I recently started a job as a babysitter for a 9 month old baby. Before I started the job I was told I “must be okay with cameras” which was fine by me as I’ve babysat with cameras before. I guess what I’m wondering is how much monitoring is too much?

Every time I am caring for the baby the mom chimes in on the cameras to say hello to her baby or intervene when she feels as though I could do something differently at least 3-4 times per session. If she doesn’t chime in on cameras she’ll personally text me to do something or not do something. Not to mention the feeding schedule is not set and she gives me new times everyday, so if I manage to mess up a new time she gave me by even 30 minutes she texts me that I’m doing it wrong.

Before receiving this position I provided her plenty of experience and even references. I figure she did not take these into consideration being that she set my wage at $18/hr in California.

The pay would be fine however the surveillance is becoming a huge issue. Every morning before she heads off to work she gives me a critic on the previous sitting. The critiques are usually so specific that you’d have to be watching the cameras 24/7 in order to even notice such small details. I’m sure she’s protective over her baby. However, her baby has never been hurt under my care and I’m wondering if this much surveillance when I’ve been shown to care for her child is too much?

For the summer my husband and I hired a 19 year old to nanny for our kids, she has minimal experience but is responsible. The schedule is 5 days a week 8 hours each day. She asked for live in and we agreed since we have proper private space for her. We then asked her, her rate based on the job description that we gave her and she said $18.75/hour for our twin boys aged 8. We were shocked since we’re willing to pay $35-38/hour but we agreed on her rate. We also told her we would pay her weekly so at her rate $750/week. When it came time to pay I decided to pay her more because I felt she deserved it and so I paid her $1000 for the week ($25/hour). She then went on to say she wanted more money and should be paid closer to $30/hour. In the beginning we made a contract that she signed and where we all agreed on the $18.75/hr the rate she GAVE us. and even when it came to pay her I gave her more. $25/hour. Not sure what to do but she was very unhappy. I told her we would think about a bonus check at the end of the summer. Is that a good idea? How much should that be?

I’m 27 and have been working for the same family for two years. I work about 50 hours a week, five days a week, and I only receive eight combined PTO/sick days per year (something I will be talking to them about and changing this month).

I’ve never taken an actual vacation during the time I’ve worked for them. Usually, I only plan things around the family’s vacations or weeks when they already don’t need me. The problem is that they sometimes give me very little notice. For example, they recently took an almost two-week vacation but only told me about a week in advance, so it was too last-minute for me to plan or book anything without me spending an arm and a leg.

The only upcoming time I have off is about three days during Halloween week, and I’m usually off for Thanksgiving week. Other than that, I don’t have anything planned.

I really want to start traveling at least once or twice a year instead of always waiting for the family to schedule their vacations. How do other nannies bring this up with their employers? How much notice should I give, and is it reasonable to request a full week off even though I have limited PTO?

I’d appreciate advice from other nannies or nanny employers on how to handle this professionally.

Hello! My partner recently proposed and we are getting married next year, I have been with my current NF since January and I adore this sweet girl, she will be a little over 2 years old once the date rolls around and we don’t have any family or friends with younger daughters so she really is the most obvious choice if we have a flower girl. My NF and I are friendly, we don’t hang out outside of work but we have a good relationship and have good chatty conversations everyday that I work. I came to my NKs first birthday party. My NPs have given me bonus pay when I say I’m going on dates with my partner and they bought us champagne and sparkling lemonade as an engagement gift. I guess I’m just nervous to ask because this is my first nanny family and I’m unsure if that would be over stepping. We of course are planning to invite the whole family to our wedding. As a NP would you think it’s weird? And as a nanny if you were in this situation would this also be something you would consider asking? TIA

I hateeeee when kids do something to my NKs and their parents just don't… parent😭

For context: my NKs are 2 and 4. The class allows kids up to age 6.

I know snatching isn't the worst thing a kid can do, and I know they're young. Also, this isn't even the worst thing I've seen a parent not correct. This all happened in ONE class sitting, and I was genuinely baffled.

Scenario 1: NK2 is happily playing with a toy when a 6 year old walks over, grabs it right out of NK2 hands, and walks away. Instead of correcting him, his mom laughs and goes, “I guess he really wanted that." Then a few other moms laughed too 😐 Not a single "give it back" "we don't take toys" or "say sorry" My NK is usually pretty resilient, but just stood there looking confused and upset.

