"Extra" nanny responsibilities

[Anonymous]

Hello,
I just had a 2nd child earlier this month and am starting to think about hiring a nanny before I return to work in May. We are planning to hire a nanny to ourselves, rather than do a share this time, and because newborns nap a lot, and one baby is far easier than two, I would like to include some extra responsibilities in her job description. My ideas include dishes, errands (e.g. grocery store, post office), and maybe laundry and light dinner prep. I am curious if anyone else has taken this approach with success and what other tasks the nanny was able to accomplish while the baby was sleeping.

Thanks,
T

[Anonymous]

I warn you....You will get ripped apart on here by many Nannies OP.

Let me go first:
Yes newborns sleep a lot.

Sometimes.

But a lot of them tend to sleep in small increments during the day and many have colic or reflux issues.
Not to mention that newborns sleep schedules tend to be erratic & change from day to day.

To add extra duties for a Nanny in addition to caring for your young infant certainly is unfair.

Your child's care will be greatly compromised + your Nanny will be seriously burned out by the first week, even sooner.

Plus who wants to take an infant to the grocery store and post office??!

Be a good parent/employer and let Nanny focus 100% on your precious baby instead of stretching your dollar.

It will be better for everyone involved I guarantee you.

[Anonymous]

Today you have two choices of Nanny: Nanny as housekeeper and Nanny as teacher.

A nanny as teacher will keep your child stimulated and engaged with narration, reading, songs, finger-play (like Itsy Bitsy Spider to develop both sides of the brain) singing, and conversation. While the baby sleeps, the teacher-nanny will do all chores related to the baby - make purees, laundry, sterilizing toys.

A nanny as housekeeper is basically a babysitter who will keep an eye on the baby while the nanny cleans.

Also remember that by law, every domestic employee gets 20 minutes for each five hours worked. That is 40 minutes for the usual ten hour nanny shift.

Your choice.

[Anonymous]

A lot of posters here are super unrealistic. The truth is that there is a huge range of what nannies are willing to do, and you can find just about anything for a price.

Here are some things to consider:

1) Yes, newborns nap a lot, but usually not well or long. And the napping a lot stage ends quickly. By 8 months or so baby will likely be down to 2 naps per day, 3 hours total. By 18 months, 1 nap, maybe 1.5-2 hours. Do you plan to reduce nanny's load when that happens? Or are you planning to move to daycare at some point?

2) There are nannies who can juggle a lot successfully while still creating a stimulating, supportive environment for the child(ren), but those nannies work very hard and charge accordingly. Most nannies at the lower end of the pay scale who are willing to take on a lot of other stuff during the day will be focused on chores and will care for the baby in a more minimal way--both because they tend to be less educated in infant development and because they want that break during the day.

Let me give an example. A baby-centric nanny is going to

[Anonymous]

Sorry, hit send too soon.

A baby-centric nanny is going to have goals at any given age. Things like exposing them to certain types of language, giving opportunities for a wide range of play, thinking about the next developmental milestones and how to expose them to the right stimuli to evoke that next step. She will also be thinking through all of the changes that happen in the first year and preparing baby to make those changes smoothly--getting into a good nap schedule, sleeping independently, dropping the swaddle, transitioning from bassinet to crib, introducing solids, introducing sippy cups, introducing finger foods, transitioning away from milk towards healthy solids, etc.

A housekeeper-nanny is going to build her day around the house and will manage to baby as a lesser priority.

A combination nanny will take on housekeeping tasks only to the extent that she can fit them in around an ideal schedule for baby. So unloading the dishwasher and washing breakfast dishes during nap, doing a few errands each week as outings, managing baby's laundry during nap, all NBD. But if baby is sick, you'll need to get pea-pod that week, because she's not exposing baby to germs at the store. If nap is short, you might come home to a sinkful of dirty dishes. Are you okay with that?

Another thing to bear in mind is whether you will need nanny to serve as backup care for your older child, as that may also throw a wrench in the works.

[Anonymous]

There is no reason that, for the right price, a nanny can't do all the tasks that a SAHM would do (including dishes, cooking, laundry etc. just not deep cleaning).

If a SAHM was EITHER just a teacher or housekeeper, they would be a failure.

I only spend the extra cost of getting a nanny because they can do both things- just like me if I were home.
If I simply wanted "teaching" I would go to a daycare where they have all the appropriate age props to help kids develop.

[Anonymous]

Seriously, how did SAHM's keep the household and kids in good shape before the invention of the dishwasher, washing machine? Kids simply didn't get undivided attention all day- because they don't need it.
As a mom of 4- you can put baby in bouncy seat and let toddlers run around a couple rooms with baby gates, while I or nanny gets house stuff done.

There is no way I'm coming home from my strenuous 10 hour day at work to just spend the rest of the night doing laundry, cooking and running errands. That is my nanny's job- and she's awesome and well paid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seriously, how did SAHM's keep the household and kids in good shape before the invention of the dishwasher, washing machine? Kids simply didn't get undivided attention all day- because they don't need it.
As a mom of 4- you can put baby in bouncy seat and let toddlers run around a couple rooms with baby gates, while I or nanny gets house stuff done.

There is no way I'm coming home from my strenuous 10 hour day at work to just spend the rest of the night doing laundry, cooking and running errands. That is my nanny's job- and she's awesome and well paid.

