Yes, 2 naps is the norm.

I suggest you pick up a few child development books, textbooks and read them. They will be your guide and can help you navigate these issues with your families.

This is OP and thank you all.

While it would be very ideal to have a child who slept on a specific schedule - in reality for some this is just not possible.

Some babies can adapt to a scheduled sleep pattern, while others....not so much.

Sounds like the parents are intentionally wanting their baby to stay awake more during the day, hoping that if she does that then she will sleep more hours at night.

This is unhealthy for an eight-month old child.
At her age, she should be sleeping on demand.

Keeping a tired baby awake when she craves sleep is just outrageous!

I’d suggest that they talk to the pediatrician about the amount f sleep a child needs. If they don’t want to do that, I’d insist on an infant sleep coach (who will sort it out FAST) or I’d quit. A baby who is crying and needing sleep every single day is being tortured. It’s not right, and I wouldn’t be a party to it.

Just because you think they can afford a nanny doesn’t mean they can. Lots of people have big houses, fancy cars and lots and lots of debt. They are flat out wrong that staying awake all day will lead baby to sleep better at night but honestly it sounds like they are going to listen to everybody but you. You can try to share some resources like Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Kids or just encourage them to ask their pediatrician about sleep schedules for this age, but they sound lazy and delusional. They don’t want to deal with the baby so they hope she will sleep basically the entire time you are gone.

Hi, this is OP. Thank you all for your answers. I will definitely have a talk with them. Obviously, they can afford a nanny since they in a million house and lot of fancy cars. My opinion is that their family members are involved and the mom always told me that her mom or sister said that "if the child has a good nap, she won't sleep at night". My charge is overtired. She cried a lot because she is very tired. When I come in the morning, she always tell me "the baby just awake so she doesn't need a nap now". So I wait and put her around 11 or noon. She slept 2.5 hours and the parents wanted me to put her around 5pm for her second nap. During that time she is extremely tired. When I come in the morning, I see that she is tire and wants to sleep. But... Please how can I explain to them the baby needs an appropriate routine schedule and sleeps. The baby is 8 months a looks like an 5 months baby. She is not eating well and sleeping well. I don't want the parents to be frustrated because I want to tell them how to deal with their child but it's exhausting for both the baby and me.
Thank you

An over-tired child is more accident prone. I require my charge to be allowed appropriate sleep. I’d tell these parents to check with the pediatrician about the number of sleep hours needed by an eight month old baby.

If they aren’t interested in their child’s wellbeing, you need to move on.

I am not sure I understand from the post. Do they think the baby is sleeping too much or they want to change the hours the baby sleeps? I don't want my nanny to let my 2 year old sleep past 3pm. If she does, she is up too late. It has happened on a rare day that she did not go down for a nap right away and nanny let her sleep a little later, but generally she sleeps 12:30 -2:30 and not past 3.

So parents having a desired routine and plan for when baby sleeps is ok with me. And before people say you can't modify a baby sleep pattern, you can to some degree. But if family is saying only let baby sleep one hour or drop a nap, that is developmentally inappropriate.

Routinely forcing a tired child to stay awake is child abuse. Sleep deprivation is a known form of torture.

2 to 3 naps (depending on how early the child wakes/duration of nap) is pretty normal for this age. I would not be ok with forcing an 8 month old to stay awake when they’re clearly tired.

My DD was still napping 3 times a day at 8 months. She switched to 2 naps at 9 months and then one nap at 15 months.
So yes, 2 naps a day is normal for an 8mo.
I would talk to them about it.

This is called nickel-and-diming: they can’t comfortably afford a nanny so they feel that you must be constantly justifying your existence by working to make their lives easier. They don’t see or appreciate your work, because their focus is on how much they sacrifice financially. In your situation I would start quietly looking around for a different job.

Is it right an 8 months baby naps in the morning for 2 hours and in the afternoon 1.5 hours? I'm working with a family that seems annoyed that the child sleeps. Parents work from home and they like to slap the door so loud I imagine they wanted the baby awake. Only my guess, but they always come to check with questions "Is she sleeping?". Wow, "She is sleeping a lot". I work from 930 to 530pm . The parents always suggest to put the baby to bed around 5pm and they wanted to wake her up around 6pm when I leave. Basically, they wanted to just stay with her for 1.5 hours before bedtime. The dad suggested to let the baby awake for 3h to 4h before the nap time. During that period the baby is very fuzzy and cry a lot. I told them that won't help the baby and she is always tired but the parents want her to be awake. Now, the mom is pregnant for 4 months and I will have two little charges and I don't know how I will handle it. When the baby is snapping in the morning, it's the time I do her the family laundry, prepared food and do the dishes. I really mind cooking for the family since I love to cook but I really have no time to rest. Obviously, they want to use every penny that they pay me. I need some advices for parents and nannies please. I wanted to have a talk before the end of the year to make sure we are on the right page or find another position. I need some input how to phrase it. Thank you