My nanny works an 8 hour day and brings her own lunch. If she works overtime, we provide her with dinner.

I have always been told I am welcome to help myself to anything in the fridge/pantry, but it usually takes me a while to get comfortable enough to do it, a few months definitely. Nowadays I usually cook a bit more when I cook for the kids so there's enough for me, and sometimes snack on their things, or prepare a small and light on ingredients meal from their things if I'm babysitting late. But if I know I'll be making something the kids like and I don't, I make sure to bring my own food.

I'd probably just keep mentioning occasionally that your nanny should help herself, or if you know she likes something specific, get it for her once and tell her that there's x in the fridge just for her.

I only eat one to two meals a day and do so before and after work. If it's a longer than normal day then I may bring something. I do bring some snacks or eat some snacks that my nanny family has approved (they actually say I can eat anything I want). I do bring ingredients to make an afternoon smoothie.
This is something that should be discussed in the interview or very first day

Families always tell me to help myself to anything I'd like. Also they ask me to add to their shopping list anything I want or whatever I'd like to try for their child.

I have access to my employers online grocery account, and they let me add whatever I'd like to it each week. In the event that I forget to do so, MB will either shoot me a reminder text over the weekend, or add what she knows I usually get/like.

Admittedly I felt awkward about this at first, seeing how much my stuff would add up to, but I'm more or less comfortable with this arrangement now, and grateful to my employers for their generosity in this regard.

Also, since I'm a vegetarian and order mostly different items than what the family eats, I never run into the problem of accidently polishing off something that they may have wanted.

As PPs mentioned, every family is different in what they can afford and are willing to offer their nanny in regards to lunch.

Since your nanny's an adult, and you've already put your offer out there, it's best to just leave it up to her at this point.

Perhaps you can occasionally remind her that she's more than welcome to help herself to certain foodstuffs in the fridge and/or pantry. Either she'll get comfortable doing so, or she'll continue to do what she's already doing.

She's an adult - you've made it clear what you're willing to do and she can fend for herself.

My bosses have always told me to help myself to whatever I need. Aside from drinking a lot of their coffee, I eat very little while I'm at work. I usually have a few bites of the lunch I prepare for my charge, maybe a small serving of leftovers, or if they have something I really like (bagels and cream cheese!) I help myself as long as the stock isn't dwindling. It's equal parts 1. I don't want to eat something they were planning on eating/inconvenience them and 2. I just generally don't eat much during the day.

You've already made the offer so she probably just prefers to bring her own food.

We told him to eat whatever he wanted, and he generally brings lunch and eats our food for snacks. After he'd been around for a while we figured out what he eats and we purposely stock those foods.

My nanny won't touch our food even though we really really encourage her to do so. So now I leave a 20 dollar Giant gift card on the counter every week. It encourages an outing with the baby and she can pick up some stuff she wants.

I been a nanny for a few families and I have always been welcome to snack or have lunch.
A few families have taken the time to find out what I like to drink and then try to keep some in the house.

Sometimes I just don't have time to eat much of anything.
Op that could be the case with your nanny.

Usually I try to eat something that looks safe, as in, no one is saving it or its needed for another meal.

If I want something special I just bring it myself.

OP, this has been discussed endlessly, so definitely search the board history. Summary: some people feel strongly that nannies should be encouraged to eat anything in the house and that any meals should be included during work hours. Others feel strongly that as with any other job, the expectation us that you bring your own food. Then there are the middle of the road people - feel that nanny should generally bring her own food, but that she is welcome to anything if she forgets or needs more.

We invite our nanny to eat anything, but she always brings her own stuff. And honestly I would be weirded out a bit if she really brought nothing and expected us to have three meals a day to her liking on hand. She does eat whatever she makes the kids sobetimes and sometimes some snacks or a drink, but the vast majority of days she arrives with lunch and snacks in hand.

My nanny brings her own but is welcome to basically anything. It's not really the norm to provide a full-on lunch.

One of the perks at my job is that I can eat whatever I want. My MB had made it abundantly clear on many occasions. I usually end up eating a little of the meals I prepare for the kids and also grazing on snacks with them occasionally. The amount I eat compared to the three of them hardly makes a dent! So, maybe she IS eating but you can't really tell?

Curious as well..

What do families normally provide as far as lunch goes for a nanny? We have a fabulous nanny who we want to make comfortable but I'm a little concerned because she doesn't appear to eat at all during the day. We usually have left-overs from the night before in the fridge which we've told her that she's welcome to, but she hasn't touched any of it that I can tell (we're admittedly pretty poor cooks so I don't blame her). We also told her to help herself to any of the ingredients in the kitchen and to let us know if there is anything we can get from the grocery store but she always says she's fine. Are we expected to prepare a separate meal for her lunch? What do other families do?