Being Organized and Nanny Tales

Now I am back at work I find that I am constantly 'on the go': the hours in the evening and the early morning are now almost entirely devoted to packing and unpacking work bags sterilizing pumping kit, pouring milk and cooking small pans-full of baby food.

The working mommy guilt has surfaced in my inability to let anyone else do her 'food prep' or pick her outfits for the day (hey, it could be worse!!!).  

The good news is that baby likes the nanny and so do we.  Its still taking a bit of getting used to though as we never had somebody work for us before and when it comes to child care it can be a bit of a minefield.  I've also realized that you have to pick your battles (and no care-giver is ever going to do things exactly as you might want!).   You also have to be prepared to be clear and direct in a polite way if you disagree with something (our nanny wanted to do the old thermometer up the bum trick to break a bout of constipation.... we didn't necessarily agree with this old wives tale!!! despite the good intentions.... ;)).  

Talking of old wives tales one thing that I have noticed is that I should not assume that my nanny, despite having older children of her own, knows all of the latest safety and best 'baby' practices.  I therefore made it my mission to specifically communicate on the following things pretty early on:

> always put baby to sleep on her back - ALWAYS ALWAYS!

> baby's (breast) milk must be thrown away after one hour if not finished (because of the bacteria in the saliva getting into the bottle)

> breast milk must NEVER be microwaved (destroys the nutrients)

> any water the baby drinks must be boiled first and then cooled

> NO HONEY!  (certain cultures believe that honey in the water can help the baby drink it....but honey can sometimes cause botulism in babies from what I understand and that sounds bad!)

> no salt

> no sugar

We also paid for our nanny to take an infant cpr course.  For a relatively small outlay (the one we did cost $75) you can have some peace of mind knowing that your care-giver has at least been trained on the basics.  These courses also tend to share up to date baby safety information and tips on babyproofing so you also get these added benefits.  Even if the care-giver says they have done infant cpr before I would send them on the course so that you can be sure (and hey, a refresher does nobody any harm).

Final tip on the subject of the nanny... we started leaving our digital camera with her during the day so that she can take pictures of the baby out and about.  We've really enjoyed the funny little shots that the nanny has taken of them doing their things!