Scenario 2: Later, my NK is helping clean up the toys. A 4 year old comes over and snatches them out of NK2s hands. Her mom says, sorry...to me. But doesn't actually tell her child not to do that or have her give them back. Like... the apology is nice, but I think your kid is the one who needed to hear something.

Scenario 3: Then my NK finally has enough and snatches a toy from the first kid. I immediately stepped in, corrected & explained why that’s not okay, apologized on NK2’ behalf (doesn't talk yet), and had NK2 come sit with me. Meanwhile, the other kid's mom gives my 2 year old NK a dirty look. Ma'am... where was that energy five minutes ago? 😭 The kid snatched first and I STILL correct my NKs behavior.

And before anyone asks why I didn’t say something to the other parents, I’m not my NKs parent. I didn’t want to overstep or create an awkward situation for my NKs’ mom.

I want to preface by saying i made lunch every single day this summer at home so that they wouldn’t have to spend more money. But anyways both times I ate out with my nanny family they didn’t pay me back for my food. Out of courtesy i told the mom what I ate and how much the cost would be if you remove that from the receipt. I didn’t expect her to actually only pay for the kids. So basically both times I ate out I nearly worked an hour for free. Has this ever happened to anyone else? I thought this was common courtesy but maybe not. Anyways I ended up quitting (not over this, over much worse) and I have never been happier.

EDIT: neither time was my choice. I would not have eaten out if it was up to me.

Hi, I'm a 20 year old nanny to an 11 year old girl and a 7 year old boy for the summer. I have about a week and a half left.
After the first week or two, I decided to restrict the iPad time to while I'm not in the home (I work 9-4). The reason I did this was because they have unrestricted time on their iPads and I was dealing with a lot of attitude problems when I gave them an hour of iPad time, specifically from the 7 year old boy.
Now, he associates me with no iPad. This has led to a lot of mean behavior from him, such as groaning and sometimes crying when I arrive in the morning, and asking me almost every day if it is Friday yet (this week I took Friday off for a family trip, so it was "Is it Thursday yet?").
He's also told me before that he was "really happy" one day when I felt a bit under the weather (I've been having some health problems, I wasn't sick in a contagious way).
I know that I only have about a week and a half left of nannying for them, but I think about quitting every day. I'm really at the end of my rope. I'm a really sensitive person, and while I don't show him that he is getting to me I often come home sad and upset. There was even a time when I had to hide in their laundry room because I was crying. I'm not sure how to deal with another week.

So up until a couple weeks ago I just had 1 NK who lovesss going to the pool. I started watching his new sibling a couple weeks ago which makes it impossible to take him. We only went once this year and I honestly just feel bad lol.

It used to be whenever I was sick or anything NK one set of grandparents would come watch him but once he got bigger and heavier they couldn’t any longer (they are up in age).

My question is would it be wrong or unprofessional of me to ask my Nanny Parents if they would want to ask grandparents if they would want to watch the new sibling (3 months old) for a couple hours so I can take him?

I don’t think they are able to take him much or I would just chalk it up to oh they will take NK on the weekend but since I don’t think that’s the case I want NK to beable to go at least one more time this summer.

I would love the opinions of both Nannie’s and nanny parents!

I resigned and I am glad I resigned as it turns out I dodged a bullet. I have reviewed my poppins stubs and it showed pay for 3 days of the time I worked for people I resigned from not paid out, I messaged the company and they confirmed my suspicion, they did not pay me. I wrote an email (it’s now 3 weeks after they were supposed to have paid me 500$) but never heard from them (I am giving it maybe 1-2 more days (counting after work hours) and after that I am figuring out the small claims court process. has anybody gone through this? advice?? thanks all.

Last month my friend asked me to be her infants nanny. I worked Monday nights - Thursday night (she would drop off her baby Monday night because she worked like 7am-7pm and sometimes 8pm so I agreed to her dropping off the baby Monday night to make her Tuesday mornings easier). I charged her $300 every two weeks and I could tell she was bothered but I tried to convince myself that she wasn't. I worked for about 3 weeks, she paid me and then ghosted for a week. She told me she would let me know her schedule but went silent. I found out she took the baby to her aunts house and it immediately angered me because I felt like she could've said something to me. Anyway, she texted me two weeks ago asking my schedule (after ghosting me for a week) and asked if she could pay me $150. I thought the price was a little low but I needed the money so I accepted the gig. The part that makes me really angry is I watched the child for only one day and didn't find out that I wouldn't be her nanny anymore through my mother. My friend found someone else to be her child's nanny and didn't have the decency to tell me.. Also even though she got paid , she didn't pay me. I have to wait until the next pay check to get any money and I'm scared about what her new excuse will be. Am I overreacting? I'm angry at her because she didn't communicate with me and $300 is SO low considering I was working Monday night - Thursday night. She was always late to pick up her child Thursday nights and most recently (before she ghosted me) she was almost 2 hours late picking up her child for no valid reason. She also didn't give me any pay when she got paid from orientation (please tell me if im overreacting)I feel so so stupid. I'm two situations away from walking away from this profession and I don't want to. My heart is so torn because I made so many plans and now I'm without a job.

