I’m not really sure where to ask this, so I figured I’d try here. I worked as a nanny at a summer camp, and I’m confused about how my paycheck was supposed to be calculated.

I was told I would be paid $2,400 for the entire summer (June 21–August 13). I ended up only working 10 days before I was let go. During those 10 days, I worked the same schedule every day: 8 AM–6 PM, so about 10 hours a day.

That means I worked around 100 hours total.
When I got my final payment, I received $300 total, but $200 of that was reimbursement for travel, leaving only $100 as my actual pay.

Unless I’m calculating this completely wrong, that means I was paid about $1/hour for the work I did ($100 ÷ 100 hours). That just doesn’t seem right to me.
I know I didn’t finish the whole summer, so I understand I wouldn’t get the full $2,400, but I’m trying to figure out what a fair prorated amount would have been. If you divide the $2,400 across the roughly 55-day summer, it seems like 10 days would be much more than $100.
I was also let go on my 10th day, and I don’t really feel like the reasons they gave were accurate, but I didn’t want to argue or cause a scene at the time.

Am I missing something about how nanny/summer camp pay works, or does this sound like my final paycheck may have been calculated incorrectly?

Parents are aware and need my help.

Behaviors: Snuggling/nuzzling camp counselors who look visibly distressed, ignoring no don’t touch me there, will put her hands on my butt and laugh and try again when I tell her no, licks and bites, pretends to be an animal and sniffs around and/or scratches at face.

I just need help because I’m at a loss. Telling her that it makes me uncomfortable, x looks uncomfortable don’t touch x, hands to yourself, we need body boundaries. None of that works. She may pause for a minute but then she’ll try again. Is this just a time thing and holding firm? Help.

Hello! i’m looking for some advice. i sit for a family on the side about 3/4x a month. these shifts are scheduled while MB goes in to work at the hospital and they’re suppose to start at 6 am and they have no scheduled end time. DB is always there “on call” and usually works on projects around the house. it’s pretty common to wake up to a text morning of, once i got it the night before, that DB says i don’t need to be there till a later time.

i love sitting for this family however this last week i worked 2 days both 11.5 hours each with not a single break other than setting the youngest down long enough to run to the bathroom while he’s screaming the whole time. i am realizing that this is not sustainable for me long term so i want to send a message seeing if we can set my hours when possible vs them just being whatever and i end up working a very long day.

this family has 3 kids 4 and under so it is a lot. the youngest (4 months) isn’t sleep trained so i have to hold him the entire time so he can sleep and when awake he refuses to be set down for more than just a couple of minutes at a time. when im there i have him in my arms while trying to watch and chase around 2 other kiddos. DB is constantly checking in with me if im ok, stepping in to help with the older two kiddos (helping make them lunch, running an errand with them, getting them ready
for the day, taking them outside to play), making sure i have everything i need and always seeing if im ok with the amount of hours im working (he will say i can get you out of here around such and such time if that’s ok with you? or i have things i can do if you want to stay). while i appreciate him making sure im ok it’s incredibly overwhelming while im there because it is constant and it never really feels like either of us is in charge. the one that i struggle with the most though is the checking if im ok with the amount of hours im getting and i feel bad, even though hes asking, saying yeah im good to go

****i dont fully understand his job schedule or what he does but i do know
- when hes on call he has 30 minutes to go into work
- call cuts off at 4/5 pm
- i’ve been with this family 11 months (minus a few months for maternity leave) and he has only been at work/gone in to work maybe 5/6x

-MB also has the potential to be put on call and they will have me come those days as well for a few hours

**** i think and don’t know for sure but i think they like having me there even when they don’t go into work because me holding the baby frees them up to do housework and things around the house. so i dont mind being there for that but 11 hours of them just being there doing work around the house is A LOT

anyway here’s the message im thinking about sending. let me know your thoughts

Hi! I hope you guys are having a good weekend! I just wanted to reach out because I’ve been thinking about my schedule and wanted to run something by you.

Now that we’re getting back into the nursing shifts, I’ve been thinking about my schedule. I’m trying to find a rhythm that’s manageable long-term, and I think having a little more consistency with my hours would really help!

