Random Red Flags To Watch Out For Hiring A Nanny Or Babysitter (12 items)

• (#12) They're More Trouble Than The Kids They're Supposed To Watch

  A former Redditor reports:

  "Another girl's mom had her text me for.every.little.thing. I couldn't even enjoy the time away because I was too busy being mom to now 2 kids! And her mom texted me too. Asking me when I was coming back and if I was coming back early because she was waiting outside. I felt like I was just waiting for the time to be up to get them away."
• (#11) Stuff Mysteriously Starts To Go Missing

  From Redditor /u/RoxxyB:

  "I hired a young woman to watch my infant son. Slowly I started to wonder if things were missing. Maybe a pair of my jeans? Maybe not. Some spare change and loose bills maybe? I wasn't 100% sure. Then a few days after my son's christening, I noticed that all of the cash in the gift envelopes was missing, along with all of the bills and quarters from my older daughter's piggy bank. I was so disgusted that she would do this. We fired her. We weren't sure how much she took, but we estimated about $500 and she ended up paying it back, right after she was fired."
• (#6) They Ask For An Advance, Only To Spend It On Your Child

  From Redditor /u/gillandred:

  "Recently she bought a present for my daughter -- I thought that was very odd considering she had told me the other day that she was a little short on gas money and had asked for an advance on her salary. Honestly it feels like any gift giving should be going in the opposite direction -- it seemed like a red flag to me that she'd want to spend her own money on my child."

  But Redditor /u/Korsola feels this is an overreaction:

  "I honestly wouldn't worry about the gift. Her finances are her business. I've bought my charges gifts before because I saw activities I thought they'd enjoy or a cute outfit I couldn't resist."
• (#8) They're Flaky

  Redditor /u/Thr33wolfmoon offers the following crie de coeur: 

  "This is the second babysitter I’ve had that has canceled on me in under a month. I work a very flexible job with travel, and can schedule my travel to coincide with babysitters’ schedules.

  A few weeks ago, I booked travel. Night before, one babysitter canceled so I was scrambling to cancel all the travel plans and move appointments. Then, I don’t hear back from her. So I got a new babysitter, someone that I know through another person and thought was reliable. Booked travel for today.

  She cancels at 2:30am. For today. So I’m scrambling, now I’ve got an additional four hours of driving on top of 6 hours of customer visits and now childcare and another 5 hours of follow up work, hopefully I can get a quick nap tonight before doing it all tomorrow again.

  Dude. I can’t. This is ridiculous. I pay $15 an hour as a rate, round up for hours, and usually throw in a bonus as a thank-you. $40 cash for 1.5 hours today, my kids are only awake for 1/2 hour to an hour of that.

  I spent HOURS yesterday typing up instructions, labeling lunches and clothes, cleaning the house because I’m working 80+ hours a week and don’t get a chance to clean unless I choose to do that vs sleep. I’m p*ssed. I spent so much time trying to make things as easy as possible for the babysitter to get the kids off to school."

  Redditor /u/AphroditeHarbinger responds with the following advice:

  "Choose older nannies. The younger ones tend to be flaky. I say this as a nanny of 15yrs. Also. Find someone on a site like Sittercity. Vet them thoroughly and make sure you don't hire anyone that doesn't have both a resume AND a contract ready to be signed. That's one way to know for certain that they take their work seriously."
• (#4) They  Seem Confused About Children's Basic Needs

  From Redditor /u/gillandred:

  "Recently she started mixing up my bottles of breastmilk with bottles of formula. I have the bottles lined up by date and she put them in a different order and put bottles of formula right next to them. Her former clients were high-powered lawyers who did not breast-feed and I wonder if she feels uncomfortable giving the baby my milk?

  I let the nanny know that I like the baby to be taken outdoors at least once a day. I offered her the option of using the stroller to take a walk around the block or if she can sit on the gazebo in the backyard. I thought she would appreciate not feeling trapped in the house, but she seems very intimidated by the idea of taking the baby out in a stroller."

  In response, Redditor /u/kynanny says:

  "The not wanting to take baby out does seem odd, I love taking mine out and normally its the parents asking me to keep them in. When interviewing what did she say about activities? Does she expect to be on the couch all day? A 20min walk wont hurt anyone or a couple visits to the gazebo."

  But Redditor /u/dshort44 suggests:

  "Maybe the nanny is out of shape and doesn't like to walk, in that case you can't make her. Tell her to sit outside and if she doesn't want to tell her you will find someone who does."
• (#10) They Try To Combine Babysitting And Hanging Out With Friends

  Redditor 'u/typing_away recounts:

  "I am the kid in this story. I had a babysitter, let's call her Angel.

  Angel was trustworthy. Eventually she decided she could babysit me and see her friend at the same time. So I was a 5-year-old going out with a bunch of teens. At first it was okay. We went to the movies, to the beach, etc.

  After a couple of times I began to see Angel was ignoring me. I was bored, wanted to go home. We were at the beach. That day I cried. I was sad.

  Angel told me to stop crying. I clearly remember her leaving me alone and telling her friends she was done. There was one guy in the group who was totally opposed [to] the idea of leaving me alone. So all her friends leave with Angel. Leaving me behind with this guy. We spent the rest of the day trying to go home.

  Imagine, a 5-year-old left behind at the beach. If that guy [hadn't] stayed I would have been lost forever. I didn't speak English and he knew only the basics.

  Eventually we arrived late in the evening. Mom was only beginning to be worried. Angel didn't [tell] anybody she left me behind!!!

  Finally, Mom was so mad. It was glorious to see her fire Angel."

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