What would be typical 'other' duties of a nanny?

[cairnterrier]

I'm currently weighing up the pros and cons of a nanny vs CM when I go back to work. I always assumed that a nanny would just look after the children, much like a childminder but just in our home rather than theirs. Reading through a lot of the posts on here though, it seems to be that nannies would also undertake other tasks around the home as time allows eg preparation of food for the LOs, possibly doing their laundry etc.

Could anyone give me an idea of what other things they would typically expect a nanny to do around the house? As I say, I was expecting childcare only so anything on top would be a bonus and may sway me towards a nanny rather than a CM.

One of the big pluses for a nanny over a CM for me would be that a nanny could still look after the children when they're unwell (I'm talking heavy colds, under the weather type thing, things that a CM would not be happy to have, but that probably just need a quiet day in front of the TV to recover from. also if they have chicken pox, waiting for the infectious period to end). I know that you can't ask about plans to have children in the future and quite rightly so, but would it be acceptable to ask about back up childcare plans for the nanny in case the nanny's children are ill?

Thanks

Each job is slightly differant
Here i
do the childrens laundry will hang out parents bring it and fold it.
Cook most meals from fresh
Tidy orangnise their rooms
Sew labels
Pick bits of shopping and small errands
Gp and hosptail appoiments as well as making sure all medication is around
Childrens social dairy.
Bake stuff for the school fair
Fancy dress costumes
take and sort out swimming lessons ballet etc
some of the childrens shopping
sort book bags homework reading libary books
presents for parties
touch wood in 22 years only have a half day off due to a bug caught from the children but most nannies know other nannies and are freinds with parents so its quite easy to do the odd favour indeed i covering for some one after school today
My bosses come home to the children already for bed a tidy house happy children and sometimes a home cooked meal for them

In my current job and in other nanny jobs I,

Cook a fresh lunch and tea every day
Tidy the children's room
Do children's laundry and ironing (if needed)
Sort of toys etc and keep them clean
Light shopping
Pick things up, parcels, drop off & pick up dry cleaning
Sort play dates for the children
Go to a playgroup, 1 o clock club, library etc once a day
Have taken children over to grandparents house for a few hours on occasions by train or taxi
Will be home for deliveries or workmen that need to come round
Generally tidy the house. Areas where I work, kitchen, lounge etc as I cannot stand mess :)
Parents always come to a very clean and tidy house, often with yummy cakes, biscuits etc freshly baked and waiting to be teen :)

I am gobsmacked at the amount of extra work you all do. And totally in awe. Finishing the day with us all alive is counted as a bonus in this house!

Tasks which are typical for one nanny may not be typical for another.

Hen chasing.
Egg collecting.
Rat catching (rats love the hens food).
Some basic DIY - mend this, fix that, call the sewer company.

Putting the milk bottles in the fridge (a task I did today)
Change the children's bedding and stick it in the wash, hang to dry.

What sort of tasks would you like your nanny to do? I expect you may like them to do anything they see that needs doing. If there is sewage leaking into the garden, you probably would like that fixed before you get home from work - or at least the problem identified.

I used to have a lovely childminder but have now changed to a nanny. A nanny revolves her day around your child with a childminder they have to fit in with her and her other mindees.

The biggest bonus for me is when I come in my child is calmer in his own house and sometimes even bathed and the breakfast things are still not left on the table it's lovely to come back to it clean and tidy.

When he is Ill not a problem he can just have a sofa day. I had to miss the jubilee show at school my nanny sort of took my place the childminder would not of been able to go. (still felt guilty though at least he had someone there)

Your life will be so much easier with a nanny.

As a nanny,
I change and wash children's bedding and towels weekly (I also wash and dry employers towels weekly as the laundry service she uses charge by weight and her towels weigh a tonne!)
I wash and iron her clothes.
I tidy and dust her room (cleaner hoovers and does her bathroom)
I Milton her bath toys monthly (well nearly always monthly!)
I cook her meals and batch cook for the freezer for my employers to use at the weekends.
I empty dishwasher if it needs it.
I empty the rubbish bins if they are full.
I keep her bedroom, kitchen and playing areas tidy and swept/hoovered if it's needed (note to boss, don't look to closely at the coach house, it's been a very busy week!)
I do her shopping and will pick up bits for my employers if they need anything.
I will run errands if they need something and we are passing the area.
I go to post office to collect parcels or wait in if they are expecting anything and we don't have a class to go to.
Plant seeds for fruit and vegetables with the children (we had 17 red strawberries for tea yesterday, I managed to stop her picking them off as we passed by!)
I will wait in for various builders or other tradesmen (and make them tea or coffee, if they ask. I don't drink tea or coffee so don't think to offer!)
I have, in previous positions, walked dogs if taking the children out, fed, cleaned and chased chickens. Turned out horses/ponies, fed them, put rugs on them, got them back in again. Sanded and varnished a table and work surface! And like Nick says, if there is a problem in the house, alarm, no hot water, heating, boiler packed up, gates stop working etc., I will call out engineers so that they don't have the worry while they are at work of chasing people up.
In short, anything that needs doing as long as it is appreciated. If they start taking it for granted, I go back to doing duties in my contract!