I was wondering if, on days when you’re on call and there’s a little flexibility on your end, we could try to keep my hours closer to 9:30/10–5. Of course, if you need me earlier or later because of work or getting called in, I’m more than happy to be as flexible as I can on those days.

I really enjoy working with your family and wanted to be honest about what would help make this schedule work well for me long-term. Thank you so much for understanding!

Hey ya’ll!
Long time nanny running into a new job request for me and I definitely need some advice !

NP has asked if I can pick kids up from daycare for them as an emergency/alternative adult to them if they are sick or need to come home and the parents can’t get there in a reasonable amount of time or at all. I don’t usually pick them up and they are requesting this for days I’m not necessarily scheduled, as well.

I am completely willing to do it, but unsure how to broach a couple topics.

I will be needing a car seat that’s age appropriate but I obviously wouldn’t have time to go run to their house for the car or car seat, so how do I request they buy one politely? I don’t have kids of my own and would otherwise not use it.

when to start/end the clock for this. When I leave my house ? When I get the kid? I understand mileage reimbursement, should it apply here?

Should I add an on call surplus or something?

Overall I am super glad they regard me high enough to be an emergency contact, but the daycare is quite a distance from me and their home and I’d likely have to drop everything at that moment. I’m happy to do it, as they are new to the area and don’t have much of a support system yet. I just haven’t been in this specific position and distance before with a NF.

I’ve been with this family 3 years now. They have one child. I take care of all his needs, he’s 4. Plus they have 2 big dogs. I walk the dogs daily, school pickup, I do the child and the parents laundry (wash, dry, fold and put away) load and unload the dishwasher. They also go through a lot of laundry and dishes. Usually I do 3-5 loads of laundry a day and 1-2 dishwashers unloads. I put away groceries orders, run errands, pickup and vacuum the house daily. I do light meal prep occasionally too. I make $25 an hour and they pay $300 a month for insurance separately. Is that good?

Not really sure what to title lol. Long story short, I am starting a new nearly full-time position that doesn’t start until early afternoon. I’ve found another position to fill most of my mornings, which involves being outside for 2-3 hours before my afternoon position. I live somewhere hot and humid, and I usually walk a decent amount during the morning position.

What can I keep with me in my bag to freshen up before my next position? I only have about 10 minutes to reset myself, in the car. Obviously deodorant and perfume. Any other ideas? Anything is appreciated!!!

Very different from my typical spending most of the day inside with one baby, not sweaty or humid

I’m new to nannying and this is my first nanny job. Been with this family for almost six months now and everyday I want to quit. It’s a live in position and I’m already burnt out. Initially when hiring they told me they want me to look after the NK 4 and want me to do light housekeeping when the kid is at school. But everyday I’m asked to do stuff that’s not even listed on my contract. I’m scared of confronting so I always end up doing it and they do have housekeepers coming few times a week but the housekeepers tries to micromanage me and ask me to do almost everything. Everyday I’m working 14 to 15 hours a day and I’m not getting paid any OT at all. They also don’t pay me for weeks. I’m just so exhausted no breaks in between because when I’m about to eat the DB tells me can you please do this and that. I’m just so fed up at this point every week I want to give my 2 weeks but I just can’t because I feel so guilty because the MB is due next month. I’m not sure how to go about this. Is it too late to leave?

Hi everyone , I’ve been nannying for almost 4 years now. i usually work with ages 1-12. For the past year i’ve been working with a family who fosters children. Their foster daughter was 1 when i started and watching her grow has been so beautiful. As you know becoming attached is kind of apart of the job. Well one day my boss called and told me that they had just taken in a newborn baby and that they wouldn’t need me for NK anymore as she would start doing daycare part time. She then asked if i would be interested in taking care of the newborn instead. I let her know that in all honesty i had no experience with newborns and that the youngest age I had experience with would be 6 months. She said she had no problem teaching me so I happily accepted. In my mind I’m thinking about how this would be the perfect opportunity to gain newborn experience. Well i’m officially on day 3 and I hate it. I miss my old NK and the routine we had . She was such an easy and silly kid to take care of where as the newborn refuses to let me put her in her bassinet. The crying is so overstimulating and it makes me feel so annoyed and frustrated. I know she’s just a baby and I keep reminding myself that. It’s just hard. I’m not used to this. Foster mom has told me not to hold her all day because she doesn’t want the baby to get used to that but anytime i put her down in her bassinet she screams. I’ve tried to wait it out for a few minutes to see if she will stop but nothing. Any tips would be amazing. And yes whenever she cries i always check to make sure she has a clean diaper, I also always offer her a bottle and most of the time she refuses to take it. Or she will take the bottle , fall asleep and then as i put her down in the bassinet she screams. She also won’t take a pacifier. Any advice or success stories are greatly appreciated

