Anonymous wrote:
In my contract - parents will taking care of the sick child when the child has a high fever, diarrhea or vomiting/food poison.

This is more than fair.

I am a Nanny & I frequently get called in when the parent is ill so I can watch their child while they rest up in bed.

This can be a Godsend for them as caring for a child when you have a fever and/or flu can seem utterly impossible.

Even worse if their child is still not well.

In my contract - parents will taking care of the sick child when the child has a high fever, diarrhea or vomiting/food poison.

MB here. I stay home only when:
- one or both child(ren) is worryingly ill and might need to go the doctor (and I have a pretty high threshold for this)
- I am also sick
- the entire house is clearly going down w/ some sort of norovirus kind of scenario
- the nanny is sick

One of the main reasons we have a nanny is so that parents don't have to stay home for the myriad minor illnesses. Your child will get sick plenty enough for you to care for him/her! And I can pretty much guarantee that the hardest times for the child, and also the family, are the middle of the night sudden onset illnesses (usually those norovirus type things) for which you will absolutely be the frontline. Don't guilt yourself - there will be plenty of times when you'll be the only one caring for your child. (And there may even be a time when you're all so horribly ill that you call your nanny for emergency help - as I did once!)

Anonymous wrote:OP here, this is all very helpful. I am new to this and it is such a relief to not feel pressure to miss work. Now I just have to deal with the mom guilt of not being there when my baby is under the weather, but that’s a separate issue. ??

Chances are your nanny is more relaxed around a sick baby (because she has cared for more) than you are and will be more of a comfort to your baby. I know that was the case with my first child. He could feel my worry and tension and he’d reach for his calm, comforting nanny. It’s the only time he chose her over me. I write this only to relieve your FTM guilt.

OP here, this is all very helpful. I am new to this and it is such a relief to not feel pressure to miss work. Now I just have to deal with the mom guilt of not being there when my baby is under the weather, but that’s a separate issue. ??

Our nanny always cares for our child when he’s sick - contagious or not. She insists and rarely gets what he’s got.

Parents stayed home only when child was contagious. For normal colds or stomaches, I stayed home with kids.

Same as above. As a nanny it’s my job to take care of the children whether they are well or sick. I just cuddle my charge when he’s sick and read a million books.

Nanny here. My employers have never missed work when my charges are sick. That’s my job.

Our contract with our nanny states that she will provide care to our children when they are sick. She suggested this when we were discussing the contract, saying that by the time my kid is sick, she'll have likely likely already been exposed to the germs anyway.

It’s part of the reason people hire a nanny. I’ve always stayed with the kids while they are sick, I bring them to the doctors when needed too.

Thanks for sharing. Our nanny does well with comforting and managing symptoms and I don't want to miss a lot of work and want to be fair to nanny.-OP

We have an amazing nanny who can handle any illness and medication. And DD is totally comfortable with her as she is very calm and comforting. I would only need to stay home if if I had more than one child and both were sick... and maybe not even then.

What criteria are you all using to determine whether you stay home with your child, or if the nanny cares for her during the day?