Yup same:
Book baby gym/little kickers/swimming etc, book/manage & receive the grocery delivery, organization and collection of repeat prescriptions, bring kids to get their shoes checked regularly, arrange haircuts, make nativity costumes, source new clothes/equipment needed...
Plus (beyond Nanny duties) I have dismantled the u-bend to find a lost diamond and un-blocked a shower drain with a tool handcrafted from a coat-hanger, "managed" builders... And I'm the only one in the household who understands how to set the central heating timer.

Basically a good Nanny will manage all the kids lives.

Be sure at interview you discuss what's expected/what your Nanny is willing to do.

If your Nanny has been working in the area a while, she will often be able to arrange cover or babysitting for you, or may "swap" with a friend in a reciprocal agreement (looking after each others kids all together so the other Nanny can get to an appointment/have a sick day).

Callaird - impressed that your strawberries are ready to eat, ours are all green still. More sunshine needed.

when I was a nanny a very long time ago my duties apart from looking after the children and ferrying them around were:

• making their beds in the mornings (or have them do it depending on age)
• making/giving them their food
• pack their school bags
• wash their bedding twice a week
• wash their clothes and put them away
• superwise the children tidying up before bed time
• bathtimes
• occasional bed times when the parents had to work late

probably more...

I grew strawberries and couldn't understand why the plants only ever produced green fruits and never ripe ones. I thought they must have some strange viral disease...

Naive fool that I am

I might add that the strange viral disease also seemed to affect my grapes

My charge is only 13 months and can't help herself, I have to help her at the moment. Next year I am sure we shall suffer the same viral disease!

Nick - I'm surprised too! I am so un-green-fingers it's untrue, but we have 10 plants in a strawberry planter and it sits in a sheltered spot that is in the sun all day (if it comes out!) we are in Kent so not too dissimilar weather to you.

I have also been feeding them once a week, dad now tells me that you should only feed them once you have fruit. I've been feeding since we got them in February. They didn't come out of the greenhouse until May.

Maybe yours are late growing ones as apposed to my earlies?

Yes they may be lates I got them from my mums garden last year. No greenhouse - they have been in the bed all winter, though seem to have survived the snow and frost. Feed them - ours will 100% natural... i.e. we do nothing and hope for the best!

That's something a nanny does ... gardening... though we aren't all green fingered.

In my current job, im not expected to do anything further than childcare but because I enjoy my job and my employers respect/appreciate me, im happy to help with:
Emptying the dishwasher
cooking a larger meal so parents could have a portion(parents just had a new baby)
Taking in parcels/waiting for tradesmen
Picking up fridge bits that are running low - butter, bread, loo roll etc
Picking up prescriptions

I think a lot of the extra things (outside of normal nursery duties) come with a good relationship with your nanny - you may find your nanny will be happy to go to the post office etc for you if its met with a thank you at the end of the day!

Good luck with your nanny search

Thanks everyone. Lots to think about.

It depends on the family. I've had jobs where the sole focus is on the childcare unless the child/children are having a nap. I prefer this - I'm happy to do light housework (maybe a little hoovering etc), tidying up and cooking for the kids (possibly the parents too if they're all eating the same thing) without asking for any extra pay but if parents wanted me to clean their house and do their laundry on top of taking care of their children I'd want extra pay and I'd want them to understand that that would somewhat limit the amount of time I could spend on activities with the children. When babysitting if there are things left out from tea or clothes that need folding, I'll happily do it as the kids are asleep and parents always appreciate it but they never expect it

I worked as a live in nanny once with some VERY demanding parents - after arriving and spending a week or so doing all of the tasks laid out of me before I got there, I was presented with a list about five pages long of more tasks! In fairness some of them were things I did already without thinking such as making the little boy's bed in the morning but others were so obscure like putting the parents clothes away in their cupboards (I didn't really want to have to snoop!) and silly since the mum wasn't working anyway - they just needed help as they had three kids under three. Needless to say I ended up spending 75% of my time cleaning and doing other household tasks which is not what I had signed up for at all.

The main thing I'd say is that you get a lot of flexibility when hiring a nanny but you also need to be willing to be flexible. If you go into the situation with a list of complicated demands, most will run a mile whereas if you build a relationship in which your nanny becomes an integral part of your family they're more than likely to be willing to do duties beyond what they're paid for.

Our nanny is brilliant. She does everything child wise:
Laundry (not ironing as cleaner does that but happy to do so)
Change beds
Tidy rooms
Cooks their food (and makes extra without being asked for dh and I to eat sometimes which is a very pleasant surprise)
Waits in for food deliveries (if I check it is a time that suits her)
Does any grocery shopping needed
Drops off parcels if needed
Waits in for repair men (if I arrange a convenient time)
Makes packed lunches
Sews/irons in name tags
Looks after kids when they are poorly and takes to dr if needed
Takes kids for vaccines/health visitor appt
Has playdates with my friends children and their nannies as well as friend nannies and their children that I have approved
Takes kids on fun outings
If I am held up at work (very rare) happily stays the extra half hour or so
If I am away on business (rare) comes early and stays late (paid) as dh cannot vary his hours
Basically is absolutely wonderful and I couldn't manage 3 dd under 5 and a full time career without her!

Also empties dishwasher.....

Again and wow !

Hmm, looking good for getting a nanny!