Nanny Preparing Food

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  • Nanny meal/food prep responsibilities

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    Mar 26, 2021

    For those who have a nanny for a single child, what food/meal prep responsibilities does your nanny take on?

    Our daughter is 18 months and we're unclear what we should expect in terms of help from our nanny on the food front - 

    Should we be developing a menu for her breakfasts/lunches/snacks? Or a range of things that she can offer?

    What level of food prep should we ask our nanny to do? 

    Right now, since we don't pre-make many meals (other than leftovers), she defaults to whatever we have in the fridge, and lots of toast with butter, scrambled eggs, fruits, veggies. We'd love for our daughter to get a more varied diet during the day but don't have a lot of bandwidth to plan out and prepare every meal. 

    Would love your ideas!

    Mar 26, 2021

    This is not an easy question to answer. How long have you worked with the nanny? What is your relationship with her? What is your working dynamic?

    Some nannies like to cook and take on cooking as part of their duty while others are really good at cleaning and toy organization but don’t cook other than warming up food. 
     

    Simple meal prep is generally considered a part of a nanny’s duty but anything beyond warming up premade food, steaming veggies, or preparing a simple meal planned by the family should be explicitly discussed. 

    We had the same nanny for a long time since our child was a newborn. We were clueless first time parents and she was a mom of 2 kids and a professional nanny with over 15 years of experience. At every developmental age, we consulted her about parenting choices including food. We made food for our child. But, we also explicitly told her that she is free to let our child try any food that she eats. She packed her own lunch but we told her she was free to eat any fruits or cheese or food that isn’t labeled as “do not eat”. We operated together more like good friends and family than an employer and an employee. I stayed home with the nanny for about 8 months and I always offered my cooking and she would try a taste if it looked good or if she was curious. 

    At 18 month, our child ate most of what we ate although the child’s favorite food was still cheese, tofu, avocado, and fruits. 

    If you want your nanny to be more of a household helper, you could discuss with her about cooking a meal for your family while the child naps but I think you should be the person that plans meals because food is such a personal choice. 
     

    For us, the nanny’s primary duty was the child and while the child napped, we wanted her help with laundry, cleaning the play area, and emptying out the dishes from dishwasher. In addition, we asked the nanny to clean anything kid related, toys, books, diaper trash, and checking supply and making a baby related shopping list for us.

    Mar 27, 2021

    We always had food prep as part of the equation and our nanny has always been invited to eat our food as well. She would typically make lunch for herself and our baby at the same time and do the same meal for both. She would include at least one sure thing the baby would eat but also introduce new things over time. It worked really well. We also said basically no processed food so she made everything from scratch and had lots of fruit and veggies in the mix. My boy is now ten and has the same nanny. She taught herself to cook along the way and now makes great meals for all of us! 

    Mar 31, 2021

    We've had our nanny since our son was 3 months and he's almost 2yo. She generally makes fresh food for our son every day and she comes up with the menu on her own and based on what we have. Every time I buy groceries I ask her if there's anything she wants for our son. She did that both while we were in a share and now that it's just her and him. She will sometimes make a big pot of something early in the week and use it for several days but will still give him some variety. I would ask your nanny if there are particular foods she wants you to buy to make for/feed your child. But also try to be clear that you want to see a little more variety and if she needs help figuring out options that you're more than happy to help plan. If she's not comfortable cooking then I would try to plan meal prep or buy things that are easy for her to heat up and just portion it out and tell her at the beginning of the week or day.

    I think having unashamed conversations where you ask a lot of questions and really hear her feedback is key to a good nanny-parent relationship, if you're not already doing that. I'm sure you are but I know it can be an uncomfortable thing to not know where the line is and not want to offend someone! It took me a little time with our nanny to make sure she knew I was supportive of her and that we were a team and talking about things honestly and openly was only going to help us all.

    Mar 31, 2021

    In that past with nannies and babysitters, I left instructions on what kinds of food to offer my toddler (aside from fruit, cheese and crackers that were always in stock). This included simple prep like making a sandwich, frying an egg or salmon burger, steaming broccoli, or making basic french toast. Unless you specifically interviewed for culinary skills, I think this is the most you can expect unless they volunteer otherwise.

    Mar 31, 2021

    I think it sounds like your nanny is doing a great job, it all sounds healthy and like wholesome foods for an 18 month old. I have done nanny shares but never had the benefit of hosting so have always prepared every single snack and lunch, packed all milk, etc so the set-up you have sounds amazing and realistic to me. 

    Maybe you could purchase a variety of fruits and vegetable to introduce some new foods? Or purchase some pre-made soups or meals if you don't have time to prepare food and that could last several portions? Even things like different toppings for oatmeal could vary things well enough for an 18 month old, maybe some spices. Smoothies are a huge hit in our house from the littlest all the way up. You could also change up the form of the eggs, scrambled, fried, chopped and so on. Maybe try an omelet or french toast so it is still simple and quick and working with what you have but varied. 

    Mar 31, 2021

    This was one of the key questions we asked when interviewing nannies about a year ago, because I agree with you — meal planning for a family is a constant slog! If I remember correctly, none of our candidates were wholeheartedly up for taking on our child’s food prep. In retrospect I understand this...I think it would be really hard to do anything more than reheat something and cut fruit/veggies while you are watching over a small child and don’t fully know the contents of the fridge. 

