What does nanny do during baby naps?

[i123i]

We are looking to employ a nanny for our 10 month old. One of the things we are wondering about is - what does a nanny do while the baby naps (at home)? Our DC naps around 1-1.5 hours in the morning, and 1.5-2 hours in the early afternoon.

I understand nannies usually do baby laundry and ironing, and tidy away used baby items, but this wouldn't take up 3+ hours every single day... we don't want to pay a nanny to sit around while baby naps (this happened a while ago when we trialled a nanny).
Is it reasonable to expect her to do some light housework like emptying the dishwasher, and prepping some meals etc (we have a cleaner so wouldn't expect her to do a full on clean)?

I don't agree with OP but this comment is just ridiculous. Of course she knows what it's like, this is her baby.

Maybe they look for another job where they are appreciated more ?

The baby is only 10 months old and OP is already on her second nanny. She also has a cleaner. I think she has no idea how hard it is to look after a baby with no support like most of us.

Please don't hire a Nanny if this is going to be your attitude, when I was a Nanny I was treated as part of the family, it's a demanding job and while I was always happy to help out around the house some days were long and exhausting. I often listened to how unhappy my Nanny friends were as their employers treated them as housekeepers. Nannies are trained professionals and deserve to sit down with a cuppa/lunch and unwind if baby is sleeping, surely it's beneficial for her to be fresh and alert whilst looking after your child?

All the nannies I know do this, of my four friends with nannies, one works part time, one WFH and the other two only have one partner doing long hours. Another one has a nanny for her twins who I think might do longer hours but she makes all the meals (for the whole family). I also assume you get what you pay for and this part don't know, so maybe the people who don't pay that much also don't do anything when the baby naps, all the ones I do know definitely do light housework.

Using some kind of childcare to go back to work is what most people do.

Yes, you’re being unreasonable. She’s not a maid or a cleaner.
your kids aren’t guaranteed to nap that long. An hour twice a day is enough time to tidy up from whatever they’ve been doing and prepare anything that needs preparing for later - eg, baby food, stuff for outings etc.
Plus - they should be using some of that time for a break!!

I do my job sitting down (possibly even "perched on a chair") though I do I work in an office.

Nannies don’t have to do much while your baby is napping. Very young babies can sleep a lot during the day but they are hard work.
your nanny is looking after your precious. If you find a good nanny that loves your child, treat her well. Her main duty is to make your child happy, keep them safe and nurture. Children take so much energy physically and mentally. Let her rest and do nothing while your little one sleeping. As others said your child won’t be sleeping in few years time but it’s up to you to keep her that long

The nanny should have a one hour break for her lunch where is entirely at her own leisure (except for checking baby monitor that baby isn't crying). If she wants to watch TV or go on computer she can. After that she can prepare for afternoons activites, cook baby's tea, tidy up from morning session if needed. She may also do baby laundry or sorting out toys.

What do pesky teens do when they babysit and my kids are already asleep?

Is it OK for a teen to repaint my house?
Just not keen for them to sit around, getting paid for nothing while my kids sleep.

Hardly the same when a teenager is being paid minimum wage, nkt t entuon its a one-off thing. I never know why people use completely irrelevant examples on here thinking they're clever 🙄

How is hardly the same thing?😮 Someone being paid to look after your kids when they are asleep.

It is totally relevant.

The irony of your post is not lost, and even though I don't think you realise what you're saying I can't believe you'd compare a nanny to a babysitter that's is so insulting 😬 I wonder if you're getting confused with an Au Pair? Who basically is a glorified babysitter looking after your kid in exchange for board for very cheap!

This.

@StrangerYears

That's very insulting to nannies. One of our nannies has 30 years experience and a range of qualifications, skills and knowledge. Our other nanny has a masters degree.

There is a very big difference between them and a teenager babysitting.

And I’d say someone who’s trained hard to the point of getting post graduate degrees probably doesn’t want to wash op’s pants and clean her toilets. She could do that for someone without a masters degree.

OP has a cleaner, she gave an example of emptying a dishwasher which generally a nanny would do, ime anyway 🤷‍♀️ I find it odd that so many people would be ok for their nanny to have a 3+ hour break, but each to their own of course. I'd never expect a nanny to clean the toilet, but normally they do some housework

She also gave an example of the nanny ‘prepping meals’ for her, and suggested the nanny would otherwise be ‘doing nothing.’

In my experience most nannies don’t do your housework. They obviously leave the house as they round it and do nursery related tasks.

And once again, as has been said multiple times, nobody is suggesting the nanny ‘take a break’ for over three hours. They’ve said that once she takes her entitlement of an hour lunch break to eat and relax (which I’m sure op takes at her job) then takes care of nursery related tasks like baby laundry, sorting clothes, clearing up any mess made with the baby, cleaning and organising toys, and planning activities, she is unlikely to have much time left over.

@i123i
She could read or watch tv. She was expected to fold any laundry placed in the baby's room and to keep the room tidy.
We considered her only significant task to care for the baby and essentially she had no free time as we were paying for her time and availability to be present in our home and with our child.

If she read or watched tv when the baby napped as we viewed her presence with and for our child as to be the service for which she was being paid. We would have paid more and advertised it differently had we wanted a nanny/cleaner of any sort.

We did not consider her reading or watching tv as doing nothing because she was required to be in our home doing these things and at that point we were commanding her time and presence.

I think it's important nanny has a break but also is keeping an eye on baby during naps.

W employed a nanny when the kids were little and both still napping 2 hours plus in the early afternoon. I expected her to take a proper break. Our ask every day was that the kids dinner was prepared , toys tidied and kids laundry kept up to date (including stripping the kids beds once a week and remaking them). I was happy for her to involve the kids in some of this and to structure the day as she saw fit.

I'm just blown away by the baby that sleeps 5-6 hours, I've had 3 and I'm a childminder! I suppose there was the odd day when they had an hour in the morning and then a 3 hour afternoon nap but gosh it was rare and didn't last long!

It's not a 3 plus hour break in a company she would get around 90 minutes....then there is cleaning up from baby, baby's food, baby's clothes....and few sleep 3 hours solid in the day.

Your paying for the security of a fully trained experienced professional who can deal with emergencies and knows first aid and will be prepping for when baby is awake not a teenager chatting to their mates even when baby is awake.