Do you think I was too hard on my babysitter?

You’re too harsh. If she was not allowed to have dairy as it doesn’t agree with her why did you not tell this to the sitter up front? When you gave her the list of foods did you tell her that her that she MUST NOT vary from the list, or did you just say this is what she should eat? Your instructions were unclear at best and she made a very reasonable assumption that if your child was not able to have something that you would have explicitly told her.

As for not paying her, that’s illegal. How would you react if your boss didn’t pay you for the day of work because you made a mistake? That would also be illegal. Pay her what you owe her and next time make sure you’re clear. You weren’t completely out of line to be a bit upset at the situation here but honestly you’re both responsible for this misunderstanding. Since she’s only 16 and not a parent YOU should have been the one to mention this if she didn’t think to ask. A professional nanny I’d expect to ask up front if there’s any allergies, but not a 16 year old.

I think that was an over-reaction. As a mom, and as a former babysitter, you have GOT to be clear about your rules and expectation. A list of meals without specific instructions probably came across as “these are helpful ideas of what to feed my child” when what you meant was “this is strict because my child has special considerations.” She can’t read your mind, and you definitely need to pay her. 7 hours is a long-ass time to not get paid, especially for such a minor mistake. When you make a mistake at work, does your boss take away your whole day’s pay? I hope not.

I would have been frustrated too, and trust me I get the whole food allergy thing. But yelling at her and taking away her pay may have just cost you a great babysitter. Great sitters are hard to find, and just read the news — you’ll be super thankful that’s all the she did wrong.

It’s good that you corrected your babysitter, but you should not have done it by yelling at her. Also, you can not be made at her for giving your daughter dairy (because it upsets her belly) because you never told your sitter that. Even though you gave her a menu (and I totally agree w/ you that she should have stuck to it), you need to tell sitters about any irritations, allergies, etc that your child has to something so that they can be aware of it & can prevent reactions from happening. So in my opinion, you both were in the wrong, you didn’t properly notify the sitter of your child’s “issues” & yelled at her; and your sitter did not follow the rules by following your directions. You need to pay her for her services, that’s only fair. What if you did a bad job at work & your boss said, I’m not paying you today – that would not fly would it? However, you do not need to ever hire her again. If you feel bad, call her & apologize for yelling & tell her you will mail her a check, then tell her you will no longer need her services because she did not follow your rules by sticking to the menu you gave her. Personally, I would be angry to, it was “stupid” of her to give the child something else when you gave her specific instructions.

You were very much over the top. What 2 yr old doesn’t need a snack in the afternoon? And if you had a problem with her why couldn’t you just talk it out? Do you feel comfortable yelling at everyone? You should be ashamed to have treated someone’s teenage daughter like that. What she did was very understandable. You owe her the money too. There is no reason she should not get paid. You just made yourself look very petty and selfish and cheap.

Yes the baby sitter should have stuck with the rules. But you should have told her your girl can’t have dairy. So you can’t totally blame the sitter. She didn’t know about the dairy. No reason to yell at her.

I’d call her and apologize and tell her why your girl shouldn’t of had the milk.

I find it very rude of you to scream at her especially make her cry. If you were that worried about your child eating dairy im sure you would’ve wrote it down. I make a list of everything my child could & cant have & a schedule on the things to be done or given to her. Next time take into consideration that the girl isn’t a mind reader. You should appreciate that she at least thought about rewarding your kid for being good That means she cares.

Yes, you were way to hard on her.

If your young one had been good and deserved a treat at least she gave her something healthy. She could’ve given her cookies and chocolate milk.

She took care of 5 young children for 7 hrs and because she made a minor mistake, you yelled at her and told her you weren’t paying her.

Imagine if you had been in her position.

You know darn good and well that sometimes you make bigger mistakes.

EDIT: Next time. Write down all allergies.

Source(s): Mommy of 3. 2 still in diapers.
Personally I’ve made worse mistakes.

You may have acted a bit extremely. She didn’t know your daughter wasn’t allowed dairy. Those kind of things should be made aware to whomever is watching your child. She was just being nice.

I understand how you could have been angry, being a mother myself, I would’ve been. But you should have handled the situation better. :b

I think so. I’m mean, most baby sitters don’t know. I hope you call her up. She is great with kids, you said so yourself. Maybe you just need to say sorry and explain everything.

if im honest you shouldn’t leave your child with someone you don’t fully trust, you should of wrote down do’s and donts.. I think you was too harsh on her as you never told her that she couldn’t have these things.