I’m a part-time nanny with 21 guaranteed hours per week. When I was hired, those 21 hours were attached to specific days and times, and I agreed to keep those hours available for the family each week.
Over time, I’ve often worked more than my guaranteed 21 hours and have been flexible when the family needed coverage on different days, different times, or additional hours beyond my regular schedule. I generally haven’t minded helping out and have tried to be accommodating whenever possible.
The issue is that it now feels like that flexibility has become the expectation. If the family doesn’t need me during my regularly scheduled hours, they often want me to make those hours up on completely different days or times, including times that were not part of my original availability when I accepted the job.
For example, I was recently informed this week that the family will be going on vacation next week. Instead of paying my guaranteed hours while they’re away, they’ve asked me to work those hours in advance before they leave. The problem is that these additional hours are not necessarily within the days and times I originally agreed to reserve for them, and I have another job, and personal obligations, that I’ve already scheduled around my normal work hours.
My understanding of guaranteed hours was that I reserve a specific block of time each week for the family. Because I keep that time available, I may have to turn down other work or opportunities during those hours. If the family chooses not to use those hours because they are traveling, have family visiting, don’t need childcare, etc., I would still be paid because I held that time open for them.
Instead, it seems like the expectation is that I should continuously rearrange my schedule and work different days and times whenever the family’s plans change, even when those hours fall outside the availability I originally agreed to provide.
To be clear, I don’t mind being flexible when I can be. My concern is that flexibility appears to have become an obligation rather than something voluntary. It feels like the guaranteed hours only apply if I’m willing to move those hours around whenever requested.
Am I misunderstanding how guaranteed hours typically work? Is it reasonable to expect that my guaranteed hours apply to the days and times I originally reserved for the family, or is it standard for families to require nannies to make up those hours at different times whenever they choose not to use the regular schedule?

Does this seem fair? What would you ask for/change?

Wage: The childcare provider will be paid $TK per hour, not to exceed 40 hours per week.

Payment Schedule: Each set of parents will pay the nanny their share of her wages every other Friday, starting TK.

Guaranteed Hours: Both sets of parents agree to pay their agreed hourly rate even if their child is absent to ensure consistent income for the caregiver, with the exception of the December Holiday Break.

If both sets of parents have to cancel one or more of the caregiver’s days for the coming week, then the caregiver and the parents will work together to find a new date/time where those hours of work can be made up within a month of that date. Either way, the parents will pay the caregiver in full for those hours.

If the caregiver will miss one or more days of work, she will work with the parents to find a new date where those hours of work can be made up within a month of that date. If that isn’t possible, the Employee will forfeit the wages for the day(s) she doesn’t work. The caregiver will offer as much notice as possible for any anticipated time off.

Late Arrival/Stay: If the caregiver is late by one hour or more, they are not paid for that time. If the parents are more than 15 minutes late for dismissal, they will pay for the additional time.

December Holiday Break: No caregiving will take place between December 23, 2026 and January 1, 2027. Because of the extended holiday, the caregiver will not receive normal wages for this time period, and instead will receive a holiday bonus equal to the pay for one week of work.

UPDATE: I have decided not to ask for additional compensation for any new tasks I take on while kiddos are at school. Thanks everyone for the input! This is my first time navigating something like this and was seeing mixed opinions, and still see some mixed opinions in the comments here, but ultimately I feel best about not charging extra. I did propose we revisit our contract to write out our new expectations.

———

The NK I’ve been mainly responsible for is going to start part-time preschool soon, and I will have ~6 free hours per week without a kiddo to care for. The family has said they plan to keep my hours & rate the same for that time. I’m obviously happy to do any kid-related tasks such as organizing toys, clothes, books, doing their laundry, etc.

