My nanny brought my kids to work tonight--and the car seats were not belted into the car. Kids belts in seats but car seats were unrestrained. I have many times asked my nanny to check the car seats every time they get in. It's not the first Time they've been improperly installed. Grounds for dismissal??
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So your kids were buckled into the car seat but the car seats were not harnessed to the car? Are they in boosters?
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eeek. That is not good at all! Is she able to/does she know how to install them? Maybe you could show her, and have her do it in front of you? I would be pissed if it was my LO!
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Yes, I would not feel comfortable with my kids riding with her and I would terminate since it wasn't the first time!
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They are 5 point. We use the car seat belt now to buckle them as they are too heavy for latch. I've gone over it so many times. She just didn't check. Ugh
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Ummm, that's kind of a huge thing to just not notice! Yikes. Yeah, I would likely move on to a new nanny, if for no other reason because if she is that careless about car seats, what else is she being careless about?
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This would be a deal breaker for me. Especially since it wasn't the first time.
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Total deal breaker. I don't like to live my life in "what ifs", but dude, WHAT IF?!?! Car seat safety is so important, and how would you seriously not notice that the seat isn't attached to the car?!
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I'm sorry to say but I would seriously question her judgement on everything after that
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I am a nanny. And I believe that's absolutely grounds for dismissal. You've discussed it before. It's a serious safety concern. Attention to detail is important when caring for kids. There's no reasonable excuse for it.
For what it's worth, I know tat car seats can be a little intimidating as a nanny. I nannied for a family with three kids, and had car seats in my car to take the oldest to school. Is never dealt with car seats before. The thought of a safety issue made me nervous. So I barely ever took them out. And when I had to, I either reinstalled myself and asked the kids mom to double check, or had her do it. Peace of mind for us both.
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If you aren't willing to fire the nanny, I would tell the nanny that you seriously considered dismissing her over this issue but that you're willing to give her one more chance to never allow this to happen again. Ask that she learn to install the seats correctly - CSFTLs or other sites have videos that show how to install just about any seat - or leave them installed in her car at all times and in the off time she has to remove them, have you recheck them every time.
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100% grounds for dismissal. I would not be able to work wondering if my kids were riding around unsafe lot at any point in time.
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@Pfd: If you are using the seat belt and they are strapped in that way I don't see what the problem is?
Like this right?
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@Mamaof2: She says above they're 5-point (harnesses), not boosters.
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@tinyperson: I guess this statement confused me " We use the car seat belt now to buckle them" maybe she meant she uses to car seat belt for install?
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@Mamaof2: That's what I assume!
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I agree, not acceptable especially since you've talked about it before. Also, if you are tightening the harness correctly, wouldn't you feel that the seat wasn't buckled in at all?
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I would absolutely dismiss her and would not be willing to give a recommendation.
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Yes especially if this is a re-occurring issue.
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Definitely grounds for dismissal if this has happened before. And I say that as a former nanny.
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Why would they ever be unbelted? If this isn't the first time I would definitely be looking for a replacement and not allowing her to drive them until that point. I generally think it's unsafe to constantly be installing car seats in different cars.
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This has happened previously??? Bye, Felicia!
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Absolutely grounds for dismissal. I don't even understand how this happened, why would seats ever be in the car and not installed properly? And how many times has this happened before without her being caught?
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I probably would've dismissed them the FIRST time this happened. How the F do you get a car seat in a car and NOT immediately install it?? And THEN put a kid in it?? Wouldn't it move on you?? WTF?????
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Whoa... that's seriously a deal breaker for me. Especially if it's been more than once that it's happened!
To be clear... the kids were strapped into their carseats, but the seats themselves were just sitting on your car, free? Is it possible that she unbuckled the seats from the car to transfer them to your car? Or any other possible explanation?
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I'm just confused as to what happened.
To me, it would depend on whether I loved and trusted this nanny in other regards....and you say you've discussed car seat safety before, but has the unbuckling thing happened before? If it's a repeat offense, I'd probably dismiss her regardless of how much I liked her.
That said, as a mom, I once forgot to strap my infant into his seat. And once, the latch wasn't properly done. No one is perfect. But if it's an ongoing issue, I'd dismiss.
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@tinyperson: @Mamaof2: I think what she means is that they're using a seatbelt installation for the carseats because they are above the LATCH weight limit (usually ~40 lbs). At that point, you're no longer able to use LATCH but can still continue to use the seat with the seatbelt method. But in no way is forgetting to install the carseats into the car acceptable! I would almost definitely fire the nanny, but if for some reason I kept her on, I would never allow her to drive with my kids in the car again.
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26 comments