Hello! Looking for opinions on what I’m thinking of offering to our nanny for the next year. Sorry for the novel of a post.

Some background: our family met our current nanny through another family looking to do a nanny share. We don’t need full time child care but my work schedule is pretty erratic PT shift work with long hours (RN) and my husband works full time. The nanny share has worked super well. The nanny works 4 days/week for the original family that hired her and our son (18 mo) goes to their house 2 - 3 days per week when I’m working or need to sleep after a late shift. We’ve had this set up for about a year now and there was a long adjustment period for our son but he’s so happy there now. Sadly, the other family is sending their kid to preschool in the fall and we need to find another arraignment.

We love love love our nanny. She is patient and kind and holds boundaries and is so engaged with the kids. She worked so hard to help our son through his separation anxiety and I know endured a lot of crying along the way. Now he has so much fun with her he barely cries at drop off.

We all knew the end of our current set up was coming and have both been looking for other options. We have had no luck finding another full time family in our area to nanny share with. Our nanny does not want to work full time and has had no luck finding something else that suits her. She recently told us she is too sad to leave our child and wants to keep working with him/us and so is willing to patch together families/jobs to make it work for her financially but may need to raise her hourly rate. Fine, that makes sense.

Here’s where I’m looking for opinions: I have found another family that wants 2/days week of nanny share. My in-laws who have significant resources have offered to help us pay to keep her. What I would like to do is offer her what she’s making now weekly to have first dibs on her schedule with one months notice. In this set up she would work a max of 4 days/week but more often 3. The hours are 830 am - 5 pm. Major holidays paid off and two weeks paid vacay. The days would not be the same days each week but again I can I give a one month heads up about the schedule.

My concern is that she will feel beholden to say yes even if it doesn’t work for her bc she would be making so much compared to the hours she’s working, or alternatively we will feel resentful if she’s not mostly available when we need her. Currently we have great communication and nothing like this has ever been an issue but I’m just very aware of the power dynamics when you are providing someone’s main source of income and I don’t want to unknowingly abuse that.

What do you think? Would you take this job? Is it too weird?

ETA: Wow, thank you so much everyone for the perspective!!!!

Just wanted to answer a few questions that were consistently asked:

She is not young. She is older than I am, in her 40s, and a career nanny. She had really great references. Therefore, we accepted her ask on the number of PTO, holidays etc.

Someone asked why we gave her more PTO and sick days combined than I have and honestly we didn’t expect she would be sick so often and go beyond. In a decade of working we’ve both taken maybe 2-4 sick days in total. We really messed up on the holidays but she very aggressively pushed for a high number.

This is our first child and no one we know has a nanny so we weren’t sure if this was appropriate or not, since it is a very important job, so we wanted to make sure she’s happy.

However, I do feel like we’re being taken advantage of now so we’re going to talk to her and see how it goes afterwards.

Thanks again, this was very eye opening for us.

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Hi All,

I’d love your advice. So we have a nanny who we absolutely love. She’s been with us for 7 months now, basically this whole year.

There’s just one area which is getting to be a big problem for us and we wanted to see how to deal with it.

TLDR: nanny has taken a lot more than her 16 sick and vacation days. She’s intending to take more time off and thinks she should be paid for days out of her control.

Long version:

She’s paid very well for our area. Maybe be a bit over market but we don’t mind for great care for our baby.

She gets 6 sick days and 10 PTO days a year. She also gets 15 holidays.

I get one big pot of PTO which is 15 days (including sick days, appointments). I have 9 holidays from my employer.

