Is this your nanny?

[OTTMummA]

would anyone here who employed a nanny want to know if they had smacked your child for no good reason?

or is it arranged between some nanny's parents that there is a level of discipline that is agreed upon, including smacking?

I witnessed something today, and am not sure what to do.

I would want to know as the employer.

I would think the parent already has niggles. I usually find out from other parents only after I fired the nanny/aupair. Wish they would tell me before.

OTT, if you know the parent, strike up a conversation and casually ask how she is finding the nanny ...

You must tell the mum. Smacking for a bottle being dropped, bloody hell, that poor baby.

Definitely tell mum. Urrgh, it makes me shiver to think of it.

Thank god, DS's cm loves him to bits and is just so absolutely great with all her charges.

Not that I'm condoning what the nanny did, but there may be reasons beyond what OP saw - Don't know the age of the child, but assuming he/she is old enough to understand, maybe they had been throwing it out of the pushchair repeatedly, and then screaming that they wanted it back. Maybe they had been told this was their last chance. Then maybe they lobbed it again.

I, personally, would simply have removed the bottle and not allowed it back, but what I'm saying is that maybe there was more to the story than 'the bottle fell out so she smacked'

thesecondcoming, I agree. Completely. I wouldn't smack for a bottle. I'm just saying that there is probably more to it than 'the bottle fell out so she smacked'. You found yourself with your hand raised to smack earlier this week - she just didn't stop herself soon enough.

Yes, I agree there's a problem, but I am also absolutely certain that she didn't smack simply because the bottle fell out of the stroller. People just seemed to be judging the nanny for being completely unreasonable without considering the lead-up to the incident.

There's NO excuse for a nanny (or any professional childcarer) to hit a child though - even if the child had been an absolute pain in the arse all day she was unreasonable to smack him.

You need to tell asap.

Can't believe you need to ask tbh.

The difference between a mother and a nanny is that the nanny KNOWS that if she really cannot handle the cihld's behavior any longer, she can simply ring the child's parents, demand that they come home, and never come back to work again.

not best practice, certainly, but POSSIBLE.

the lead up?
im sorry but it was at about 9am when i saw them in town, and i know that she collects him at 8am, so what the poor lad could of done in an hour to make her so mad she whacked him because his bottle fell ( he wasn't even holding it, it was on the side! )

I don't know why i had to ask, just wanted to be reassured i guess.

Im meeting the parent tomorrow to go shopping, but am not sure exactly how to say it, i can be quite blunt at the most important times, when im not even trying to be.

I can't believe you saw this and then turned around and walked away.

Of course you need to say something. And as for being blunt, how the fuck could you say something like this politely?

"I saw you son being assaulted by your nanny"

Nannies should not smack. Ever. There are many, many, many guidelines on this and even if the parents request it nannies should decline to do so.

If she's registered with OFSTED she could lose her registration over that.

You have to tell but you know that anyway.

Best lead in is possibly 'How is X getting on with your new nanny?' .... 'I really don't want to have to say this but I need to tell you. I was in town yesterday and I saw ABC.'

How did you get on with the mum, OTT?