The family has also asked if I’d be willing to do their grocery shopping, and potentially other tasks that would fall more into a “family assistant” role.

Should I ask to be paid extra for tasks outside of my typical nanny duties, as outlined in my contract (which explicitly states i am only responsible for tasks related to the children)? I already brought up the idea a few months ago when they first mentioned NK was going to start preschool, where I suggested a potential raise to compensate for the increased scope of responsibilities. They said they don’t have room in the budget for a raise. Then, I suggested the idea of “à la carte” payments for any non-child-related tasks they ask me to do. For example, an extra $5-10 to do a grocery shopping trip, but no official change to my rate. They said that could make sense, but we moved on without coming to a final agreement.

Would love input from nannies and employers who have been through this transition before! Thank you.

I accidentally taught my three year old nanny boy how to say (and the context of) “what the heck”. Not entirely my fault, but he will not stop and mom wants him to and it’s become a power struggle and I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO. I always come with natural consequences and what is the NATURAL CONSEQUENCE HERE? I’m trying to teach him potty words in the bathroom (??) omg y’all I messed up, what now… helllppp. 🙏🙏🙏

Hey everyone!

I’m looking to get back into the nanny job search, but I’ll admit I’ve been overthinking one thing.

My last long-term position ended last August because the family no longer needed a full-time nanny. After that, I did a few trials with families between September, December–January, and mid-January through the end of January, but unfortunately none of them were the right fit.

In March, I connected with a family that honestly felt like the perfect match. We were in contact for about a month, but at the last minute they decided to stay with their current nanny. I was definitely disappointed but nothing I could do about it.

After that, I decided to take a step back from the job search and focus on school instead. I enrolled full-time for the summer, and now that summer is coming to an end, I’m ready and excited to start looking for my next nanny position.

I try not to let all the social media noise about the nanny industry get to me, but I can’t help worrying that employers will see the gap on my résumé and assume the worst.

For any nanny employers here—would a gap like this be a red flag to you if a candidate explained it honestly? I’d really appreciate your perspective.

The other day my employer asked me to babysit her toddler, his dad was supposed to bring him home by 16:30, I came just in time but they didn't show up for another 15 minutes. I was babysitting until we came home, at 18:20 exactly. Today, my customer transferred me money for an hour and a half instead of almost two hours, saying that the time I was waiting doesn't count for working. I thought that she just made a mistake and told her, she immediately started accusing me of wanting too much. So IN SHORT: am I in the wrong for expecting to be paid for the time I spent just waiting for my employer to show up?

My MB is home working on schoolwork and taking clients virtually everyday and she’s around a lot when she’s not busy. Normally I don’t mind, I’ve forced myself to get used to it with a previous job and now this one. She’s very nice and I like this family. One day a week DB has the day off and he’s around as well here and there.
I struggle with her doing my duties I guess? Like sometimes I’ll go to put sunscreen on and she’ll say “why haven’t you got your sunscreen on?” Or “come on you’re running late!” And she does it. I feel inadequate at times or like I’m not doing my job right because she beats me to the task. Or when G2 poops and it literally just happened and it looks like I’m not paying attention to changing her bc she caught it first. Sometimes I’ll try to help the kids during a meltdown and she steps in and takes over when I don’t need her to. Idk I feel like my flow is disrupted and it’s frazzling. Should I bring this up? One of the reasons she’s home is so she can see the kids and wants a nanny who can collaborate with her and that’s fine, I just feel like it makes my job harder at times and I don’t know if I should say anything or just suck it up.

My eardrums have bursted. My nanny kiddo screams when we correct her, if we don’t acknowledge her instantly or if the car stops at a red light or stop sign. I’ve tried saying “inside voices, shh” and covering my ears to let her know she’s being too loud- Idk what else to do but my ears are throbbing. What do you guys do for this?

Hello. I am in need of some advice!
Background & context:
I needed extra income so I picked up a morning nanny position. I had a different (more flexible) job when I took this nanny position but I recently got a new full time job as a preschool teacher and the hours are 9am-6pm.

My nanny job is 7am-8:30 Monday through Friday. 2 kids who are 2 and 4. My responsibilities include waking them up each morning, breakfast duties, and dropping them at daycare.
We have a contract in place which states I must give 60 days notice of leave which is insane IMO. So if I do leave, I still have to work 60 more days like what?

I am absolutely exhausted. Working basically 11 hours a day with kids is a lot. I’ve always been in childcare and I absolutely love it but I feel like doing both jobs is taking a toll.