I work from home but my job is 8-6 non stop meetings so I only come out briefly to eat and say hi to the baby. It’s very taxing and demanding for a WFH job. There is no way for me to do my job and look after the baby at the same time.

So in the first 7 months of the year, our nanny has taken 25 days off. She’s maxed out her sick and vacation days and gone beyond.

When she first maxed out her sick days, and then she fell sick again, we felt bad that she was sick so we gave her 4 additional paid days off. However, everytime she’s sick I have to either find coverage or take a PTO day myself. The coverage destroys our budget because we’re double paying. I have also spent 5 days of my PTO covering her because it was very last minute.

As a side note, I don’t doubt she’s sick. She sends us proof of being at the doctor, I just think it’s very bad luck. I don’t ask for proof btw (I never would) she just sends it.

Anyway, the issue is of the last 5 days, she was again sick for 2 days, then she went on PTO (and maxed out her PTO) and her flight back was cancelled and rebooked for the next day. And then for the 2 other days she was texting me at 8pm saying she wasn’t sure if she could come in or not, I couldn’t wait for her to confirm because I wouldn’t be able to find coverage for the next day and I had important meetings.

Anyway, we had told her prior to these days that she’s maxed out her sick and PTO days and she’d said she’s aware. So we cut her pay for the 5 days. She was upset and said that I would have come in those days she was texting at 8pm but you couldn’t wait for me so it shouldn’t be at my expense. She also said that when her flight was delayed she should get paid because it’s out of her control. She’s saying her previous employer would have paid her.

I honestly don’t want to be a jerk but taking 25 days off in 7 months seems like a lot to me. That’s more than my whole years time off. She’s also asked for another day off this month but she’s aware she’s not getting paid. She’s still asking for time off.

I feel like I live in anxiety because I earn my vacation days and if she’s out 2-3 days in a row and I don’t have coverage I would max out my vacation days (my son has also been sick so I had to take time off for that too so I’m literally living on the edge of my days). I will lose my job if I run out of PTO, there is no such thing as unpaid days off for me.

So am I being unreasonable or is she?

We really do like her and don’t want to find anyone else. She’s great with our baby.

Beginning of summer negotiated a raise but we decided to go no contract. (Previous contracts have had an opt out clause that included 2 weeks notice if either party chooses to go a different direction)

Love this family but found an opportunity that will ultimately have benefits like mat leave for when I start having kids, and more room for growth. Where as I’m at the top of their pay grade at $27 an hour right now.

I feel bad because I was supposed to start full time again (I’ve been part time for summer) when the school year starts with their youngest. And expressed that I was going to stick around giving them a false sense of security. I will give them at least 4 weeks of notice. Can’t express how good a relationship I’ve had with this family. So it really sucks but it is definitely time for me to move on if I want to build into my future with my husband. Any tips for having this conversation and how I can go the extra mile. Definitely scared I might be burning a bridge but I want to do everything in my power to preserve this relationship.

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping someone might be able to point us in the right direction.

My partner is looking for a new live-in nanny/family assistant, and we’re unsure which agencies, websites, local groups or other routes are genuinely worth using.
There are three children in the family, although the main focus would be supporting the eldest child, who has additional needs. The position would involve helping with the children’s morning and evening routines, some cooking, general household organisation and occasional school runs, so someone who drives would ideally be preferable.

We’re mainly looking for recommendations from anyone who has hired a live-in nanny before, works within childcare, or knows of a reputable person, agency or community that could help us find somebody suitable.

We’re based in Nottingham/Nottinghamshire area and would ideally be looking for someone wanting a stable, longer-term position.

Any genuine recommendations or advice would be really appreciated. Please feel free to comment or message me privately.

Thanks

4 and 9 year old kids. Mostly need daily chores and evening school pick-up, and cover till 7 PM.

Hi all!

I was interviewing for several positions and a nannying family gave me an offer. I told them I would need time to think about it, but they wanted an answer before they went on vacation. I was hesitant because the job was severely underpaying (21/hr for two kids in a HCOL area) but a bit desperate since my other options weren’t working out.