I am a nanny who handles all kid laundry, grocery shops and makes all their food from scratch, etc. I do a lot more than most SAHMs today. But let's cut the good old days crap, please. The reality is that in the time you're describing before the 20th century, many many working class kids did not survive childhood. Furthermore, the vast majority of parenting before the last 50 years included tactics that would be cause for CPS intervention today. Kids were regularly beaten, locked up, starved and molested throughout most of human history. So let's just talk about the facts of here and now, okay? Here and now, we have a pretty good idea od what kids need to thrive--sufficient food, loving and responsive caregivers and a clean, safe environment. Whether a nanny can meet those needs while adding other tasks depends on how demanding the baby is, how demanding the tasks are and how energetic, efficient and experienced the nanny is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no reason that, for the right price, a nanny can't do all the tasks that a SAHM would do (including dishes, cooking, laundry etc. just not deep cleaning).

If a SAHM was EITHER just a teacher or housekeeper, they would be a failure.

I only spend the extra cost of getting a nanny because they can do both things- just like me if I were home.
If I simply wanted "teaching" I would go to a daycare where they have all the appropriate age props to help kids develop.

This is my thought. How can a nanny only sit and care for a child when a SAHM does everything. However, not all babies nap and some need extra attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no reason that, for the right price, a nanny can't do all the tasks that a SAHM would do (including dishes, cooking, laundry etc. just not deep cleaning).

If a SAHM was EITHER just a teacher or housekeeper, they would be a failure.

I only spend the extra cost of getting a nanny because they can do both things- just like me if I were home.
If I simply wanted "teaching" I would go to a daycare where they have all the appropriate age props to help kids develop.

This is my thought. How can a nanny only sit and care for a child when a SAHM does everything. However, not all babies nap and some need extra attention.

Why do stay at home mom's need nanny? Please correct first you are looking for housekeeper not nanny to do all your work loads.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no reason that, for the right price, a nanny can't do all the tasks that a SAHM would do (including dishes, cooking, laundry etc. just not deep cleaning).

If a SAHM was EITHER just a teacher or housekeeper, they would be a failure.

I only spend the extra cost of getting a nanny because they can do both things- just like me if I were home.
If I simply wanted "teaching" I would go to a daycare where they have all the appropriate age props to help kids develop.

This is my thought. How can a nanny only sit and care for a child when a SAHM does everything. However, not all babies nap and some need extra attention.

Why do stay at home mom's need nanny? Please correct first you are looking for housekeeper not nanny to do all your work loads.

She's (correctly) pointing out that someone can expect a nanny do to all the things in 10 hours that a SAHM does in 10 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no reason that, for the right price, a nanny can't do all the tasks that a SAHM would do (including dishes, cooking, laundry etc. just not deep cleaning).

If a SAHM was EITHER just a teacher or housekeeper, they would be a failure.

I only spend the extra cost of getting a nanny because they can do both things- just like me if I were home.
If I simply wanted "teaching" I would go to a daycare where they have all the appropriate age props to help kids develop.

This is my thought. How can a nanny only sit and care for a child when a SAHM does everything. However, not all babies nap and some need extra attention.

Why do stay at home mom's need nanny? Please correct first you are looking for housekeeper not nanny to do all your work loads.

There are many reasons from lifestyle choices to health issues. The point is, SAHM seem to be able to take care of more than just the child and yet, a nanny in a paid job can only do the absolute minimum. The point of hiring help is to replace things that you would do while you are at work and to make your life easier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Today you have two choices of Nanny: Nanny as housekeeper and Nanny as teacher.

A nanny as teacher will keep your child stimulated and engaged with narration, reading, songs, finger-play (like Itsy Bitsy Spider to develop both sides of the brain) singing, and conversation. While the baby sleeps, the teacher-nanny will do all chores related to the baby - make purees, laundry, sterilizing toys.

A nanny as housekeeper is basically a babysitter who will keep an eye on the baby while the nanny cleans.

Also remember that by law, every domestic employee gets 20 minutes for each five hours worked. That is 40 minutes for the usual ten hour nanny shift.

Your choice.

Exactly. If you want a nanny, you don't require "extra" housekeeping tasks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no reason that, for the right price, a nanny can't do all the tasks that a SAHM would do (including dishes, cooking, laundry etc. just not deep cleaning).

If a SAHM was EITHER just a teacher or housekeeper, they would be a failure.

I only spend the extra cost of getting a nanny because they can do both things- just like me if I were home.
If I simply wanted "teaching" I would go to a daycare where they have all the appropriate age props to help kids develop.

This is my thought. How can a nanny only sit and care for a child when a SAHM does everything. However, not all babies nap and some need extra attention.

Why do stay at home mom's need nanny? Please correct first you are looking for housekeeper not nanny to do all your work loads.

She's (correctly) pointing out that someone can expect a nanny do to all the things in 10 hours that a SAHM does in 10 hours.

Which, often, is nothing other than care for the baby, at least for me right now in the early stages of DC2. I'm a NP, but just saying...

[Anonymous]

OP, this could be tricky because as your child gets older, the nanny will have less and less time to devote to these tasks AND be able to take a break.

My approach was not to require the tasks, but to hire a nanny who I knew would do extra, as she could, just because she likes to be helpful. And we compensate her very well for this via pay, including bonuses, generosity with paid time off, and our verbal appreciation.