Trust Issues with Nanny/Babysitter

You are getting conflicting information: one set of facts from the nanny, one set of facts from the Snoo.  Yet, you express worry only that the nanny is lying, not that the Snoo is somehow miscalibrated or working differently than expected.  Which it could be!  You may say "no, it's very simple to use, and it always works for me."  But the nanny is less familiar with the Snoo -- she uses it less than you -- and may very well be using it in a way that gives different readings than when you use it.  Is there more information that causes you to dismiss this possibility?  Is your baby sleeping okay at night?  You say you have been clear that you don't want naps to exceed two hours, but maybe you need to be clearer:  you actually want the nanny to go wake up your sleeping baby after two hours?  Are you sure? Really sure? Maybe your baby is a bit under the weather and needed some extra sleep for these few days.  Or do you think the nanny left the baby crying in the crib for several of those hours?  I guess I think that if a baby slept six hours one day, but still slept okay at night, then, well, the baby must have needed the sleep, and I'd be glad the nanny accommodated those needs.  It does mean that there is an issue of getting different data from the nanny, although I'd hesitate to call that lying without more information.  She may have a different sense of how important that kind of detailed accounting is. If baby is happy, healthy, and sleeping okay at night, honestly, I wouldn't care about a detailed accounting.  But, it's important to you, and that's fine.  That's what you should be clear about with the nanny, without accusation.
 

We have the Snoo and will often just unzip the swaddle and take the baby out to soothe or if she's woken up and we're ready to get her up for the day and do not turn the rocking function off until later (often we'll snuggle in bed or change her clothes and then remember to turn it off once we physically leave the room). It's fairly easy to put put the baby back in the swaddle while it's moving.  Could that partially explain what's going on?  Our Snoo logs would not accurately capture our babies wake/sleep cycles since we use this approach.  I would also ask how it's going with using the Snoo and probe into how she might use the swaddle function or other reasons it might stay on when baby is not actually in it before jumping to conclusions.  But as always, trust your gut if you don't get a satisfying answer.

I would start with approaching the other family but if you can’t trust your nanny to be honest than the relationship will not work out anyway. I had a similar experience in that I would get notifications of activity coming from the crib and she would leave him in there for up to an hour two after he woke up from a nap! I reiterated that he should be picked up when he woke up and thought communication was clear. I ended up coming home early one day by find him crying by himself wandering around our house. I picked him up and went to the room she was in, she was watching tv on her laptop. Her reaction was to blame me for being an anxious first time parent. So the crib thing was just the tip of the neglectful iceberg. 

She was seemingly an amazing nanny and we moved to a daycare situation after that, figuring that there greater accountability with larger numbers of teachers. 

I think you should probably seek a new nanny situation and be very UP FRONT about your expectations and values. Your posting, including its headline, uses very strong words like "lying" and "neglectful" which demonstrates the differences between your approach and that of your nanny. The nannies I hired and those of my friends with kids that young now, were/are usually focused more on the baby/child and how the baby is doing, feeling, etc. They are not usually tech savvy, but more importantly, may not see the value in using technology in caring for babies when they have been successful without it. It may be the difference in approach that is reflected in the difference of experience between you and the other family in your share.

You are very focused on the sleep timeline of your baby, and you may have good reasons for it. You need to explain that to prospective nannies. (E.g. "when the baby sleeps for more than x hours during the day, s/he will only sleep x at night.") This is something nannies understand and can work with you on--and may have other ideas and strategies to help with the care of your baby. I think you need to focus on that and less on the use of a particular technology you prefer. Your nanny is an important part of your baby's life right now, so you should find someone who can understand what you need and why. Good luck!

Your nanny is lying to you, on a pretty large scale, every single time she takes care of your baby.

I would let her go immediately, and send your Snoo vs. her journal proof to the other family. (Please tell the other family!)

You have an instinct to talk to her first, and I think you should trust that instinct in the name of fairness. Otherwise you are making a major decision about the nanny based on a device - which may or may not be accurate or telling you the whole story.  Since you seem hesitant, I think it would also help to talk to the other family about your concerns and perhaps they can give you an alternate perspective, since they seem to like and trust the nanny.

