Mother of Baby with Asthma Comes Home & Finds Babysitter Asleep on Couch – The Baby Monitor Was Off

When the mom came home to give her baby his asthma meds, she found him babbling in his crib. The gas burner was ablaze with a mac and cheese cardboard box inches away from the flame.

Since the 18-month-old was born with respiratory issues, the parents made a combined decision to provide him one-to-one care. And the first thing that struck their mind was to hire a new nanny, even if it required paying her a top dollar.

Posting as maryluck15 on Reddit's "Working Moms" sub, the mom approved a new babysitter referred by her former nanny. Considering her previous nanny's good record working with them for over a year, the mom assumed the new hire would do her duties with flying colors…or that's what she WRONGLY thought…

Since the Original Poster (OP) already had her maternity break in August, she hired the babysitter part-time in the summer. A 22-year-old in her senior year of college on the lookout for part-time work filled in for the vacancy. OP thought she was a seamless fit.

A week before starting her job, OP's mom took it upon her to train the nanny. Although specific issues popped up often, OP thought they were negligible.

Their new babysitter's first week kicked in with her having some difficulty using cloth diapers on the baby. She refused to use them despite OP reminding her of the baby's sensitive skin. She regularly used disposables and told OP that the grandma (OP's mom) told her not to worry about it, which OP believed, thinking her mom would've said something like this.

OP also paid for the nanny's one-on-one training on car seat installation and usage. But to her dismay, the nanny left the strap twisted and jammed on her first week. If that weren't enough, the car seat was loosely installed.

The next day, the babysitter arrived unusually early and insisted that OP's mom told her it was acceptable to nap when the baby slept.

The nanny defended herself, saying the grandma told her it was okay during training, but the mother later realized that was not the case. In fact, the grandma insisted it was unsafe to leave the car seat loose but that she would often do it due to arthritis and difficulty in straightening the straps using pliers. The nanny assumed she could also leave the car seat loose.

Slowly, more issues cropped up, like the nanny refusing to leave the house with the baby on rainy days. Despite OP offering to watch the baby on Tuesday mornings so that the nanny could attend her private counseling, the woman insisted she take the baby with her. Later, she refused to take the boy along because it would embarrass her if he developed any breathing issues in public.

With each passing day, OP faced more difficulties coping with the nanny. The woman often left the dishwasher unattended, discarded stale breakfast on the counter, and trashed things around.

OP's husband often stepped in to clean the mess, but the nanny never bothered to help, although they never expected her to do any chores. Though OP was bent on letting the babysitter go by this point, she worried about how it would affect her baby who adored the woman.

One day, she came home early to give her baby new asthma meds and wanted to surprise the nanny by letting her get off early for the day.

Just then, she found the baby babbling in his crib. The baby monitor was unplugged, and his door was shut. OP looked for the nanny and found her napping, cozily covered up in a purple blanket. She called her name loudly, but the booming wake-up calls didn't awaken the woman.

Frustrated and chilled to the bone, the mom waited to see how long the nanny would take to get up. She glanced around and fumed, and saw a mac and cheese carton mere inches away from the burner that was still lit.

Around 30 minutes later, the babysitter woke up indifferent to OP's description of the harrowing encounter, prompting OP and her husband to finally decide to let the woman go in favor of their baby's safety.

The next day, the babysitter arrived unusually early and insisted that OP's mom told her it was acceptable to nap when the baby slept.

In defense of her mother, OP said she could envision her mom saying certain things, but suggesting it was ok to nap on duty wasn't one of those. The nanny then blamed the herbal tea she'd taken for dozing off.

Unmoved and fuming, OP decided it was time to part ways. The mom uninstalled her baby's car seat, allowing her baby to say a proper goodbye to his nanny. But she walked away without a word.

OP reached out to her mom later and confirmed that she actually told the nanny to sleep in the baby's room for a bit if she wanted so that she was nearby if the baby needed anything.

In the end, the mom regretted firing the nanny and blamed herself, asserting she'd failed her son. But the internet empathized with her concerns and understood why she was apprehensive about trusting the woman again. Redditor cyraenica sided with OP, stating:

"Sleeping with the stove burner on is the most negligent thing I can think of...Absolutely do not be upset that you fired this woman. She is completely untrustworthy."

The person advised that firing the nanny wouldn't fail OP's son as it was only a step higher in protecting him from unforeseen dangers.

"You did NOT fail him. You did the right thing and protected him by firing her…Maybe install a house camera so you can periodically check in on the new nanny," user WhyAmILikeThisssssss predicted.

Conclusively, the online community sided with OP in her decision and told her there was nothing to feel guilty about firing a babysitter who should've acted responsibly.

After rummaging through the insightful responses, the mom eventually realized that she wasn't alone in firing negligent nannies. "I am glad I am not the only one who felt bad for firing someone (even though it was justified)," she asserted.

Questions to Ponder:

Would you still pay the top dollar to a negligent nanny, considering your kid still likes her?

OP said she was compelled to fire her new nanny due to her carelessness towards her baby's well-being, although she worried how it would affect her toddler who liked being around her. Would you still forgive such a nanny and keep her just because your kid is attached to her?

If you were OP, do you think hiring an experienced babysitter would've caused no issue at all?

OP hired the new nanny based on her former babysitter's referral. She assumed the new hire would match her previous nanny's good record and took her in without weighing the consequences. Would an experienced nanny be a better choice for OP? What would you do if you were the mother needing one-on-one childcare?

If you liked this story, here's one about the awkwardness a childless woman encounters when a co-worker asks her to loan a week of her saved leaves to spend time with her kids.

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