How Do Your Kids Refer to Their Nanny?

I think Miss "first name" would be appropriate. That is what my daughter calls her sitter and actually I have her call my friends that also. Not as formal as Mrs. Smith but still more respectful than just the first name.

wow. this is interesting. first, you have a good bit of time before you truly need to figure it out. i think it should be considered what your child and the nanny feel. if it is a long term arrangement where your baby will truly bond with your caregiver- it is possible that a name will come of that. my niece called me "didi" until she was four, long after she had figured out the correct pronounciation of my name.

my only other suggestion would be to look up the word nanny in other languages and find one that sounds sweet and is easy to pronounce. that could be quite sweet.

good luck!

My daughter calls her preschool teacher Miss (first name)

We don't have a regular nanny, but we do have regular sitters who take care of our 7 and 9 year olds for years. Since they were toddlers, they always just called the sitters by their first names and no one has requested otherwise. We would have done the "Miss (name)" route if an adult wanted the kids to call her that, but most have been 18-25 years old and have never asked to be called anything but their first names. I don't know of any of their friends who call their babysitters anything but their first names. One I know with a nanny also calls her by her first name, and that woman is 60. When she watched our kids this summer, we asked, "What do you want to be called?"and she said to call her by her first name, too.

I like the idea of letting your daughter come up with a special name for her.

well i know when we were growing up it was last name but now its first name with MISS or MR.
our son calls our babysitter his girlfriend so no luck there.
LOL

First, I must commend you for giving this serious thought. It will set a precedent for future relationships this child has and for any other children you might have in the future.

I tend to be abit more traditional in this regard. I believe that the child should refer to the adult caregiver (not a teenage babysitter) as Mrs. "Last Name". If the woman has a name which is difficult to pronounce, a shortened, easier to pronounce name should be used. Now, if the caregiver has a preference, you need to go with that first and foremost.

I don't want children to be overly familiar with me nor do I want my children to make casual reference to other adults in their lives. Mr. and Mrs. "Last Name" implies respect. After all, isn't that what we want to teach our children? Respect of authority and their elders.

Just my 2 cents. Best of luck!

I used to work at a day care, and my sister runs one. As a teacher, the kids called me "Miss Katie." My sister, although the director, and married, is called "Miss Joanna." It is a very simple way for the kids to respectfully refer to their non-family caregivers.

When I take my kids to the gym, I have my son call his caregivers Miss So-and-so as well, and they seem to like it.

All the kids in our building call their nanny by their first name. I would ask your nanny what she would prefer. It's really nice of you to think of this.

I'm a nanny myself, and the little girl I care for calls me by my first name. We have a very close relationship, I bath the little girl for petes sake. She has never once used my last name, or called me miss. I've always been referred to by just my name, by her and her father. but it all come's down to preference.

I ran a nanny agency for 15 years in Long Grove and this issue came up alot. Your daughter is only 4 months old so teaching her to call "Mrs....." w/be difficult. You need a short name like "nanna" or their first name. Be prepared that as they grow they sometimes call the nanny mommy also. I've heard of kids who call their nanny their "second mommy". If you have a good nanny, she w/usually try to work it out w/you. A hint: as your daughter starts to make words, she may come up with something that will stick and easy for her to say. For instance, if your nanny's name is Betty, it may become Bippy. Remember this is an affectionate name for the children as they rely on her while you are gone.

Ok i dont have a nanny,but i do have a daughter that is two years old and sometime she calls her step father by his name..Now it does it bother him cause he know she's only saying that cause i said it..If i had a nanny i would call her by her first name ..Why not,she's taking care of your kids..lol