What would be reasonable to expect of a nanny with three toddlers?

[GinIceAndASlice]

I'd like to be a good employer so taking lots of tips from here. For example I will probably be out 8.30 to 5.30 but would employ them from 8-6 so no rush in hand over in the morning, and if I'm delayed 5 minutes getting in its not an issue, and being able to let them leave early most days being a nice perk.

It will only be 3 full days with the eldest in nursery for the mornings so I'm trying to gage what is realistic with a 3 yo and 1 yo twins.

What should I expect?

Children dressed, fed and cared for/interacted with obviously the minimum.

Some lists have other child related duties such as their laundry and ironing, tidying their bedrooms etc. but I know I personally struggle to get stuff like that done when I have all 3 on my own!

Definitely not expecting any housework to be done other than clearing up any mess as they go ie spills etc wiping unit after making food and so on.

So what is reasonable?

Is eldest in nursery every morning? That would be a constraint on things quite a bit - no trips out any distance as need to be back to collect from nursery. Is nursery only term time or all year round?

Nanny is there to care for the children but also for the home. So I feel they should be doing things like:

Dishwasher - if it's full put it on, if it's finished and things are dry, put them away.

Laundry - with 3 children you will have a lot so it is important that it is done every day to keep the laundry mountain at a reasonable level. So I would expect that over 3 days there would be 3 loads of laundry. Not one per day, sometimes there will be several loads in a day and other days none at all.

General tidy around but not to a dedicated cleaners standard. Just picking things up.

Make/air the beds. If children have been sick, split milk, wet the bedding, then I would expect it to be changed and washed.

Taking the children out and about. If you wanted your children to stay within 4 walls all day you would use a nursery. A nanny can take children out - they can go to woods, playgrounds, castles, railways, take two children swimming (rarely all 3 children as they would all be non-swimmers), toddler group, to museums, zoo, farm, all sorts of places.

Think about what you want the nanny to be doing - perhaps things you are not so keen to do yourself. If you like taking children out to museums but hate going swimming, then nanny can take the twins swimming.

Lots of food for thought! I was thinking of putting Dd in the local school nursery from September, as she's a very social child and loves being around others.

Perhaps regular toddler groups where all 3 could go would fulfill that need.

What's the nap situation?

We have a 2yr old and an 8mo. When they both nap the nanny will clean and iron.

Otherwise she will do what I would do - so hang out washing, wash up, put away clothes, keep the place tidy, prepare food.

Also I basically let her do what she likes - so out to visit people, walk to shops as well as the baby groups I like.

The twins nap 40 mins in the morning and afternoon with a longer sleep around lunchtime. The 3 yo unfortunately dropped all hers last year.

So even with 3 it would be normal to expect child related chores to be completed.

My life would be a million times easier than the current battle of getting the children to nursery, picking them up then cooking/feeding their tea and keep on top of laundry and thing's like clearing toys etc! All after a full days work.

Wow!

I currently only look after 2 children but in September I will have 3. I do nursery duties, so change the beds once a week, children's laundry (wash, dry & put away - the mum doesn't iron their clothes so said I don't need to) & keep the bedrooms & play room clean & tidy everyday. I also clean & tidy anywhere we've been each day (kitchen, dining room & lounge.

Neither of the children I have sleep in the day so they play around me while I'm doing chores & I clean & tidy the kitchen/diner while they are eating tea.

I think a good rule of thumb is to see what you can get done in a day and expect the nanny to do about the same.

It's always helpful to get ideas here, but what is practical depends so much on your particular circumstances. How well the children play alone/how far away school is/what activities you want them to do/how high your housekeeping standards are etc. etc.

Your nanny should not be lazy, equally she shouldn't be on the go constantly. A chance to sit down for lunch/a cup of tea is perfectly reasonable.