Nannies please help! Feeling restless

[UnhappyNanny]

I am a nanny who has been a nanny for about 5 years. Over the last year I was out of work for a bit and in the last three months have been offered several jobs. I took one job beg. January and just didn't really fancy it. It's not we didnt get on but I just thought I might like a baby better than toddlers.

So I left that job during notice period and took another job with 10 months baby twins. Now I'm not happy in this job. The hours and commute are longer than I had thought in the beginning and the parents are more strict than I thought. Also was offered a job with just 1 baby after I accepted this and now thinking maybe 1 baby would be easier.

Do you ever get really restless in your job and just want to find the perfect one? Nothing is really wrong with any of these jobs but I just dont feel I click with the families. If someone can please offer some help or stories to share you will brighten my mood. I love nannying and still want to stay in just dont understand why I am in this funk.

Reading back over that it sounds like I am ungrateful for the jobs which I am not. I know after being out of work that it is lucky to get any job. I just feel that if I am not happy now, then in 3-6 months time I will find myself leaving the job anyway as it wasnt right for me.

The grass isn't greener - stick with the job you have a work at it, rather than always looking for something easier.

If nothing else it won't look good on your CV that you keep leaving jobs. You should give it a year I think.

TBH it sounds like your heart is just not in the job of NANNY at the moment.

Don't take that personal, it's not meant as an attack on you, but, think long and hard at your personal life, is there something going on there that perhaps has left you a bit unsettled??

Feel free to tell me to shut-up , i've seen it before.

Missus is right, CVs are very important and any employer seeing 3months there 6 months here etc etc they might think twice.

Good luck.

You'll never find the perfect job until you learn to be happy with what you've got. I know that sounds harsh but either leave nanying or work on the jobs you've got. I'm surprised you left a job with toddlers for a job with babies at 10 months old, 8 months in the job and they too would be toddlers. Would you leave that job then too? I can understand leaving school age kids for babies but not leaving toddlers.

TBH I think you ought to just 'get on with it' really.

Spot-on SM

When starting a new job, I get a two-week itch. It's the point where you realise what the job really involves, rather than what you thought it would be like before accepting the job. Once over that 2 week point, I can stay for years and years.

Are you getting past the two week point? Or is it at that point that you are finding it difficult?

I second what nick says, although in my last job the 2 week itch was more like a 4 month itch (SN charge). After that I would have happily stayed!

I think you really need to give yourself time to settle and I have a policy that I either call it quits within a month or stick the year. You'll know if a job is so bad you can't stick it within 2 weeks, give it a week to improve and if you can't then you go.

OTOH if you can't work with the parents - you said they were strict - then it's not really going to work out because nanny and parents have to have the same approach and the same style.

you justs didnt fancy it and thought you would prefer a baby to a toddler as simply me said children grow, and babies become toddlers, toddlers become nursery aged etc etc etc

if you only want babies then go and work in the baby room at nursery

tbh you should have tried out the commute before accepting the job, though obv if hours chnage, ie you accepted a 10hr day and now 12 then i can understand why you would be annoyed/pissed off

do i get restless in my jobs and want to find the perfect job? tbh no - because i am do have perfect jobs, i am a VERY fussy nanny and i make sure i cover everything that matters to me in the interview

if i am not satisfied i would be happy, i turn the job down - and have done on many occassions, but i am very fussy but that also means i stay in jobs long term last 2 were 5years and current one coming up to 4years

To clarify - by toddlers I meant a 3- and 4-yr old, not 18m-2.

I see what youre all saying. This new job is very new so I will try it out for a couple of weeks and see how I feel. There is a 3-month probation and at any time we can both end with 1 week notice.

Thank you for responses.

Can I suggest talking to the family?
If there are things which aren't turning out as you'd hoped/expected, as a parent I would much rather you talked about them and we tried to find a solution together, rather than you were thinking about moving on and your notice period.

The notice may be 1 week for the first three months, but imagine the trauma for the parents who have to start again from scratch looking for a new nanny, and possibly taking leave from work to cover a gap. And of course the children, who'll have to settle again with a new person.

If this "itch" feeling applies to lots of people, it sounds worth working through.
Good luck!