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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Original poster

Cleaner bringing baby to work

36 replies

Mini2017 · 27/08/2017 19:18

Hi,
What do you guys think of a cleaner who wants to brink her baby to work with her. She's currently pregnant and baby is due in December. She will have a replacement but would like to comeback after 5 months( not a problem for me) but, she would like to bring her baby along( 5 hours, two times week) and stop to breastfeed. Her reason is that she's not comfortable leaving her lo with anyone with him. Separation anxiety etc.
What would you guys do?

OP posts:
ImperialBlether · 27/08/2017 19:20

No, sorry, I wouldn't. I can see her point, but everyone knows what it's like with a five month old baby - it's impossible to do a job at the same time as caring for them.

greendale17 · 27/08/2017 19:20

Don't have a problem with this as long as she gets the job done. She obviously needs to work and needs the money if she is planning on only taking 5 months. I would cut her some slack.

AnnMeredithPerkins · 27/08/2017 19:20

Your only issue is will she be waning for the full 5 hours, or feeding for 1 and cleaning for 4?

Vanillamanilla1 · 27/08/2017 19:22

Personally I wouldn't no
My grandson is nearly 5 months and he's very demanding
A job is a job regardless . I couldn't take my kids to work and I wouldn't expect to be accomadated either

PurpleDaisies · 27/08/2017 19:35

Is this cleaner you op?

Original poster
Mini2017 · 27/08/2017 19:38

No

OP posts:
Cheerybigbottom · 27/08/2017 19:40

No I wouldn't be happy with that. She'd need to honest about how much time she spends on baby's needs, thats time she's owes back to you (if she works only the 5 hrs).

Also baby will not be 5 months old for long and will be crawling in a few months. You'd need your home baby proofed. Would you be responsible for accidents with cleaning products? What if the baby broke something?

Honestly, she has to choose childcare or stay at home.

FrogFairy · 27/08/2017 19:45

The baby would only feed and sleep for some of the time. What about the rest of the time? It would not be right to leave the baby strapped into a buggy for hours on end and I am sure baby would object very strongly anyway.

Cleaning as a paid job is completely diffferent to looking after your baby and throwing in a load of washing or having a quick swish around with a duster.

It would be a no from me.

LottieDoubtie · 27/08/2017 19:48

It would be a no from me too because very very quickly it would be a crawling baby and then worse a toddler/preschooler. It's just not practical.

OlennasWimple · 27/08/2017 19:48

No, because she wouldn't be either cleaning properly nor looking after her baby properly.

She may of course feel differently about things when the baby actually comes along, either realising that it's not a good idea or that she is happy to use childcare so that she can go back to work

StinkPickle · 27/08/2017 19:52

No definitely not. I work for myself and thought with baby number 3 I'd maybe just try and work from home and keep him with me. I had to put him in nursery at 5m because i couldn't get ANYTHING done.

5m old are nosy, sociable, hungry, demanding... at 6m by eldest was crawling. Your cleaner wouldn't get any cleaning done.

MamaOfTwos · 27/08/2017 19:55

No way on this earth I'd allow that. If there was an accident you could be liable

Viviennemary · 27/08/2017 19:57

It could work if the baby was one who slept a lot. I once had a cleaner who sometimes brought her toddler. It was a total nightmare. It would probably be easier just to refuse.

unlimiteddilutingjuice · 27/08/2017 19:59

I had a volunteer job when my youngest was a baby. I brought her in with me from 2 weeks old to around 7 months old.
Theres a photo of me somewhere breastfeeding, tryping and answering the phone all at the same time!
I actually found it fairly easy to get stuff done, even with a baby in tow although it did get more difficult the older she got. I can imagine this working if the baby can amuse himself in a playpen while she works.
I would be inclined to give the arrangement a go.
Maybe switch to a flat fate for the work you want done rather than an hourly rate in case she needs to break off from her work to see to the baby.
You can always review the arrangement if it doesn't work out for you.

TwoKidsAndCounting · 27/08/2017 20:11

No, not simply because looking after a baby is a job in itself (who has time to clean with a 5 month old) but also the insurance issues, what is something happened, who is responsible, it's in your house, no, no, no, way to risky!

BackforGood · 27/08/2017 20:16

No way.
I thought you were going to ask for a 'one-off' in some kind of childcare emergency.
You can't work and look after a baby at the same time. If you were lucky, with a placid small baby, you might manage an hour or so with them in their pram / a travel cot but not for 5 hours. Plus, of course, the baby may well not be placid. Plus, they won't be 5 months for long.
There is no way in the world I would give it any consideration.

SnowWhite33 · 27/08/2017 20:17

Definitely not. Baby is quite demanding at this stage. You cant use a sling and do the job and you cant just leave her/him strapped in bouncy chair for hours. and then the next thing you know he/she will be crawling around everywhere. In addition to the fact its very distracting, it will also be dangerous.

daffodil10 · 27/08/2017 20:39

Definitely not, huge health and safety and Employers liability issues

Littleraincloud · 27/08/2017 20:45

Maybe you could suggest she split it over 4 days and didn't take a break and wore a sling on her back? If she's a good employee that is

Crumbs1 · 27/08/2017 20:47

I would and although she might do slightly less whilst baby is tiny, she'll likely be loyal and give back more later on. A 5 month old really isn't that demanding.

PurpleDaisies · 27/08/2017 20:47

How could she not take a break with a baby on her back little? The baby will need feeding/changing. Confused

Ylvamoon · 27/08/2017 20:51

I'd give it a go... you can give her 30min break (unpaid) each day so she can do the job/ feed the baby...

SSYMONDS · 27/08/2017 20:52

I'd give it a go, and review as you go along. She obviously needs the work, I'd give her a chance to try it.

Littleraincloud · 27/08/2017 20:55

I mean if she split it over 4 days so baby was just in a sling for 2 and a half hours. Jobs change baby etc but not take a break as such, in my job we have break if working 5 hours or more I thought this was everywhere?

wizzywig · 27/08/2017 20:56

Would there be any issues with regards to legality of saying no? Just wondering