What do we do if our children don't like the nanny?
So I just came back to work after a long discussion with our 4-year-old. He complains (more to the effect, he had a meltdown) that he doesn't like our nanny, and would prefer to have our neighbour watch after him instead. It's not like she's behaving inappropriately or abusing him in any way, he just doesn't like her as much as the neighbour. He, on the other hand, generally behaves poorly with temper tantrums, bad manners, and throwing things at her (not constantly, just once a day or thereabouts, and she disciplines him appropriately).
To be honest, we've had better daycare providers in the past, but my wife says the problem isn't with her, it's with our son, and he'll get over it eventually. She has prior experience as a full-time nanny, and we both like her (in fact, she's a friend of ours), and we don't really have too much of a problem with the way she cares for the kids. It seems to just come down to a personality conflict. Our second son is only 14 months old, but he goes into a fit every time we leave him with her as well.
What do we do in this situation? Look for another daycare provider, or stick it out and hope things just get better somehow?
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You might try to let your son know that the neighbor is not an option. Maybe the problem isn't that he dislikes or is unhappy with the nanny. Maybe he just really likes the neighbor and wants to play with him. Once the kid knows that running off this nanny isn't going to get him the neighbor that he wants, just another nanny, maybe he will settle down and be happy with what he has.
I know this is a pretty hard concept to communicate to a toddler, but I think it would be worth testing to see whether he dislikes the nanny or just has his mind set on the neighbor.
I'd suggest you spend some time and see how they interact. Your 4yo may have a point.
We had a number of nannies for our son over an 18 month period. Some were great and really loved kids and totally got that the job is all about being there 100% for the child and being involved with them. Others, not so much. One would arrive at our house, turn on the TV for our son and fire up her laptop - she though her job was simply to stop the kid from complaining. Based upon my experience (seeings 100s of CVs, doing 10s of interviews) nannying seems to be the fill-in job of choice for many young women, few treat it like a career.
One common feature was that they all just viewed the position as a job - there was little or no emotional investment and they'd quit and move on without a second thought.
Our son was pretty robust and got on well with most of the nannies but our daughter (8 yo) actively disliked several of them. Most of her issue was simply that the nanny was not us and did not like taking directions from them.
In the end, we got our son into a local childcare centre. We had had enough with nannies and our son was craving the attention of other children and he is much happier now.
If it's a full-time nanny I'm assuming it's inside your own home.
You have to understand your home also belongs to your child and although in the real world we have to deal with all sorts of people we don't like to be around people we don't like in our own home. This can be a significant cause of stress and a reason that your child is reacting so aggressively.
Do you know how the nanny handles your children when you are not there? It's easier at a daycare / childcare center where there are more sets of eyes. If your child is not being dealt with well during the day this may lead to an explosion when you walk in the door.
Children can't express their frustration the same as adults so they act out. Try and give your child a chance to explain why he doesn't like the nanny and don't just listen and say that's that. Make sure you let him know that you want to know why he is not happy and will consider.
Also explain to him that it is necessary to have someone care for him and he can't just dislike everyone.
I always ask my son to provide reasons why he doesn't want to do something or doesn't like it, to justify his dislike.
Remember in the end, it's also his home and it's very important for him to have a space where he can say to whoever he likes to back-off. If he actually has a decent reason why he doesn't like the person I would be taking his side and finding someone else.
It sounds like you and your wife may have slightly different inclinations about whether a change is needed, so I'll see if I can make a respectable argument for the 'contrarian' side:
If the situation doesn't improve in a reasonable amount of time then it would seem changes are needed. Does the nanny acknowledge the problem? Does she know that the kids prefer other caretakers? Have you asked if she has her own theories why, or how to improve. Does she seem really motivated to improve things & excel on all fronts?
She may keep them safe and provide appropriate discipline but if other people can do it better (you say you've had better in the past) then it doesn't seem right to 'settle' indefinitely for someone they don't like. Being an intimate caretaker in a family is certainly about more than just safety and discipline.
It might mostly be a problem of tempermental kids, but adult professionals should be more able to change and improve than 4 year olds, so I'd say give her some time... as long as you and the nanny have ideas and the motivation to improve things, then keep trying... but as soon as you're out of ideas or any of you find you've "given up" on improving things, then you need a new Nanny.
Maybe it is no one's 'fault' at all, and is just a "personality" conflict, but even then, I'd hope that the Nanny would recognize that's a problem and would want you do whatever you need to to resolve it.
Long term, there are other nannies in the world, but these are your only kids. Even if they seem irrational, you can't feel that you 'owe' the nanny her position; she is the employee, hired to be a sort of proxy family member, and mutual love should be a part of the requirements for such an intimate position.
Don't wait
Make a change
Children are little barometers
They will react when the pressure is up. ... But it takes a lot for them to verbalized that they do not like an adult.
We had the same nanny for 10 +years ... Closer to me than my own family. No big blow out but the kid's needs changed and she never really adapted to their growing needs .
I should have made a change 3 years ago . The nannies that are Great will infants are not always great with the changing needs of a growing child . As a parent you are their advocate and decision maker.
We had a very similar problem with our son and his child minder. If your nanny doesn’t already do it I would ask her to keep a diary for a few days detailing what they are doing and how his mood is and how he is reacting to her throughout the day.
You may pick up on something she is doing or not doing that differs from how you are with him that may be the cause of his frustration.
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