Would you hire a morbidly obese Nanny?

[whompingwillo]

I would like to hire someone we’ve met for my 9 month old baby. She’s fab, great with kids, lovely, I have no concerns.

I would estimate her BMI is 50-60 and my husband noticed that it is a struggle for her to get up and down off the floor and he is worried that if baby was in danger she may struggle.

So what would you do? Do you think that weight could impact a job like this? I’m sure people of this weight have their own children and are safe to look after them?

YABU - morbid obesity could impact her ability to do this job

YANBU - she’ll be fine

I wouldn't. You want someone who will keep up with him at the park. It doesn't sound like she would find it possible to be active with him.

Sounds harsh but no I wouldn’t. I would expect someone I am paying to be able to play with my child and get up and down and do physical activity with them.

It would be a no from me unfortunately.
Your child might not be able to run at the moment but when they are old enough to and run off can the nanny run after them if they were in danger?

I was a nanny for years and all children do a runner at some point in their life no matter how well behaved they are

It’s a very physical job, especially as the child grows and gets more active. I wouldn’t be happy employing someone I thought couldn’t keep up.

That would be a flat no from me. As soon as your baby becomes a quick moving toddler she is going to struggle to keep up and this presents a safety problem.

I wouldn't either if she struggles to get up and down from the floor, she might struggle to be quick enough to keep up with a mobile toddler.

Flat no.

The truth is that right or wrong many people wouldn't hire a morbidly obese person for any job. Personally I don't necessarily agree but there is notable prejudice against fat people sometimes for certain jobs it might be reasonable to say no though if they could not physically do the job but otherwise I wouldn't discriminate.

No

I wouldn't - that's not just a bit overweight, it will put a significant limit on what she can do.

As your baby ages into a toddler you want someone who can run around a playground after them, take them in nature walks, go cycling... and at that size this nanny will not be able to do that...

Are you sure about BMI 50-60? Assuming she's the national average height for a woman in the UK of 5'3" she'd be around 17 - 20 stone?

Does she plan to stay in your home or go to the park, baby groups etc?

Does she have any health issues that may impact your family? Eg does she have diabetes?

As a lone worker, no, I’d not want to leave my baby in her care. Do you have other options? Most childminders are lovely and love children.

You estimated her bmi by looking at her?

I wouldn’t for all of the reasons others have stated. Also, I know it’s a leap and could happen to ANYONE, but I would worry about her having a heart attack or stroke on the job.

Recalling our nanny period, they were so active with DC, either reactively or proactively. I wouldn’t hire someone who struggled to move around freely and quickly on the basis it’s a job that will require activity, quick responses and speedy moves when they inevitably leg it away from the nanny in the park.

No.

My BMI was 42 at one point and I wasn't the best mum I could be at that point because I couldn't run after them if needed. I couldn't play for long periods. Didn't want to get on the floor to play. Didn't want to do long walks in the park etc cause it exhausted me.

I would want a nanny to be able to do all that and more.

There’s someone fitting this description at my children’s nursery, she’s utterly lovely and used to be my youngest’s key worker. I had no problem at all in that context as there were always other carers in the room so if there were any issues that required someone fitter I’m confident he’d be ok. But for sole charge of a child I’d be very reluctant, for the reasons above.

My son is 15m, and when I'm lying on the floor it takes me a good few seconds to get up when he grabs me by the finger to run off.

He does this 30+ times a day.

This morning he determinedly kept running towards the road near the playground.

There's no way you can compare the mobility and needs of a 9m old to an older child.

I don't like to ask MIL to have my son more than half a day as she's had a hip replacement and you can see it's a lot for her - always trying to get him slowing down and sitting. And she's much fitter than this nanny sounds.

No, sorry. It's a very physical job.

No. If she's as overweight as you say she won't be modelling good earing habits to your baby/young child.

No I wouldn’t. They’d need to be able to take the toddler out and run after them, be able to get up and down off the floor quickly, up and down the stairs, play on the floor with them, be active. I would be worried that they would struggle with all of this unless they can demonstrate that they don’t.

No I wouldn't. It's important the nanny is physically fit enough to keep up with my child.

Definitely not. Toddlers are great at running away, usually towards a road and she wouldn't be able to catch him if he did that. So she couldn't keep your little one safe at all. It's just too physical a job for someone who is that size

No. Further to the other points PP have made, there’s presumably a higher risk of her having a health emergency while in charge of your LO.

I wouldn’t tbh. It’s not really a good fit whilst baby is so young. That said a lovely lady who is v. large runs the local toddler group and is fab but she’ll bring a chair to sit on rather than get down to mats. I think it’d be easier once dc are 2.5 plus.