What Kind of Housework would you Expect from a Nanny?

I would expect the house to be as clean as when I left it in the morning - so kitchen surface and floor cleaned + high chair/table. Tidy bathroom after they’ve used it. Emptying and filling dishwasher. Bottles, making food, emptying nappy bin, emptying main bin and recycling if full.
Responsible for kids areas, so playroom, their bedroom, their washing etc.

Basically, I expect the house to be as clean and tidy as I’ve left it. Plus nursery duties.

I don’t mind emptying the dishwasher but equally annoying when it’s been run in the evening and you get there in am and stacks of their evening stuff to tidy up

Everything goes in the dw

If it can’t and parents have used then they will be washing it up

Some temp jobs I would arrive to and huge pans waiting to be washed

I left them

Luckily in all my nanny jobs. - was a sole charge one for 20yrs - they all respected me and didn’t take the piss

I interviewed them as much as they interviews me

As a Nanny- I never agree to do housework. I am employed to look after the children, if working as a cleaner as well then my time would be split But my employers would expect the same high standards in both areas, and I would like to deliver too. The housekeeper tends to do child related laundry, but I usually work with the children to keep the rooms tidy. I also tend to unpack the dishwasher and sometimes cook Sunday dinner for the family and prepare full English breakfast on Saturdays., again for the family. I often make cakes and scones with the children and in the summer take the children fruit picking and help them make jam for the scones and gifts for grandparents.
Any domestic emergency I am very hands on and would not stop until it was resolved and the mess cleaned up, provided the children were safe
During children’s downtime I prepare arts and crafts, research activities and places to go, make resources
With. A 5 month old have you discussed diet: weaning with Mum? Do you need to research her diet preferences and start experimenting with how these can be made into suitable weaning foods?

The difference in pay between a traditional nanny and a nanny housekeeper is about £1-2/hour net

I’ve had both, currently have a nanny housekeeper who was recruited as a nanny but we kept her on after ds started nursery
So rather than cut her hours, she uses the 3 hours a day when he is out to walk the dogs, do laundry (whole family, no ironing), put away our shopping order, Hoover, mop and dust
She cleans the DC bathroom once a week and sometimes does ours without being asked
She also cooks and sets up craft activities for the afternoons a couple of times a week

That last sentence was meant to end “I use a cleaning service or so it myself”.

Nanny should really only do duties related to the child(ren). So for babies, laundry, food prep, tidying, etc. I did occasionally ask our nanny to do things like hem babygros or sort out the changing bag. As the children get older the range of child-related tasks expands exponentially so ours will now collect prescriptions, host play dates, supervise homework, take them shopping for sports kit, scrub out the bath, etc.

That said… our nanny likes to keep busy and will do lots of other non-child related things like empty the dishwasher. I always make a point of saying thank you and I make it very clear to the children that she is their nanny, not a maid.

I have sometimes come home and found that she’s made our bed!!!

For heavy duty cleaning

Nannies do jobs only relating to their charges. So baby/child laundry, cooking, cleaning up food prep, tidying DC's room, sorting DC's toys etc, but not the overall cleaning of the house or adult laundry.

I only ever expected put nanny to clear up the kid's things, maybe a bit of kid's laundry, put the kids' clothes away etc. But when they do extra I really notice it.

Nope, she's a housekeeper AND a nanny if you insist. She's not exploited. I never once asked her to do anything that wasn't strictly a nanny task but she likes to be busy. The kids are very well looked after, nobody could do more for them than she does.

Baby may not sleep for longer than 20 mins, so I wouldn’t count on long naps! But that aside, when I had both a nanny and a cleaner, I thought it was pathetic that neither of them would empty the dishwasher for example. I ended up getting rid.

When I worked as a nanny many years ago, I would tidy up after ourselves, which may have included doing a quick vac of the lounge or something. Also I’d stack and empty the dishwasher, make meals and tidy the kitchen up. Basically I’d make sure me and the kids had a good time, and that the house didn’t show evidence of that good time after. The parents worked hard enough without coming home to a dump.

This is how nannies get exploited. A nanny is a nanny and paid for that role. If you want her to also be a cleaner and a housekeeper, you should be paying double and mentioning it at interview that this is what you require.

Yeah no, I get that. And I would have been very happy with simply a good nanny. But working mums need so much more than a nanny to equal the playing field. So what I have is what I think people would really wish to hire if it existed.

She sounds lovely @Imcatmum and sorry you were poorly

But

Nannies are not cleaners

Myself and many others went to college for 2yrs and studied and did observations and Assesments etx to become a qualified nanny

I've a cleaner too. But my nanny (never asked or expected) does a way better job than her. My nanny loves the kids and prioritizes them first and foremost. Cares a lot about their homework and takes such pride in them doing well. She's the first person I'd call if any were hurt or sick. She sneakily buys them little gifts even though I always tell her to take it out of petty cash. She's my youngest child's godmother and is in our wills as their guardian if anything happened to DH and I. I was very sick for a period last year and she rocked up on weekends to quietly keep things functioning in our house.

Nanny's do have a job description but I got very lucky because I didn't find a nanny, I found a substitute mum.

Nannies are not cleaners or housekeepers

Nannies do duties relating to children

So their laundry , cooking , changing their beds/cots , keeping area tidy they use - as long as tidy when arrive in am

Yes as they get older and at pre school U.K. happy to collect parcels : take car to garage etc

But I never cleaned the house and would always ask if have a cleaner

I don’t expect any housework that isn’t directly baby related. So, one baby laundry load a week and sheets changed (plus extra potentially if blowouts), hoovering baby’s room and making baby purées.
Don’t forget in 6 months time the baby will be nearly 1 and not napping as much! I’m happy to give my nanny any downtime she can get as sometimes the baby won’t nap well etc and she’ll get a more disturbed lunch than I would like. I figure if I give her a bit of leeway then she won’t object in those cases.

Understandable, @Imcatmum, very understandable...... Um, maybe she has a sister?...
Who has a toolbox? 🤔 😉

[quote madisonbridges]@Imcatmum Please can you give your nanny my name and tell her I will pay her an extra pound an over what you pay her, then send her over. I have no children but a very long list!!! Does she fit bathrooms?[/quote]
No way @madisonbridges. She's ours and we love her. Part of the family at this stage.

Erm....don't assume a baby will take long naps! My first born only napped for half an hour (mid morn and mid afternoon) so left me little time to do much other than a quick tidy and maybe grabbing a coffee and a sit down before she woke up. You are entitled to a break!

I certainly wouldn't be setting myself up to fail by promising to launder/cook meals/ full on tidy until you know what type and lengths of naps the wee one will take.

@Imcatmum Please can you give your nanny my name and tell her I will pay her an extra pound an over what you pay her, then send her over. I have no children but a very long list!!! Does she fit bathrooms?