What does nanny do during baby naps?

I'd expect a nanny to focus on the baby stuff such as baby laundry, cleaning bottles, picking up toys etc but not necessarily when the baby naps. As long as things weren't left all day, it wouldn't matter to me when it actually got done.

Nannies are professionals and don't need to be micromanaged. Mine goes to nursery and I don't tell them what to do at nap time.

Other than prepping bottles or food for the baby, maybe tidying away toys or activities she has done with the baby so she leaves the home more or less as she found it, i wouldn't expect anything else done. If the baby sleeps then she still needs to stay in the home & be responsible for the baby. I had a paid nanny & she took my baby off to do whatever she was doing that day, shopping, post office trips etc aslong as the baby is happy and cared for that is what your paying her for and the babies safety is worth every penny not trying to squeeze as much out of her. She's there to look after the baby, anything else would be her choice.

As a former nanny, during naps I would be doing the children’s washing/ironing/ cooking etc as well as having my lunch! I’d happily empty dishwasher but anything else isn’t a nanny responsibility. If you want her to do jobs around the house then you need to look for a nanny/housekeeper instead.

That will probably take her more than 3 hours plus she is allowed an hour break anyway 🙄. Can’t believe you are begrudging a few minutes .

As a Nursery Nurse ,we would gently pat the children down to sleep.Then have a break of sorts ,writing diaries, preparing tea and tidying up.However we also had a 1 hour lunch break and 15 minute tea breaks as well. We also had to display a poster explaining small children need their Nap! Surely the poor Nanny needs a break?

are you looking to employ a slave or a nanny? Her having breaks and being happy is in your/your baby's interest. You are being unreasonable. People not seem to understand there is a difference between a nanny and a cleaner and a chef.

We have a nanny for our daughter but we agreed with her before starting that her role would be nanny/housekeeper. So whilst my daughter naps she does housework including dishwasher, ironing/laundry, cleaning the kitchen/bathrooms (obviously not a deep clean every day). That is what we needed when hiring somebody as I’m still around and spend time with my daughter/take her for walks etc but my partner works a lot/travels a lot so I needed someone to help me with all household things. It’s definitely harder to find a nanny/housekeeper than a nanny, especially one who is a good/trustworthy nanny so we were very lucky to find ours. But we’re in London and there are agencies that can help you find a nanny/housekeeper rather easily compared to finding one yourself.

We had a nanny for many years with our youngest, it never occurred to me what she did during naps, on reflection I assume she had a much needed break!!

I never expected our nannies to do anything that wasn't related to babycare/ baby clothes. Quite often ours would nap while the nanny was out anyway.

i used to leave tea and coffee and cake out and told her where the remote was for the tele! If the baby is asleep she could put her feet up as far as I was concerned. I employed her to look after my baby and so when they baby was asleep she was checking on him and and ensuring he was safe. she did a few light bits of tidying up but I certainly didn’t care if she read a book or watched the TV. If anything I encouraged it.

You want a cleaner or a slave OP. Nannys don't do housework

Well, I think you are being a bit unreasonable here and seeing it with the wrong attitude.

Most nanny contracts will expect nanny to do kids' laundry on request, tidy toys, prepare healthy meals (and nice well cared for nannies might make extra portions for you :)) and plan kids' activities. Actually, that's quite a lot if done well, especially when your child sleeps more like 1-2 hours a day. My nanny used to plan lovely craft activities and put a lot of work into finding great groups and seasonal activities at the toddler stage, which really isn't long for you. When you have a proper toddler, they can also make a lot of mess. When they are potty training, you might have a lot more laundry. Why begrudge her time in principle? I think you can also ask nanny to change over clothes that are outgrown whilst putting away laundry.

I also think you should think about, from the nanny's perspective, whether you want to micromanage her by giving her lists of chores you think she "should" do and then revise them due to sleep needs decreasing

Surely the point of the nanny is to be available immediately if the child wakes from the nap. If she’s embroiled in cleaning, preparing the family dinner, doing the household laundry or any other non nanny tasks she isn’t able to respond to her charge.

