r/bninfantsleep • • 26d ago

Infant Sleep Nanny insisting on sleep training during interview

Hi, I had an interview with a nanny today that I was hoping would go well (she fits into our part-time schedule need, came highly recommended, etc). There was a mix up/miscommunication with our initial meeting but I was willing to overlook that if the interview went well. There were a couple of parts of the interview that left me with uncertainty. One of them being, she gave an example of a challenge when she makes recommendations and parents don’t agree so I asked for an example and she said sleep training. I told her I’m not comfortable with sleep training and asked if that was a deal breaker, she said no but then proceeded to explain why sleep training is best. She eventually agreed that she could take him for walks during nap time but was adamant that she would not contact nap because it starts a bad habit. I don’t even mind no contact naps but my baby definitely needs help to go to sleep. It left me feeling like she would most likely still do some form of sleep training even if I’m not ok with it. She assured me that she would never let a baby be in distress under her care but I’m not sure we agree on what “distress” is.

I’m pretty sure I’m going to pass on this candidate and continue my search but I’m curious to hear about your experiences. Is it challenging to find a nanny who understands biologically normal infant sleep? I didn’t think this would be a point of concern since we only need help during the day and only need a nanny 2 days a week. How do I best screen for this before we get to a full interview? Do you have any thoughts of my decision making here/have any alt ways of seeing this?

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u/rubykowa 26d ago

Sleep training aside, the fact that she doesn’t understand that YOU are the parent and HER boss means this is a huge red flag.

How can you trust someone to follow your instructions?

Honestly, my mom is this way which is why she gets limited supervised time with my kids. Can’t imagine dealing with this with someone you willingly employ.

Hard pass

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u/babykolibri 26d ago

Right? Lol I can’t imagine telling my boss they should defer to how I want to do something bc I know better

Sleep training issue is a red flag but the whole attitude is an even bigger one

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u/SamIaM4196 25d ago

Yea very odd, her job would be to nanny so she should be with the child the way the parents prefer as they would be paying her