to want a non-smoking nursery key worker for my baby?

[jkklpu]

My ds2 will be joining ds1 at my work nursery for 3 days/week when he's 9 months old. Nursery is fantastic with lovely staff and low turnover.

The thing is, there are 4 f-t staff in the baby room and 1 is a smoker. I know this because she's usually outside the building finishing her fag when I drop ds1 off in the morning. I really don't want my baby to spend much of his day being cuddled by someone who stinks of cigarettes and am thinking of asking the manager discreetly whether he can have any of the others as key workers instead.

What do you think?

Why not, you're the customer.

I shouldn't imagine that she is allowed to smoke very often during working hours, so I think that you are probably worrying about nothing.

When you see her outside, that is probably her last cigarette until she finishes her shift several hours later.

I will probably be in the minority with that opinion though...

That you are being incredibly precious. Cigarettes are not nuclear waste and smoking is not illegal. While it would obviously not be acceptable for a nursery worker to smoke inside the building (and it's illegal to do that now anyway), it is not harmful for your child to encounter someone who has smoked a cigarette - people are getting more and more ridiculously unreasonable about smoking every day. If it was that toxic the human race would have died out from the non smokers having to walk past the smokers by now. You are effectively suggesting that this woman should lose her job because she smokes.

YABU. Totally.

For all you know the other might smoke too - just you've not seen them.

What she does in her spare time is up to her.

I hate smoking but I still think YABU and a bit precious.

I know we are all very protective of our babies but you are really going a bit OTT. Especially as this is no. 2 so you don't even have the PFB thing going on.

What branflake said

I'm sorry but I agree with you

It is not acceptable to look after a baby in clothes that have been worn while smoking plus her breath will still have lots of 'bad' and toxic chemicals in it

I would wait and see - if she smells of smoke during working hours then yes I would insist on another care worker and explain why

"I really don't want my baby to spend much of his day being cuddled by someone who stinks of cigarettes..."

I wouldn't either.

YANBU. Smokers stink and as an asthmatic, I find that just being next to someone who smokes even hours after they have had a cigarette will make me wheeze and sneeze. I wouldn't want my baby (or child) looked after by someone who smells of smoke.

"I really don't want my baby to spend much of his day being cuddled by someone who stinks of cigarettes..."

I would also agree with this too.

Agree with Madamez, the rest of you are being ridiculous.

O M G

Listen, there are hundreds of thousands of folk all over the world who smoke. Folk who come into conatc with babies/kids - nurses, teachers. doctor's, surgeons, mothers, fathers.

It is LEGAL and as long as thay are not doing it around your baby then their is nothing else an employer can do.

It's nothing to do with being harmful - I know it's not, obviously, and she's welcome to smoke in her own time. But whatever smokers try to do to disguise it, they always smell of cigarettes.

Would anyone answer differently if it was about a different unpleasant smell? I recognise that there are lots of sensitivities about smoking given the last few years of changes to the law. My point is about the smell not the fact that it originates from smoking, if that makes any sense at all.

i HATE smoking too but agree with morningpaper. she may brush her teeth, wash her hands etc. before starting work and not have another fag until she finishes.

YANBU you are the customer - If you can smell the smoke on her clothes/breath then I don't see why you shouldn't ask for someone else. After all do you want your child associating the smell of smoke with comfort?

What will you do if they say they can't change the key worker though? Would you change nursery?

"I really don't want my baby to spend much of his day being cuddled by someone who stinks of cigarettes..."

Disclaimer before writing this - I work full time. BUT if you really feel like this then you have to a) find a non-smoking childminder who doesn't employ assistants b) hire a nanny and somehow put something about them being non-smoking in the contract - if it's legal or c) look after the child yourself.

You can't dictate to other people whether they smoke or not in non-working hours.

But it is personal preference. I wouldn't want DD eing cuddled as a baby by somene who stunk of stale alchol (i.e. after a night out) or of strong body odour. It isn't pleasant so wouldn't deliberately want to subject a baby to it.

If person doesn't smell of smoke then fair enough.

I think that if you went to the manager and asked for a different key worker because:

they had bad breath
they had b.o.
they smoke in their spare time
they drive a battered old car that smells of petrol and oil
their house just burnt down and they smell of smoke
they work in the pub in the evenings and smell of beer

there would be little that the manager could/would do about it.

smoking is, as you say, an emotive issue at the moment and likely to divide opinion.

I wouldn't have my baby looked after by someone who wears strong perfume. Again, as an asthmatic, that will set off an attack for me. Very possibly it could have the same effect on my child.
Her child, her choice.

yabu
what will you do when your little one goes to school? demand a non smoking teacher

jkklpu, I would ask the manager discreetly, as you suggest in your OP.

I think that is a perfectly reasonable request - although whether the setting can help is another matter.

If not, maybe you could look for a non-smoking CM instead?

Actually BO and bad breath then a manager may address this. Have known work situations where this has been an issue and the person was spoken to discreetly about personal hygiene matters, etc.

YANBU
I smoked when my dc was a new born and my health visitor advised me to wear something like a coat over my normal clothes so that when I cuddled the baby she wasn't breathing in fumes. Don't know if there's any evidence to say it would be harmful but anybody who as cuddled up to someone who has just had a fag will know how unpleasant it is and how strong the fumes are. why should the baby be subjected to it? I would certainly ask that at the very least she wear something over her clothes when she smokes and washes her hands.