Food for Nanny

[Anonymous]

What is standard protocol for keeping food in the house for a nanny? Are we expected to provide lunch every day? Is it assumed they will bring their own? We're happy to provide fridge/cabinet space for her to keep food here. Should she give us a list and we can pick things up for her? The two children she's watching are infants, so there won't be any solid foods around for them yet.

[Anonymous]

You ask her to help herself and tell her to add to your shopping list as needed.

[Anonymous]

No. You don't have to feed her lunch every day unless you choose to provide this as a perk. Most nannies bring their own lunch.

[Anonymous]

Maybe if she prefers organic food and you don't, she might tell you that she'll bring her own food. Especially if she's doing short hours for you, she's more like to have personal shopping time.

[Anonymous]

This is something that varies from family to family, nanny to nanny. There are no hard and fast rules. If it was a big deal breaker for her she *should* have brought it up prior to now, so I would go with whatever setup you are most comfortable with. I've had families go as far to provide a daily lunch, some simply have an open fridge policy, and one family expressly asked me not to touch their food. As you can imagine, the stingy family proved to be stingy in other aspects of our relationship, and I now look out for this "mine mine what's best for me" attitude in families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You ask her to help herself and tell her to add to your shopping list as needed.

I am sure some families do this, but not many. With a live out nanny, it is more common, at least among the families I know and nannies I have interviewed, to offer the nanny access to your drinks and snacks (fruit, yogurt, chips if you keep them around, etc.) and ask that she bring her own lunch or lunch supplies. Most nannnies leave their lunch fixings in a designated space in the fridge or mark their stuff with their initials. Once your kids are eating solids, it becomes more common to invite the nanny to eat whatever she is preparing for them, but again, that is optional and depends to some extent on whether your nanny actually prepares meals or just reheats leftovers for the child/children.

I asked around about this not too long ago, and did not find one family who invites the nanny to add to the family's shopping list. Nor did any nanny I interviewed communicate such an expectation.

[Anonymous]

I bring my own lunches, and leave things in the fridge. I also help myself to condiments and occasional snack. I would tell your nanny that while you do not plan to provide lunches, she is welcome to help herself to foods/pantry when needed. It is customary to provide food for a live-in or a babysitter. Most nannies provide their own.

[Anonymous]

I've never worked with a family who didn't politely invite me to help myself. If I'm out and about with the child I might get something interesting (yes, I'm a foodie) on a whim, but I don't really have time to go food shopping after (or before) my work hours. Getting enough sleep is much more important for the success of my job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
You ask her to help herself and tell her to add to your shopping list as needed.


I am sure some families do this, but not many. With a live out nanny, it is more common, at least among the families I know and nannies I have interviewed, to offer the nanny access to your drinks and snacks (fruit, yogurt, chips if you keep them around, etc.) and ask that she bring her own lunch or lunch supplies. Most nannnies leave their lunch fixings in a designated space in the fridge or mark their stuff with their initials. Once your kids are eating solids, it becomes more common to invite the nanny to eat whatever she is preparing for them, but again, that is optional and depends to some extent on whether your nanny actually prepares meals or just reheats leftovers for the child/children.

I asked around about this not too long ago, and did not find one family who invites the nanny to add to the family's shopping list. Nor did any nanny I interviewed communicate such an expectation.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
You ask her to help herself and tell her to add to your shopping list as needed.


I am sure some families do this, but not many. With a live out nanny, it is more common, at least among the families I know and nannies I have interviewed, to offer the nanny access to your drinks and snacks (fruit, yogurt, chips if you keep them around, etc.) and ask that she bring her own lunch or lunch supplies. Most nannnies leave their lunch fixings in a designated space in the fridge or mark their stuff with their initials. Once your kids are eating solids, it becomes more common to invite the nanny to eat whatever she is preparing for them, but again, that is optional and depends to some extent on whether your nanny actually prepares meals or just reheats leftovers for the child/children.

I asked around about this not too long ago, and did not find one family who invites the nanny to add to the family's shopping list. Nor did any nanny I interviewed communicate such an expectation.

This.

+2 (although my most recent PT family did ask me to add foods to their grocery list, I have never taken them up on the offer because it is so unusual in my experience)

[Anonymous]

I have never been asked to add food to a shopping list, but I have had families who have noticed the things that I enjoy (after reminding me several times that I am welcome to help myself to anything) and have purchased them and kindly mentioned something along the lines of "I picked up a new kind of hummus, let me know how you like it". Most nannies do not expect their full nutritional requirements to be catered to, but a shelf in the fridge/pantry with staples that I bring and the knowledge that I can help myself to little things along the way can make a world of difference. Most nannies are extremely courteous people and will not overstep the boundaries of helping themselves to mayo or some pretzels into eating your wild caught salmon (wasn't that a thread on here a while ago...)

[Anonymous]

Are you usually stingy, OP?

[Anonymous]

As a live-out nanny, I would not expect a family to provide food for me during the day. It is a nice perk, but nothing that is expected.


NP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You ask her to help herself and tell her to add to your shopping list as needed.

I am sure some families do this, but not many. With a live out nanny, it is more common, at least among the families I know and nannies I have interviewed, to offer the nanny access to your drinks and snacks (fruit, yogurt, chips if you keep them around, etc.) and ask that she bring her own lunch or lunch supplies. Most nannnies leave their lunch fixings in a designated space in the fridge or mark their stuff with their initials. Once your kids are eating solids, it becomes more common to invite the nanny to eat whatever she is preparing for them, but again, that is optional and depends to some extent on whether your nanny actually prepares meals or just reheats leftovers for the child/children.

I asked around about this not too long ago, and did not find one family who invites the nanny to add to the family's shopping list. Nor did any nanny I interviewed communicate such an expectation.

My employers allow me access to their online shopping cart, so I usually add whatever items I want each week (breakfast items, sandwich items, salads, and lunch/dinner entrées). Should I happen to forget to add items to the cart, or MB forgets to inform me, she'll just add in the usual. She has a pretty good handle on what I like, and is very generous in this regard (considering I'm a LO and I care for an infant). At any rate, I never take advantage of this perk. I'm just happy I have awesome and generous employers!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
You ask her to help herself and tell her to add to your shopping list as needed.


I am sure some families do this, but not many. With a live out nanny, it is more common, at least among the families I know and nannies I have interviewed, to offer the nanny access to your drinks and snacks (fruit, yogurt, chips if you keep them around, etc.) and ask that she bring her own lunch or lunch supplies. Most nannnies leave their lunch fixings in a designated space in the fridge or mark their stuff with their initials. Once your kids are eating solids, it becomes more common to invite the nanny to eat whatever she is preparing for them, but again, that is optional and depends to some extent on whether your nanny actually prepares meals or just reheats leftovers for the child/children.

I asked around about this not too long ago, and did not find one family who invites the nanny to add to the family's shopping list. Nor did any nanny I interviewed communicate such an expectation.

This.

+2 (although my most recent PT family did ask me to add foods to their grocery list, I have never taken them up on the offer because it is so unusual in my experience)

+3. We've always said "Please help yourself to a drink or snack or feel free to eat what you serve the kids. We'll leave some space here for you to put your lunch or keep some snacks." Our nanny always brought her own lunch. She'd also bring cases of soda or some snacks she liked and kept them in her space long-term. Sometimes if I see she's running out of something, I might replace it. I admit I only know a handful of other moms with nannies, but none of them provide all food to their nannies and they definitely don't invite them to add stuff to the grocery list. If you are a nanny looking for a position, I would assume that you should provide your own food unless the MB offers otherwise.