If it turns out that she is being dishonest, I think that most time this will come out in the conversation. But it may turn out that there is more going on, and if you don't talk to her first, you won't know.  And risk letting someone go unfairly. 

I totally understand what it's like to entrust your little one to the care of someone else and I think your reaction here speaks a lot to that. I bet that when you talk to the nanny and/or the other family, you will most likely feel a sense of relief at clearing the air, and perhaps it will help your sense of trust.  Good luck!

I would go with your instinct.  Something isn’t right about this. If you ask her, she will likely mislead you.  If it were me, I would install cameras. There is a reason they call them “nanny cams”.  Wireless and viewable live. 

Ultimately you have to be able to trust the person you are leaving your baby with, if you feel you cannot trust this nanny it won't work out as a longterm arrangement, no matter what. If it were me, I think I would try to get to the bottom of what is happening. If you feel comfortable, consult the other family with your data from the snoo and ask if they feel confident the nanny keeps to their desired nap schedules - what do they observe when they are home with her? Maybe run your own experiment and ensure that the snoo accurately records naps - is there any chance it still thinks there's a baby in there sleeping when he/she has already been taken out? Finally, I'd recommend talking to the nanny. You can try to do it in a non-confrontational way that emphasizes that you really just have your baby's healthy sleeping habits in mind and want to make sure she's getting enough awake time and activity during the day to be able to sleep well at night. If it really is the nightmare scenario that you fear (leaving the baby unattended for hours on end in the snoo) then it's best for your baby if you find a new nanny, even if you have to have a few awkward conversations to determine whether you are at that point! 

We have a Snoo, and I've never looked at the kind of data you describe. However, I have noticed that my husband often takes our baby out of the Snoo bu then it continues to sway (though I've never stopped to see how long it continues). Is it possible it's just swaying without a baby in it? Do you have a camera that could give you more definitive answers? 

I had a similar experience with a nanny of a nanny share when my daughter was an infant. We ended up having this nanny for about 8 months even though there were a handful of red flags- eventually we had our doorman track her comings and goings (we lived in NYC at the time) and found out that she was blatantly lying about schedule which ended up being the last straw. I say get out now because deception only leads to more deception and this is a person you really have to trust.  If you like the other nannyshare family bring them along and explain what happened, I’m sure they will be concerned about the lying as well. 

Hi! This must be very stressful. Its not easy to leave your small baby with a new caretaker and takes a lot of trust. Once that is broken by potentially abusive behavior, I cannot imagine it being reinstalled. I don't know the Snoo and how accurate it is, but sounds like it is almost like having a video from your crib. You could speak to the other family and better understand what they like about the nanny. Is the other baby older? Is she engaging more with the other baby? What made you join the share/trust the nanny? Personally I would confront her. Yes, it is uncomfortable but she works for you and you have given her directions and now there is a discrepancy and that discrepancy, if true, would constitute abusive behavior from her end. So you can absolutely ask her why that discrepancy in data is there. You can also learn more about her from the way she reacts. Ultimately though you have to trust your gut and go with your instinct. That is what every parent will tell you. If your instinct says something is off, then you have to trust that. And if you don't want to talk to her thats ok too. It is your child, you want it to be in the care of someone you trust, you don't have to justify yourself to anyone. You don't have to feel embarrassed about it. So if you just want to end it, that is totally ok. I would however let the other family know why you did it. If it was the other way around you would certainly want them to tell you. You can just say that it made you loose your trust and you are not comfortable continuing the share without a strong base of trust. What they do with that information is their decision. On a more general note, with any nanny, you could also work from home some days, see how their day is going, ask where she takes the baby, ask her to send you pictures, meet her at a park one day for an early pick up, etc. whatever you feel is needed so you get an understanding of how they spend their day, what the rythm is. You describe your current nanny as organized and communicative, but also try to observe a bit how the interactions are between nanny and your child. The relationship takes a bit to develop so you have to give it a bit of time, but you can see if she is warm with your baby, if she is engaging, how she speaks about your baby, etc. You don't need to control every step that your nanny takes with your child, but you do want to make sure that your child is well taken care of and that he or she can develop a positive relationship with another caretaker and have a healthy attachment. And for that you have every right to ask questions, set expectations, etc. - and develop a positive relationship with your nanny yourself as well. Wishing you all the best! You got this, momma!