Male nanny?

[UsedToBeAContender]

I posted this in chat but it was suggested that this would be a better place!

I'm interviewing for a new nanny and one of the applicants is an extremely well-qualified and experienced male nanny. I have not come across a male nanny before and the majority of the care will be looking after my youngest DD (3) while the other DCs are at school.

I have been quite shocked at the reactions I have received, even from my own mum when I have mentioned that I'm considering a male nanny. Is this something anyone else has come across? Any experiences?

I am sure that Nannynick will leave a useful comment on this topic. I certainly don't see anything wrong with having male nanny. We had a male nanny when I was little for a short while (a year or so) and my parents were very happy with him and I also have only good memories.

Yeah, would love to get his perspective. I just thought my DS would love to have another bloke to play with when his sisters drive him mad. If he can cope with non-stop Peppa Pig and Ben & Holly games during the day then good on him!

One of my mates has a male au pair, he ROCKS

SO good to have a man in a caring role, brill for boy children especially

seem often the dad can be 'threatened' by a male nanny

if you like this person and feel they are a good fit for your family, then it shouldnt matter if male or female

def be interested in what nick thinks

I know several people who have had male aupairs and my DH is a male CM. I've met nanny nick and he seems ok . Go for the person who seems the best fit for your family and children.

I'm not surprised about people's reactions over a male nanny but very put out by it!

I think that it doesn't matter what gender the nanny is so long as they fit your family. Sounds like this bloke is a good choice for you.

I met a couple of male au pairs in my nannying days and they were both very competent and equally as good as the female ones.
Not quite the same but we are in Germany and DS loved the male kindergarten workers (mostly students). Now he is in school out of 8 staff who run the after school club (in Germany from 12-4:30) the 4 male staff are the most popular-they are mostly in their twenties and are the ones who run the sports clubs/art clubs/science etc and to be found playing board games with the kids! They are totally cool(dreadlocks/piercings/tattoos) and have loads of energy!

What sort of reactions are you getting, what are they concerned about? Are they concerned he may not be as good at clearing up vomit, blood and other bodily liquids/solids that children on occasion leak?

Maybe they are concerned that your DD will go in the male changing room at the swimming pool (yet they don't have an issue with your DS going in a female changing room, I expect)?

He is "an extremely well-qualified and experienced male nanny" so assuming he meets any other criteria you have, it's worth offering him an interview.

I like Peppa Pig

People are surprised by what job I do but what job they do sometimes surprises me (only found out last week that a woman I talk to on occasion in the school playground is a FireFighter - she came in to school in uniform to chat to the children about fire safety and fireworks).

These days I see more men at toddler groups than I did 6 years ago, so as economic climate changes in some family situations traditional roles are being reversed.

I have a wonderful male nanny, He's been with us for 2 years; my 3 dc currently (4,7,9yrs) adore him. In fact my DD (9) has been vile to nannies in the past particularly when people mistook them for her mum but having a young handsome man pick her up from school appears to give her a degree of kudos

I'm interviewing him today! Has been really responsive and keen in his communications so far (unlike the TWO candidates who just didn't bother to show up) and seems great.

My only slight hesitation is that my DD (8) might be a bit shy getting dressed or changed in front of him? Pool changing rooms are a bunch of unisex cubicles so no issues there!

We have no nudity shyness in this house but I would hate for her to feel strange about it. I mean she's obviously quite capable of having a shower by herself and does quite often but she does still like to jump in the bath with her little sister occasionally.

How have you dealt with that nannynick or Bard? Or was it a none issue?

Non issue as when I've cared for older girls they just got on doing their own thing. Younger girls did not care less about nudity.

So if your DD is capable of doing things unsupervised there should be no problems. Get her used to having a towel in the bathroom to dry herself rather than wandering aound looking for a towel.

We have a male au pair and the DC love him. A few people have said "oh, it's unusual to have a man" but on the whole those who know my DS think it's probably a good thing to have someone who is happy to play endless football with him. My DD is younger than yours (nearly 5), and he doesn't do much personal care for her as he is an au pair rather than a nanny so the nudity thing hasn't really come up.

Well I just interviewed him and he was lovely! I am going to bring him back to meet the kids and ask them what they think!

Fab news :)

Sounds all very positive! We are on our 8th AP, and the first male one!! He is 24 and so far (2 months) it is working really well. I have 2 boys and they like him. He is reliable, ok at cooking, good on bikes and at football. He plays the piano and guitar (great for supervising practice). He has had his gf to stay over a weekend, and his Dad has just visited. My DH is happy he can talk sport with him, and I have had some interesting conversations about France and politics etc (yes, sad I know!) with him.

My mummy friends say he is lovely and the boys seem very happy with him when they see them together in the park.

Good luck to you!

Dear Mums and NannyNick,
I just thought I'd put a quick post here for reassurance on hiring Mannies. I've successfully placed Mannies for over 6 years now and most of our clients repeat hire after their original Manny moves on. Everyone has a different reason as to why they choose to employ men but generally it's simply to provide a strong male role model or a fun and cool companion for their kids.
I completely agree that the right person for the job can be either male or female and would never suggest males to be better nannies than females. I think it's great that families have options these days and strongly encourage you to consider the best candidates for the position regardless of gender.
NannyNick, you sound like you are doing a fab job on here in standing up for your gender and certainly seem to be winning over many Mummies. You are a real credit to the industry!