Does your nanny also babysit for you on weekends?

[Anonymous]

We have a wonderful nanny 40 hours during the week. Now that Covid has lifted in our area, DH and I would love to resume date nights and the occasional weekend brunch.

How do you structure payment if we do this? Cash for babysitting or overtime and part of her biweekly check?

If you do this do you think it burns your nanny out?

[Anonymous]

Yes! Having our nanny babysit on weekends is the only way my kids are happy and we can relax.

We add the weekend hours to her regular check. We offered to pay in cash in the moment like a babysitter but she prefers it this way,

[Anonymous]

We never did this because we would have had to pay time and a half since she hit 40 hours during the week. She babysits for us now that our kids are in school though

[Anonymous]

Nanny time and a half is expensive for a baby sitter, so I'd get a babysitter. Plus I'd want my nanny to be able to have a break from my kids and come back fresh on Monday.

[Anonymous]

I'd be concerned that if your nanny felt like she couldn't say no (because she wants to spend the weekend with her own family, for example, but doesn't want to say no to her boss), that you will burn her out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes! Having our nanny babysit on weekends is the only way my kids are happy and we can relax.

We add the weekend hours to her regular check. We offered to pay in cash in the moment like a babysitter but she prefers it this way,

This is fast burnout for a nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd be concerned that if your nanny felt like she couldn't say no (because she wants to spend the weekend with her own family, for example, but doesn't want to say no to her boss), that you will burn her out.

+1. They will always say yes or feel crappy for saying no. The burn out is real.

-former nanny

[Anonymous]

Our nanny does. Just four hours on weekends. It’s good money for her and she asked to do it. It’s a joy for the kids and a great comfy for us. Win-win-win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a wonderful nanny 40 hours during the week. Now that Covid has lifted in our area, DH and I would love to resume date nights and the occasional weekend brunch.

How do you structure payment if we do this? Cash for babysitting or overtime and part of her biweekly check?

If you do this do you think it burns your nanny out?

We do it very infrequently, maybe once every couple of months. Nannies need their time off and our nanny knows she can always refuse.

[Anonymous]

I honestly couldn’t go out if our nanny didn’t stay on Friday nights for our date night. I still don’t trust anyone but our nanny and my baby will freak out if she wakes up and there’s a stranger. Nanny can also handle the bath, bed routine and get the pumped milk bottle the perfect temperature. Just couldn’t happen with an occasional sitter for a child this young.

[Anonymous]

Every few weeks our nanny does a Friday date night. She works 45 hours a week anyway, so it’s all overtime through payroll. We are lucky to have my parents available as a back up option if we need to run out on the weekend during the day for a bit - our nanny’s OT rate is $37.50 an hour so we use her sparingly for leisure time!

[Anonymous]

Our nanny just asked to which is such a relief for everyone. The kids adore her and think it’s so special when nanny stays for dinner, bath, and bed and DH and I can go out earlier (with a sitter we wait until they’re asleep).

Our nanny wants to hire our cleaning people and working one date night a week will pay for biweekly housecleaning at her place.

[Anonymous]

My employers give me the right of first refusal, which I absolutely appreciate, since I do sit on weekend evenings in general. They pay me in cash, which I suggested myself, since I really don’t need time and a half for a weekend care date in which I’ll see the kids awake for tops 2 hours or less. I’m aware this isn’t legal but not worried about it at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My employers give me the right of first refusal, which I absolutely appreciate, since I do sit on weekend evenings in general. They pay me in cash, which I suggested myself, since I really don’t need time and a half for a weekend care date in which I’ll see the kids awake for tops 2 hours or less. I’m aware this isn’t legal but not worried about it at all.

+1. Same.

[Anonymous]

We would love her to and she sometimes does, but she isn’t terribly interested and I do think it burns her out. She has her own family and home she needs to take care of and nannying is physically taxing.

We do offer that if she will watch them on weekends, we will bring the kids to her house and pick them up. She seems to find that a bit easier and the kids really enjoy it. She has kids too and they all play together (though hers are much older than mine).

We pay her at least 1.5 or double for weekend hours.

One piece of advise though-the biggest drawback to having a nanny as opposed to daycare is you’re building all your childcare infrastructure around a single person. And people get sick, have lives, etc. I would encourage you to work on building up a network of back up sitters, and weekend care can be a great way to do that.