I’m a nanny – I let kids eat dessert before dinner and never use the naughty step…people disagree but I don’t care
A LOVING nanny has revealed the controversial rules she sets for children in her care, and it’s divided the internet.
Isla Collins prides herself on being a ‘gentle’ carer and claims ‘respectful’ parenting is the only way to look after little ones.
The sweet guardian shared her views on her social media channel – including letting kids eat dessert before dinner and never using the naughty step.
She captioned her video: “I’ve spent many years researching and studying child development and child psychology to provide the best care for my babies and gentle/respectful parenting for me is the only way.”
Isla’s first rule is to let babies and toddlers sleep whenever and wherever they want to.
“I have the children nap anywhere and everywhere from day one,” she claims, sharing a picture of herself with a sleeping baby in her arms.
“On me, in the car, pram, carrier, their bed…there’s no real routine to this.”
Isla has a few controversial rules around food, too.
While some parents try everything to make their kids clean their plates, this nanny has other ideas.
“I don’t make children finish their food or tell them how much they need to eat,” she says.
“No ‘three more bites’ – I want to teach children to listen to their bodies and their own hunger cues.”
And there’s no such thing as ‘no dessert if you don’t finish dinner’ under Isla’s roof.
She says: “I often serve dessert with their main meal and they can eat it before they eat anything else if they like.
“Food is not a reward. All food is good food and sweet things are not something to put on a pedestal.”
When it comes to playtime, some parents will be thrilled by Isla’s hands-off approach, which sees her leave kids to their own devices.
It could help mums and dads get jobs done around the house, or simply have five minutes to put their feet up and have a cuppa.
“I don’t play with them and their toys very often,” she claims. “We connect in other ways like reading books and rough housing.
“We do activities together and daily life tasks.
“I encourage independent play with their own toys. I feel the ability to play alone is invaluable.”
And what about punishment? Well, there’s no such word as ‘bad’ in Isla’s books.
“I never punish children with time outs or take away screen time because of a certain behaviour,” she says.
“I never send them to their room or put them on the ‘naughty’ step.
“All feelings are valid and seen. You are not ‘bad’ because you’re too young to understand how to process a certain emotion.”
Thousands of people have tuned in to learn how Isla cares for kids.
They’re impressed and don’t understand why other parents disagree.
One user wrote: “I see this as being a kind human being.”
Isla replied: “Sadly a lot of this is the opposite of what a lot of parents and caregivers are doing, especially the food and punishment ones.”
A second user asked: “Ok but how can you do this with other families? Many people won’t agree with this way of doing things.”
Isla responded: “I work for families that trust me, my experience and my training. I do everything with good reason and research behind it.”