dont think its wrong to send and read texts. If your nanny thought that she shouldnt be useing her phone, then it would be on silent and she would hide in the loo to text!

Saltspray, that is so true! I've been talking to nanny friends in the last week about how much planning and entertaining we should do for our charges. I think they need to learn to just play, while supervised of course, but to have time and space to do what they want and develop their creative side and learn what they like and are good at, just to explore and have fun and be children!

This is the first time I've posted but I found this thread really interesting, partly because I used to be a nanny BITD and hadn't considered any of these issues at the time. I used to have my phone in my bag in the 'utility room' and would check it occasionally when the DCs didn't need me. I thought nothing of replying to texts, it took literally seconds. Looking back, that job was so lonely- stuck in the middle of nowhere with two children and I think I would have been really really unhappy in the job if my boss had banned me from using my phone. I would have felt that it undermined all the effort I put in to creating happiness, fun and general care-giving for the DCs I was looking after. Never would have used the phone to the real detriment of the DCs. Also, speaking as a child psychologist (which I am now) I don't think it is healthy for children to have undivided attention. Certainly not necessary. I obviously don't mean leaving them unattended and unsupervised but they do benefit from playing independently, having to wait for a few seconds/minutes before they get what they've asked for, etc. Surely?!