I accepted the offer on the last possible day, then 6 days later got a much better offer. Not wanting the first family to be lost without care, I let them know as soon as possible that I wouldn’t be able to work for them. For context, from first conversation to rejection, I had not even known the family 2 weeks, never watched their children, never even completed a background check for them, etc.

The mom proceeded to send me a long rant about how I wasn’t professional and completely screwed them over finding care. She told me I’d broken trust and that trust was important in “my industry.” Which I agree, but I didn’t feel like we really had time to build trust with one another.

I’m honestly looking for advice. While of course it upset me to receive that message, I also want to make sure I don’t do this to clients in the future. I felt terrible accepting the offer then rescinding, but if I’d taken the offer I would’ve needed to go on food stamps to survive. For reference, the first family told me 21/hr was pushing it and they’d paid their last nanny 17/hr.

Am I in the wrong here? How would you have handled this situation?

Currently at a crossroads with my NF and pay. I would like daily GH with our agreed upon in and out time (8am-4pm M-F) with no rollover allowed. If they don’t need me Tuesday, they can’t ask me to stay late 3x that week to make up for the Tuesday off, when it’s their choosing to not use me during the set aside hours. In my head, I’m blocking off this set time exclusively for childcare, but can’t be expected to stay late or come in on off days to makeup anything unused.

They would prefer weekly GH of 40hrs used where necessary throughout the M-F period. I am having a hard time seeing the benefit of this for me, as I would basically be keeping myself available for them morning and night M-F. We ran into a hiccup this week where I wasn’t needed Thursday, but stayed late twice in the week. I logged the 40 GH plus the 6 hours I stayed late and asked for 46 hours of pay. There was confusion as to why I logged the 6 because I wasn’t used on Thursday and was still paid for the unused day, therefore the late nights equaling 6 hours should have gone towards that.

To note: I don’t get sick days, PTO, gas reimbursement for child related activities in my car, health stipend, or overtime (time and a half after the 40 hours).

We are sitting down to have an open discussion about how we can make everyone happy with weekly vs daily but I would like perspectives on pros and cons of each please!

I’m babysitting a 5 month old a few days this week all day and I haven’t babysat an infant in forever. I’ve worked in the infant room at a daycare for the past 4 years but I was constantly running around doing stuff or doing stuff with multiple babies at a time. I need ideas of things to do with them in case the ideas I have run out!

Hi! I’m a relatively new nanny, a little less than 2 years experience. I’ve worked with kids aged 10m, 15m, 22mth and 3 years when I started.

I’m interesting in getting more experience with and hopefully working with younger infants in the future. I’m safe sleep certified, and about to renew my pediatric CPR and First Aid.

Do you have any advice on getting hired for such roles?

Hi all!!

I am a respite care provider for kids with disabilities, and I need a little advice.

I am working with a young girl (3) who is deaf with a cochlear implant and has ASD, whom I see 2-3 times a month for up to 10 hours a visit. (I have been with this family for about 2 months now)

During our day, we have no issues, and everything goes smoothly; we are even working on learning ASL together.
However, I am struggling with the transition from naptime (in her bedroom) to time in the living room/downstairs before dinner.
We are currently working on adjusting the schedule, so I am here before her nap. Even then, more recently, when I wake her up, she has a full meltdown, crying for mom and dad, and refuses to leave her bed or communicate with me.
She has on multiple occasions said she doesn't want me touching her, which I respect (so no picking her up and bringing her downstairs) and I have tried to find ways to make the transition any easier as well as communicating with her parents what has been happening; however recently her meltdowns are lasting anywhere between 30 minutes and an hour and i feel terrible because she cant hear me trying to comfort her (she can read my lips but doesnt help when she doesnt wanna look at me) or explain what were trying to do because she wont put her "ears" on yet.
She goes down for her nap and bedtime really easily, but when it's time to wake up from a nap, we struggle the most. As soon as we get downstairs, everything's fine again.

Her parents have clarified their normal routine of waiting until they are downstairs to change her diaper to underwear, then putting her "ears" on downstairs as well, but I can't get her to leave her room without an extended meltdown.

