Asking for a nanny friend. She’s a nanny to a 12 month old that is no where near close to walking. As we understand, there’s no concern until 18 months.

With that said, the baby is in a walker a LOT. Nanny has noticed that it’s causing issues with his walking abilities. Even when she holds his hands to walk or he pulls up to stand on something, he points his toes down as if he’s in the Walker still. He’s also not doing well with balance as he goes forward automatically, as you do when being in the walker.

She’s also concerned about the lack of boundaries around sweets. They also have a 4 year old that she’s concerned about as well in regards to diet. They keep sweet snacks/chips/candy in the house at all times, none organic or even attempting at clean ingredients. Just full on hostess/lays brands. 4yo eats twinkies for breakfast. 12mo old has been given hostess cupcakes and such since before he was 1.

Even when nanny tries to hold firm boundaries around food, parents will come in and add junk food to their plate.

4yo sometimes just has multiple bags of chips in a row for lunch. Parents don’t care that neither kid “doesn’t like fruit and veggies”.

Both parents eat healthy themselves but give the kids whatever they want because it’s easier than arguing about it.

Her main concern is the walking thing. She’d like to kindly suggest that they need to put the walker away at this stage and focus on actual walking. She takes him on outings daily so he can practice but the parents will immediately put him in the walker once he gets home because they think it’s funny how fast he zooms around the house in it.

She’d also like to suggest a plan for diet. Possibly a limit on snacks or designated snack times. Maybe something like offering one bag of chips for lunch in addition to a fruit/veggie/protein that can be unlimited.

As a parent, how would you feel about a nanny bringing this to your attention? Would you feel offended? What is the best way for her to approach this?

Advice open to all but specifically looking to hear from parents on the emotional aspect of being told your method might not be best for your child? We know it can be a touchy subject!