Hi Mommies,
I just finish my confinement with this CL by the name of Jin Lan (HP: +65 86217047 / +6016 9086098) from Penang. She was recommended to me by another confinement lady called Xin Hua as she wasn't able to do mine. The first day Jin Lan came to do my confinement, I was still in the hospital as baby was kept under observation for jaundice. She was all nice saying she cannot stand not doing anything and thus she started doing some house chore that was agreed upon which was to sweep the floor everyday, mop floor and clean toilet once a week, clean up the kitchen after using everyday and doing laundry.The first day I was home, she was resting in her room which I thought was fine since I wasn't home yet and she probably did what was agreed upon. Just to be clear, I'm temporarily staying with 2 cousins in my aunt's house which my aunt rarely stay.
Lazy
a. She never hand wash baby's clothes and instead just throw them into the washing machine together with ours until hubby saw and told her to separate.
b. And because she just throw everything into the washing machine, she spoils my bra and leggings. Ask her if she knows how to use the laundry bag, she said yes but found out she never use.
c. Didn't clean the milk bottles well and left residue inside.
d. My kitchen is oily & dirty because she never clean it after cooking. When asked about it, she insisted she clean everyday.
e. Never sweep floor everyday, just whenever she remembers or when guest are around.
f. Watches TV from 1pm - 5pm & 7pm - 10.30pm instead of taking care of baby. And whenever baby is with her, baby would make a fuss because she had the volume on high. In the end, I can't rest and had to take care of baby myself while she continue her show.
g. Heat up overnight rice because she cooked too much.
h. Brought baby to our room one night saying baby recognizes mommy's & bed's smell so don't wanna sleep with her. The fact is baby only slept with us on weekends as we wanted to be hands-on, during weekdays baby slept with her. So how is it possible baby suddenly don't wanna sleep with her? Anyway, baby slept with her just fine the next day.
Stubborn & Rough
a. Insisted that everything she said or does is correct. Ignore our wishes and criticize what was taught at antenatal class saying they are ridiculous and we were duped.
b. Told her I wanted to BF exclusively in the day and she can bottlefeed baby using EBM at night. Caught her trying to give baby EBM in the day and the excuse she gave was she didn't know and she thought of letting me rest. Engorgement is not fun!
c. Even after stating I want to BF exclusively, she suggested supplementing with formula. Reason being baby can sleep longer at night and she don't need to wake up often. She is NOT pro-BF!
d. Because baby had green stools for 2 days, she said baby was frightened. In fact, it was because of foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. When explained to her, she said I'm ridiculous.
e. Forcing the pacifier into baby's mouth to shut her crying when I told her not to countless time. Luckily, baby don't like it and usually spits it out.
Boastful & Complains A LOT!
a. Boast about how good her children / grandchildren are and how bad her relatives' children are.
b. Boast about how experience she is at taking care of over 30 babies. But all I heard from her about her previous engagement is Bukit Gambir and Muar only.
c. Boast about how awesome her cooking are, how good she is at frying fish saying not many people know how to fry fish the way she does it. Her cooking are mostly salty btw and there are no varieties. Always the same food, same dish, same taste. The only soup I had for my confinement are pig's stomach soup / black bean soup and I only had it a few times.
d. Complains and talks behind people's back:
i. Complains about how difficult taking care of my baby to my father, how my baby is 'disturbed' and need to bring to the temple to pray just because baby fusses at night.
ii. Badmouth Auntie Xin Hua saying she's black hearted for taking her deposit even though Auntie Xin Hua recommended her a this job.
iii. Complains about me to my hubby because I told her off about bottlefeeding EBM issue.
iv. Complains about friends who visited baby to my cousins.
v. Complains about my cousins to me.
vi. Complains about the soya sauce/sesame oil/food/wine my in-laws bought.
vii. Complains about the biscuits we bought isn't nice and she prefer the other brand. The biscuits are for me because I can't stand eating 3 same meals everyday.
viii. Complains about baby's fussiness, how baby's clothing, handkerhiefs, diaper, rocker and etc.weren't good enough.
4. No manners & unprofessional
a. Talk bad about her previous employers (eg. how big their nipples are etc.)
b. Never have the sense to knock before coming into the room. Be it I'm BF-ding or in the toilet, she would just come in and ask I'm done / lunch is ready etc. Even caught hubby by surprised when he's in the loo / changing. Told her to knock multiple times but she still does it so we started locking our doors.
c. When BF-ing baby, she would come into the room and talk to me about her grandchildren / stare at me BF-ding. Sometimes she would just touch my breast and comment unnecessarily. She don't give me any privacy or dignity and this really causes my confidence to dip because I can't focus on BF-ding baby properly.
d. After changing baby's nappy, she would use her hand to touch baby's cheek.
e. Throws a tantrum and brought baby to the room just because she can't watch her 7pm drama while my cousins are playing Wii.
f. When my mom & dad were here and wanted to visit MBS, she wanted to tag along saying she's never been to the casino. We didn't let her because she's here to work, not for holiday.
g. When guest come, she treated me & hubby differently and put on a show of caring for baby and playing with her.
h. Finishes my 3-in-1 coffee and put the blame on my aunt (my aunt only came twice to visit during my confinement). We bought 2 bags of 3-in-1 just for her. It's fine if she can be honest and don't blame others.
5. Things she spoiled (which belongs to my aunt and I have to pay)
a. Hob use until 'chow tar' so I asked her how it became like this, she said 'It's already like this when I came'. I'm not a fool because I cook before she came.
b. The water dispenser's spout. She usually pour hot water into the tank which causes the rubber to harden thus water drips from it. She blame it on my cousins.
c. My bra & leggings. She never once did apologize for spoiling stuff, just said she don't know.
d. The cooking pan (scratches inside the pan).
I don't mind the CL taking naps or watching TV in the afternoon but she really cross the line. At times when I see her handling baby I really want to snatch baby away from her. The way she would say my baby is 'kuai lan po', always peeing on her after bathing, how bad and naughty baby is for not sleeping at night, how greedy baby was when baby wants to nurse. She would also take photo of baby without permission. I was so stressed by her during confinement that I kept crying the first week after coming home. Luckily my hubby was very supportive and feels this CL hasn't got much experience from the way she does things. But all in all, mommies out there, please beware of any recommendations by Xin Hua and especially hiring Jin Lan if you don't want post partum depression.