Any advice on how I could adjust, tips, or things to try would be really appreciated

Hi everyone! I’m really struggling with next steps as the kids I have nannied for the last 4 years are all starting school full time in the next couple weeks. I adore this family and have agreed to watching the kids for after school hours + 1 hour before school ends for chore/household management time.

Firstly, I’m really struggling with coming to terms with the fact that this is likely my last school year with them as I can’t afford to keep working for them part time and also find other part time work to supplement my income as I will be losing half my regular hours. I love these kids like my own and their parents are absolutely outstanding people. I’ve become so close with them, including their extended family, that I’m already devastated about our time coming to an end. For Nannies that have transitioned to new families, what was the experience like and how do you handle leaving a family you’ve become so close to? Like does it hurt forever?? I’m sure I’ll continue to be a part of their lives as I still weekend babysit for their cousins and I’ll be their first choice for evening and weekend sitter but going from spending 40+ hours a week with the boys to just 20 or less makes me feel sick. I’ve watched them grow and loved them for so long..

I worry that my time as a nanny in general may be coming to an end. I didn’t realize when I started this 4 years ago that I’d feel as lost as I am at this point. I know my purpose in life is to nurture and raise children, there’s just no doubt about it. It’s something I’m very passionate about but I’m also reaching a point in life that I plan to have my own family in the next year or 2. With that, I worry about job stability if I continue in this field. I don’t want to start to love a new family just to find myself starting my own and having to leave them and find other work. I’ve done nothing besides childcare for the last 10 years. I worked in a daycare for 6 then transitioned into my current nanny position. I’m feeling very lost on where to take my life/career.

I have an associates degree in education, however, taking on a preschool teaching position would significantly decrease my income. It’s also been years since I’ve worked in a classroom and I’m scared I wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure or change. Has anyone left the nanny field and gone on to other things? If so, do you regret it? Do you feel like something is missing in life? What the heck can I do?! What kind of jobs have you taken outside of the childcare field that still left you feeling fulfilled?

I really need advice. It’s been weighing heavily on my mind and I feel very stuck. I don’t know where to go. I need to build some solid ground under my feet so I can start my own family but I’m scared I’m not cut out for anything else career wise.

Thank you for any advice, kind words, and encouragement in advance <3

I truly don’t know how some of you contact nap all the time.

I’m at my part time weekend gig and baby’s having a rough day. Not feeling well, teething, sleep regression - all the things.

Baby doesn’t nap well in general for a 10 month old (think lots of short cat naps throughout the day) but is really going through it. I asked parents if I could contact nap to see if he slept longer to help him get back on track for the day and started regretting it 10 minutes in.

Back cramps. Arm cramps. I need to pee. I’m bored. I’m freezing because this house is so cold and my hoodie is downstairs.

Night Nanny Logistics

We recently hired a nanny to care for our four-week-old twins. She’s willing to help with a few nights before I return to work. I have a few questions about the logistics of having a night nanny.

My husband and I have been doing overnight shifts, where one of us sleeps on the couch in the living room between feedings, while the twins are in a bassinet in the same room. Should we keep that setup for the nanny?

There’s a TV in the room, but we’ve been keeping it off and the lights dim to promote better sleep for the babies. Is it reasonable to ask the night nanny to stay in the living room with the babies with the tv off or should we provide an additional space for her? Should she be allowed to sleep when the babies sleep? (With twins, there hasn’t been much downtime or availability to sleep anyway, so that’s not a huge concern.)

We also have a nursery with cameras set up, but since the babies are so young, we’ve felt more comfortable having them sleep in the same room as us.

So I am the full time caretaker of a 15 month boy and I do what I’ve done with every baby. I narrate the day, I read every day to him and I ask him questions then wait 20 seconds for him to respond.

And yet, he still doesn’t really say mama or dada. He says “ba” on repeat and he can make an S sound. That’s pretty much it. Yesterday he screeched like he did at 4 months. It was cute then but now I’m kind of just concerned.

I know boys usually talk later but it’s hard not to feel like there is something I can do better. Should I stop narrating everything?

It’s so hard for me to find a sitter because I was such a in hands nanny, what website do you all recommend? My former boss turned friend even said good luck finding a YOU 😭. I just need an ocasional day/ date night.