We hired Veronique as a FT nanny, with a part-time handover that started (and ended) last week. She had fibbed about the age she started with her most recent charge and that became clear when she started (my child is 4 months old, so experience with babies this young is important). An incident happened 2hrs before she left on her last day, I asked some questions, I gather she realised I realised, and resigned over the weekend calling me horrible things (passive aggressive, worst family she had ever worked for) to the agency who placed her (but of course nothing was said to me).

I had wanted to move past this because perhaps she is excellent with older children and I don’t want to impact her livelihood, but it is horrible to have someone attack you like this, behind your back, when you’ve tried to be welcoming while exhausted with a newborn.

The two times I did try to suggest something could be done differently because it was my baby’s preference / safer for his age based on the guidance of my maternity nurse were visibly not well-received even though it was only Week 1 but I remained professional. Despite all of this, we wanted to try to work through it (which tells you the state of childcare in London) because there are always teething issues in the beginning and she has babies listed on her CV in the past. A seasoned nanny would only leave this abruptly and aggressively if she was worried about being fired or there was a significant problem that could not be worked through with communication. The numerous people we have employed over the past 15 years who find us to be considerate and generous employers (including recently for our baby) would indicate it is the former.