The other reason for this needed advice is about the family themselves. I am getting extremely frustrated with the parents and their parenting style. The mom works from home and starts her day around 5am and dad leaves after we do so he’s also around everyday.

The 4 year old is not a morning person which i understand but she grunts at me and will not speak for the majority of the morning. The parents just laugh it off and say “oh she’s just having a morning”. It’s very difficult to function when she’s like this and they haven’t given me any advice or assistance. She screamed at me today about wanting a different breakfast and did so while the mom was holding her. The mom said absolutely nothing and shrugged it off. I find it so disrespectful to allow your child to speak to a nanny that way and to not correct her.

I am left in a position of feeling like I’m parenting the kids and grasping at straws to get through the morning.
The dad will go against the things I say (example: one morning it was getting way too late and the toddler wanted yogurt. I said no because we had to leave and he’s very slow with eating. Dad comes down and I asked for assistance because the toddler was losing it. Dad gave him the yogurt and forced him to eat it quickly even though I had already told him I said no yogurt).
The mom always disrupts the morning by coming upstairs to say hi and the kids lose it every time. They are so upset after she leaves and she doesn’t help at all.

The dad is actually nice but he’s literally next to me almost everyday and it feels like I’m a waste of money tbh.
The mom treats me like an employee which I am but I have nannied for so many families that treat me with respect and as if I’m apart of their team.

I am torn because I would use the money but I don’t think it’s worth it based on this past month. Also with the new job it’s so hard going from that to teaching.

Idk what to do. Any advice is great.

I work for a genuinely kind couple, which is why I’m struggling with this so much. I respect them a lot and don’t want to come across as criticizing their parenting.

The problem is that the kids’ behavior has become really difficult to manage. One will completely ignore me when I give directions, which usually leads the other to do the same. There’s constant whining, pushing boundaries, and refusing to listen. I don’t feel like they respect me as an authority figure, and if I’m being honest, they don’t seem to listen to their parents much either.

It’s gotten to the point where I dread going to work. I need the money, but I’m exhausted and I don’t feel like I’m able to do my job well because I’m constantly trying to manage behavior instead of actually nannying.

Has anyone had this conversation with a family without making them feel like you’re calling their kids “bad” or insulting their parenting? How did you bring it up, and did it actually help? TIA

Hey everyone! I’m looking for part-time to full-time nanny work in the Canton/Towson area (open to anywhere within about 30-40 miles) and want to go through something legit (not Facebook Marketplace or random listings).

Any agencies or platforms you’d recommend — or ones to avoid? Thanks!

With the air quality so bad in the Midwest and Northeast I just want you all to be mindful and stay safe! Try to stay in as much as possible and make sure to mask up when you do have to go outside!

I’m looking for some outside opinions because I’m not sure what’s considered fair.

I work in Seattle and am officially hired as a nanny. I currently make $30/hour.

I mainly care for one child, but I also help with two older children when they’re home or need rides, supervision, or other help.

Besides childcare, I also do grocery shopping, meal prep, dishes, cleaning, laundry, organizing, errands, and whatever else needs to get done around the house.

I also help with work related administrative tasks such as researching people, drafting emails and messages, making phone calls, and other office work. While it’s not what I was hired for, it’s become part of my job.

I’ve also done miscellaneous things like cutting hair and helping with personal projects. I’m generally expected to help with whatever comes up.

I use my own car for pickups, drop offs, errands, and grocery shopping, and I’m not reimbursed for gas or mileage.

The biggest challenge for me is the scheduling. I have no guaranteed hours, and my schedule changes frequently, sometimes the same day. Because of that, it’s hard to make plans or commit to another job since I never really know when I’ll be needed.

I’m also often not told what time the parent will be home, so I regularly end up staying later than expected. I don’t mind staying late when needed, but it’s difficult not knowing whether I’ll be done at 5:00, 6:30, or even later until the day unfolds.

I genuinely enjoy working for the family, so this isn’t meant to complain or criticize anyone. I’m just trying to figure out whether this is typical for a nanny position.

Does $30/hour seem fair for a job that’s officially a nanny position but also includes household assistant duties, office and administrative work, using my personal vehicle without mileage reimbursement, no guaranteed hours, frequent last minute schedule changes, and regularly staying late because I don’t know when I’ll be relieved?

Would you ask for a raise, guaranteed hours, a more predictable schedule, or does this sound pretty standard, especially in Seattle?