Uniforms

[anyoneoutthere]

Do any nannies or maternity nannies wear uniforms?

oh yes the NNEB uniform-have to say I thought it was pointless chnaging into it for our practical of washing babies (plastic ones) etc

but did enjoy wearing it with pride when did my mat placements in hospital

Simplyme

That was exactly the attitude of one of my former employers who took on a Norlander probationer, when filling out assesment form for the college the family wrote that the nanny never wore her uniform as they felt it was too much of a risk to the child (not a high profile family either).

I think even Norlanders can wear casual trousers and loose fitting tops now, all be it, in the Norland colours. Much more practical for every day.

i dont wear a uniform and i wouldnt either

i wear my own clothes and anything that is new / special stays at home away from the children

i find most "stains" actually come out after a few washes anyway

Simplyme... I wear it so people know who I am. I don't want people thinking that I am kidnapping a child.

For women it is probably easier, as someone would assume you are mum... but what about me? What do they assume I am? Some may think I'm dad, but some may think differently.

interesting you say that, nick. you may remember i had a male after-school nanny. dd used to play him up quite a lot on the walk between her nursery and ds's school. as he is black and we are white it was quite obvious he wasn't her father. he Got Looks aplenty.

he dealt with it all brilliantly though, he was great

I think on the whole people see what they expect to see. Both our nannies were told that our children looked like them - even though our first nanny had ginger hair (as did her son who she brought with her) and our kids have brown/blonde hair. In some ways nanny uniforms would probably be more risky re the kidnapping aspect, as people often don't look past the uniform (try putting on a white coat in a hospital, you'll get into all sorts of places). My friend (who decided against Norland) said that sometimes she wished she did wear a uniform as she was very young looking and often got tuts when she took her charges out and about.

I too used to have people look down on me for being a young 'mum'.... being 19 with my newborn charge

I have alwsy looked very young and even though im 28 I am always IDed so would have looked very very younge when 19.

have also been told by strangers at some point or another that all my charges look just like me.... i normally respnd with "i dont know why cause he's not mine, im the nanny "... last time i got that comment was Thursday so just 3 days ago

to be fair im blonde hair with blue eyes as have been most if my charges, but thats where the similarity ends

One of my ex charges looked more like me than either of the parents (even by their own admission) lol. Scarily enough, a todler picture of her and an old black and white one of myself at a similar age were almost identical in size/build/facial expressions etc.
Very strange.

nannyL I'm in exactly the same position as you! I'm only 5ft 1 and have blonde hair and blue eyes and even though I'm 25 I always get asked for ID.

When out and about with charges / family I always get odd looks! Sometimes because it looks like I have heaps of children by different dads and other times it's because I look so "young". I was out with a 6 M/O yesterday who has the same colouring as me and a lady stopped me in the street to tell me I was too young to be a mum. How rude is that! She was quite elderly and I bet she was married with children at 19 back in "her" day - I didn't comment though the baby screamed when she approached us so she said enough for both of us

I'm thinking nick is on to a winner with his logo tops - time to get a needle out & start the embroidery me thinks.

several people have assumed my bosses are my parents (when we hav been in the same car going for holidays etc)

My boss was REALLY insulted cause she thought it meant that she looked old

(she was certainly a very beautiful young looking youngeish mum )

when nanning back in the mid 80's i wore i uniform when i worked for family in chelsea.I had two grey dresses and flat navy shoes , paid for by my employer, certainly save don my own clothes , my charge when to school with prince william and most of the nanny's at the school worn a uniform . Sign of the times i think.

I normally wear polo shirts and beige or navy trousers when I am working.

When I was a nanny in the U.S.A. My friend was asked to wear a uniform by her employers, they thought her own clothes were too skimpy.lol She was probably the most conservative among us.