Good nannies don’t want to do “deep cleaning.” That’s not their area of expertise. They are nannies, not cleaners. I never had my nannies do anything more than clean up the kid area (put away toys etc) and wash bottles/lunch dishes. I didn’t even expect any kid laundry.

As our child got older our nanny did do more kid-related errands like take him for a haircut or flu shot.

I was a nanny/ house manager. The children were teenagers. I got them up made breakfast, packed lunches and drove them to school.
Then I went to the grocery store, hardware store, dry cleaners etc. I did whatever errands needed to be done. Got the 3 vehicles serviced or to the car wash. Gassed all cars up weekly. I did all the cooking and tidying up. I did all the laundry. I didn’t clean the house a cleaning service did that weekly. I made sure my employers didn’t have any ( chores ) to do on the weekends or after work.
I picked the kids up from school, took them to activities, made sure homework was done they had showered and had dinner. I was a live in nanny/ house manager in Fairfax county and made 500 per week. Yes I was very underpaid.

My sister is a nanny. BS in elementary ed. She takes care of the kids meaning bathe, dress, educational play, feed (cook, wipe up.) $25 for 2 kids. No laundry, no cleaning. She made that clear from day 1.

She gets full benefits -- sick days as needed, holidays, 3 weeks paid vacation, paid monthly health care (rea$onable, Kaiser.)

She made more on the west coast, but she came here to work on her master's next year.

I had 2 different nannies for my two kids now in ES. Both were with us for about 3 years from 6 month until kiddo went to full day preschool around 3. Both were lovely and adored the kids and played with them and did bottles, activities, walks etc. The only non childcare tasks in the contract was kid laundry, reheat stuff for lunch and tidy around hgh chair and keep the playroom picked up at the end if the day. One nanny was younger and only did that, which was ok and expected. One nanny was older but very energetic and pretty much cleaned the house and kitchen during naps and cooked for the kid from scratch every day, made homemade bread for us etc. She didnt talk on her cell or sit and read during naps. the house sparkled every day when she left. I always thanked her but none of that was necessary. We gave her as big a bonus as we could afford.

Our nanny does all the kids laundry and bed linens and towels. Puts aside any clothes they think are too small. Same with toys that are broken, the kids have outgrown, missing pieces, etc. Cooked them lunch and dinner - now that they're in school has taught them to set the table for dinner and has them help prep it - cutting up veg, making salads, marinating, etc. When they were not yet in school the nanny found all kinds of places in the city to take them - various library hours, random events, etc.

Anonymous wrote:You aren’t paying her enough to do anything besides watch your child. If you want a housekeeper hire one. Nannies should clean up after themselves/child while in their care but asking her to clean and organize and vacuum is not going to happen at $26/hour. If the kid dumps cereal everywhere sure they should clean it but expecting this regularly is too high an expectation.

That is an appropriate salary.

You aren’t paying her enough to do anything besides watch your child. If you want a housekeeper hire one. Nannies should clean up after themselves/child while in their care but asking her to clean and organize and vacuum is not going to happen at $26/hour. If the kid dumps cereal everywhere sure they should clean it but expecting this regularly is too high an expectation.

Anonymous wrote:What extra tasks (aside from watching children) does your nanny do and what is their compensation? We pay our nanny $26/hr for one child and her only other task is to do child’s laundry once per week, change crib sheet, and take out diaper trash as needed. Nanny sometimes cooks for child - like an omlet or pancakes - nothing elaborate. Does this seem reasonable? Do other nannies do more cleaning and tasks and at what rate? I would love for our nanny to do a bit more - whether it’s more cooking for child, deep cleaning the high chair or nursery on occasion, etc but I don’t know what pay expectations are in the DC area.

this is the rate we paid and your list sounds the same as ours. She also would stock the kitchen cabinet with baby food pouches from storage in the basement.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:She should clean the play areas and child’s bedroom, and do the child’s laundry.

Maybe tidy, but certainly not vacuum and such.

Yes they should vacuum.

Our nanny also makes $26 per hour. Cares for our 2 kids. She makes lunch and snacks, but that’s exclusively assembly (ie, PB&J) or microwave, nothing that requires the stove.

She has offered to do the kids laundry, but I prefer to do it. She’s done it a couple of times when I’m sick or injured.

She sweeps the area around the high chair and the children’s play area, keeps the counters and table wiped clean, and (most days) has all the toys put away.

That’s it.

I think if you want more than that, you need to pay more and expand the roll to something like “nanny and housekeeper.”

Anonymous wrote:She should clean the play areas and child’s bedroom, and do the child’s laundry.

Maybe tidy, but certainly not vacuum and such.

She should clean the play areas and child’s bedroom, and do the child’s laundry.

We have a weekly house cleaner so thay helps. She basically just cleans up after herself and DS, does DS' laundry, and prepares him meals. Sometimes she cooks, sometimes it is just preparing something easy from what's available. We don't really want or need more.

Does the nanny love your child? If yes, count your blessings and leave it at that. Her current rate is only average. If she’s good, she can get more elsewhere.

What extra tasks (aside from watching children) does your nanny do and what is their compensation? We pay our nanny $26/hr for one child and her only other task is to do child’s laundry once per week, change crib sheet, and take out diaper trash as needed. Nanny sometimes cooks for child - like an omlet or pancakes - nothing elaborate. Does this seem reasonable? Do other nannies do more cleaning and tasks and at what rate? I would love for our nanny to do a bit more - whether it’s more cooking for child, deep cleaning the high chair or nursery on occasion, etc but I don’t know what pay expectations are in the DC area.