I am well impressed by all these infants who nap reliably for 3-6 hours. None of my 6 could be relied on to stay asleep for more than half an hour at a time

I don't think anyone on this thread is begrudging a nanny having a break for lunch or making herself a tea. OP's nanny has 3.5 hours a day of being in the house while the baby sleeps. It makes sense to use her work time productively if that's what can be agreed.

I worked as a receptionist back in the day and when no one was in reception or calling the phone I would attend to a list of non-reception tasks like filing, printing letters, etc to lighten the load of the admin staff. I didn't feel exploited I felt like I was contributing and adding value.

Its normal to use work time productively within reason. Who wants to sit around twiddling their thumbs anyway?

I had a friend who made lists for her Au pair to use while the LO slept .Strangely the girl (from Europe) didnt last very long and went home after a few months! Looking after babies is hard work .Surely you have a lunch break or tea break at work.The Nanny may make a tea,have her lunch and use her phone .All while keeping an ear out for babe waking up.Then both feeling refreshed and ready for their afternoon together

A few months from now the chances are that the child won’t sleep for quite so long.

Happy Nanny, happy child …

"DC was much younger and therefore napping for 5-6 hours a day"
Why didn't you take your DC to work with you then? Seeing as they slept so much.

God I’d HATE to work for you. That’s so mealy mouthed.

Our nanny mostly reads a book. Sometimes she watches the TV. She also makes lunch for herself and the kids.

You know when you employ someone for a chunk of the day they are entitled to breaks? Most nannies take their break when the baby naps. How else do you expect them to do it???

Like most jobs, there are up and downtimes. They get to take more breaks when little one is small. But they don't stay small for long! One of the advantages of a nanny is that you hope to get good continuity of care through baby/toddler/preschool years, and the naps do drop off. I've also never heard of a nanny complaining when sometimes they don't get a break - one of our twins was unwell for a while and she often had to hold him for his nap when his cough was bad, as if he lay down he's start coughing again and wake himself. Or there have been one or two occaisions when our twins have napped at different times (again, usually down to illness throwing their routine), so that kills her time alone.

A good nanny probably will spend some of nap time tidying up from the morning or prepping an activity for the afternoon. But you will seriously destroy any goodwill by leaving her with a list of chores.

We don't ask ours to do laundry beyond chucking anything that for dirty in the basket. I'd much rather she was well rested so in the afternoon she has the energy to take them to the playground etc.

It sounds like the nanny option is not a good fit your you. You seem to be more interested in getting your moneys worth & micromanaging which is going to cause you no end of issues keeping a nanny who will put up with that.

either chill out or you & your partner need to start looking at other options

Anything child related; cook kids meals, kids laundry, tidy kids rooms. Most won’t do general light housework.

I’d also expect them to answer door to take deliveries. Have asked to pick up dry cleaning / prescriptions if going for a wall anyway.

As a pp said nobody is expecting the nanny not to do anything, however squeezing every last minute out of a childcarers time is counter productive they don't have to be prepping parents meals or emptying dishwashers.

Nobody has said she should relax for 3 hours. Everyone has agreed she should use some of the time to do child based tasks, or ‘nursery duties.’ Literally everyone. They’ve said it’s appropriate to do baby’s laundry, plan and set up activities, clean and organise toys, and clean up after the baby’s lunch/meals. They’ve said it isn’t appropriate for her to do op’s personal tasks such as cook and clean for her.

Sounds like most of the poster responding have never had a nanny. I have and whilst they obviously do take breaks, they are still very capable and usually do some light tasks mostly baby or child oriented. Breaks yes absolutely but relax for 3 hours? No.

It's all about flexibility and communication, some days will be easy, baby sleep well and others jobs will get done, other days won't pan out the same and that's ok too.