When: Today (9/4), around 11:15AM.I'm a SAHD who frequents Carl Schurz with my son. Today, when I was changing him out of his wet clothes on the bench by the sprinkler "pit" I saw 2 nannys sitting side by side. There was a Phil & Ted's double stroller (where the younger child essentially rides under the one in front). There was a name and address on the stroller, but for confidentiality's sake, the address is on 3rd Av and the apt is 28B. I don't know the name of the younger girl, but Nanny (african american woman, plump, in jeans and a black headwrap with red and green) had to be told by her friend that Alicia (the older girl) was crying. Nanny got up and left the baby in the stroller to go tend to Alicia.
Nanny's friend got up to tell Alexander (her charge) that it wasn't time to eat yet and to go play.
Meanwhile, no one was with the baby in the stroller. To be fair, maybe these nannies have a pre-existing agreement to watch each other's charges when necessary, but the other nanny was quite a bit of distance from the stroller. I changed my son VERY slowly and essentially waited by the baby in the stroller (couldn't read the name on the cloth diaper, but it was written in pink and the baby was in a pink sun hat...Also, there was a toy velcroed to the back of the front seat to entertain the baby... not a criticism, just an identifying characteristic for the parents) until the other nanny (not her nanny, but the friend) came back and moved the stroller out of the sun and closer to her own charge's stroller.
I know this isn't a horrifying post and I'm glad for that. I was just struck that the nannies were sitting, literally, behind a sea of strollers and had to be informed that one of their charges was crying....
14 comments:
We just got one of these strollers and it's dangerous to leave one in the back seat bc it can tip backwards. Luckily the baby stayed safe.
If nothing else... the caravan of strollers surrounding the baby would have prevented it from tipping back.
I still can't fathom how anyone can feel safe leaving a baby and/or small child unattended. What happened to common sense, or even actually "rearing a child"? Unfortunately, the cold hard truth seems to be; that there are simply too many people who are either too lazy, or lacking in an appropriate bond to actually care enough to participate and watch over these children.
Several years back when I nannied, I remember working with an agency that actually tested you before you could become a part of it. All (potential) nannies were required to take exams which monitored their common sense, personality type and ability to react to emergency/panic situations...(this was just one of the many different means this particular agency had of insuring that their nannies were "child appropriate".) I wonder why more agencies haven't caught on to this model of care? If there is one thing a nanny should posses (aside from endless amounts of patience, and the ability to give fourth love with the greatest of ease) it's common sense...
i'm not trying to argue, i'm just a little confused. did the nannies get up to leave the baby for a moment while they tended to other children, thus leaving the baby alone? or did they seem to be gone too long and you suspected they were doing something else? or did you feel like they weren't really watching the kids in the beginning and were too engrossed in conversation?
i guess what i am asking is, if one of the kids was crying and the nanny got up to make sure she was okay, isn't that why she left the baby alone?
maybe this park was really huge and the nannies were sitting very far from the playground? that's the only thing that would make sense to me with this. please explain it a little more if you will.
I don't know why you would think someone would be offended by a velcro toy (?).. but I would like to say that I am so very happy to see a DAD send in a sighting!
How is THAT for cool?
Thanks, dad!
Okay if there are two adults watching all there charges I don't see anything wrong with any of this, the baby wasn't alone...the baby was with the other nanny. And wouldn't it be worse if the nanny didn't go and check on the crying child? Also, its not that big of a deal that someone had to tell her...accidents happen and perhaps she was talking to the nanny she was with, but still doesn't mean that she never attended to the child when the child was in need of her help.
also, why is it bad that the nanny had to tell alexander that it wasn't time to eat yet and go play? Perhaps it wasn't time to eat yet? I really don't see the big deal there at all.
But If the nanny wasn't with the other nanny and she did leave the child with no other adult to watch the child, then that is bad. But it sounds to me like the nannies were both helping eachother out.
maybe i am not understanding the type of playground this is - is it nearbye a busy sidewalk with crowds of people walking by? you see, here in san diego we don't really have parks like that. it's hard for me to imagine a park where it wouldn't be safe for me to leave a baby in a stroller to attend to another child accross the playground. of course you would keep glancing back to make sure she was okay, but certainly the risk would be reasonably low. if not, how could a nanny even take two children to the park? you would need one adult per child. if anyone has any knoweledge of this park situation, please fill me in.
um, "is it nearbye a busy sidewalk with crowds of people walking by? you "
Yes, all playgrounds in NYC are like this!
As the OP... I guess I should clarify:
The nannies were very much NOT watching e/o kids. They weren't watching their own kids. They BOTH had to be told from another person that the charge was crying. Then, after a huff she went over and gave the girl a bear hug and walked off with her to the bumpy slide.
The other nanny went after Alexander... no one was with the baby.
as for telling alexander it wasn't time to eat, yeah, maybe it wasn't, but based on attitude, tone, and her muttering to the nanny afterwards, it seemed like disinterest to me. i mainly brought it up to indicate that both nannies were sitting behind literally 15 strollers while their charges were on opposite sides of the playground, and neither were being watched....
i also know i'm a bit biased b/c I'm usually a bit of a hoverer with my own kid, but even so, the disinterest and distance seemed egregious.
Hey newbie read the rules of posting. You gotta post under a name, not anonymous. If you post under anonymous you'll get deleted.
so cal, lost and castro, i am a new poster who lives on the UES in NYC. this playground is HUGE. it has 3 separate jungle gyms about 100 feet away from each other with water spraying in the middle. i have to run after my 2 yo constantly or else he will be falling down the fireman pole from one of the jungle gyms. these "park bench" nannies are notorious for being lazy here. i am so glad SAHD posted this. YOU CANNOT LEAVE A BABY UNATTENDED AT CARL SCHULTZ. besides the hugeness of it, there are creepy pedophiles all over NYC. and the Phil and Ted stroller is ridiculously dangerous for an unattended newborn. in fact, my 2 yo loves walking up to newborns in this stroller and i have to grab them before he tries to pick them up or bop them in the head. These nannies are neglectful at best. The baby could have been abducted or fallen on its head EASILY. Go SAHD for reporting this!
9:45 PM
RE-POST
anonymous repost, thank you for clarifying. I guess it helps to know the size of the park and who goes there and so forth.
OP, thank you for clarifying as well. I totally got the idea that they were watching the kids together, but I'm glad you let us know more details.
By the way, is this site like a typical known site that families check out? Just wondering, cuz its rather helpful.
Worry about your own child instead of checking out the nannies.
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