    That’s all to say I would generally not expect much more than you are currently getting. But who knows, maybe you’ve gotten lucky with a nanny who is up for taking on more. I do think food is quite personal to each family and I imagine many nannies would feel intimidated by taking meal planning on completely. Perhaps you could start by planning out meals and recipes, and doing the shopping, but seeing if your nanny would be willing to prep an easy recipe while your kid naps. 

    Mar 31, 2021

  • Meal and bath times in a Nanny Share

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    Mar 1, 2021

    To parents/nannies that have been in a full time nanny share situation (40 hours/week or more)-

    1- Does the nanny prepare the food for both the kids? How does sharing of groceries/meals take place between the families?

    2- Does nanny usually give them a bath, and how does that go?

    3- For the hours that the nanny is looking after only 1 child, is the hourly rate going to be the higher rate (same as when both kids are present), or is it reduced?

    Thanks, 

    -Anin.

    Mar 1, 2021

    1. when we interviewed nannies some said they would and some said they won't. It would be really hard to prep food while engaging with two littles. In our share we pack lunches - the nanny will heat up food, cut up fruit, and occationally steam some veggies if I leave them out. You just need to make sure they still get a break during naptime and aren't cooking / cleaning the whole break. 

    2. never asked her to do that. guess it would depend on how late at night you go. 

    3. we pay 14 per hour per family with two kids. 19/hour when its just one kid. If one kid is out because of vacation or illness that family is still paying the nanny so the other family will still pay the shared rate. 

    Mar 3, 2021

    For our nanny share the set up is:

    1. Both families provide food for their child.  The kids sometimes share.

    2. No

    3. We have the same hours so this isn't an issue for us.  Technically if we were to set up some 1 child hours it would be very slightly less than the 2 child rate.

    Mar 3, 2021

    1- Does the nanny prepare the food for both the kids? How does sharing of groceries/meals take place between the families?

    Our nanny did although I've spoken to a LOT of parents who's nanny did NOT make meals.  I think it's worth having that conversation during interviews.  We switched homes each week so when the kids were in our home, we paid for groceries and vice versa.

    2- Does nanny usually give them a bath, and how does that go?

    Our first nanny did.  Our current one (with our 2nd child) doesn't.  However, we've never asked her to and we like the routine of bath before bed.  

    3- For the hours that the nanny is looking after only 1 child, is the hourly rate going to be the higher rate (same as when both kids are present), or is it reduced?

    We negotiated a lower rate with 1 child (about $4-$5 less than 2 child rate) but we guaranteed hours so this was only after the guaranteed hours. e.g. if we guaranteed the nanny 8 hours a day at full rate, the 1 child rate would only apply after those hours.

    Overall, all this depends on the nanny and what you discuss during the interview/hiring process.

    Mar 3, 2021

    1.  I have had nannies that have prepared food but often there wouldn't be time and they would use food we have.  Absolutely something you can agree upon in the beginning.

    2. My nanny never consistently gave my baby a bath or dinner.

    3.  For hours one family has the nanny, we had a separate single care rate.  This wouldn't be if a family was away/sick, just on "extra hours" i.e. one day we had our nanny start at 7 am instead of 8 am and paid a single care rate for that hour.

    Mar 3, 2021

    My 1 year old is in a nanny share with another family, who also have a 1 year old. We alternate weekly which family hosts. For your first question: the host family provides lunches and snacks for both kids. This way they get the same meal (no jealousy), and each family has one week off from meal planning. Both families are aligned on nutrition. The nanny just heats up the lunches and does not cook. We give the nanny a list of appropriate snack foods and she decides each snack what they eat. The host family might prepare snacks ahead of time like veggie muffins. For your second question: each family mostly does bath at night, but occasionally the kids are extra messy/poopy and need a bath during the day. The nanny is skilled in managing both babies safely (she shared her process with us). Our nanny hasn't had to do this for many months, however. For your third question: we pay the nanny the same regardless of how many children she is watching. If you were sending your child to daycare, you would have to pay the normal rate even if your kid wasn't there. 

    Mar 3, 2021

    I’m sure all of these points are flexible but in our experience:

    1- nanny did not prepare food. Parents prepared and kept in fridge (parents who were not hosting brought food each day or week). We did not intentionally split groceries but the assumption is that there’s a little sharing between the kids. Rely on the nanny to communicate to you if it gets imbalanced—eg when our nanny noticed that our daughter kept asking for her nanny share mate’s zucchini fritters and grapes, she told us. Those were things I had no idea she had started to like, but once I did I could start sending them to share for her. Would be awesome to have a nanny who cooks for the kids or a family willing to share groceries/food prep but I have found that my daughters tastes and diet have changed frequently over the past 2 years...seems like it could be hard to manage that for two kids esp if they’re not the exact same age.

    2-we have always done bath as part of bedtime routine, outside the hours our nannies have worked

    3-we have our own nanny now and are exploring potentially opening up for a part time share. The agreement is that for the hours that she is only looking after our daughter, the rate would be what it is currently. She is only paid the higher rate when there are two kids to look after and two families splitting the cost.

    Mar 3, 2021
    1. Meal Prep- Both families provide easy-to-assemble food for meals to make it quick/easy for our Nanny at breakfast & lunch.  Our nanny warms up food in the microwave/oven/toaster and chops fresh fruits and veggies but she does not make dishes from scratch.  Each family contributes foods, at first its a coordinated effort but after a while we've gotten into a routine.  Our share is 3 kids, two are ours and we host the share so we provide the staples and the other family provides fresh produce weekly, snacks, and offers to pick up any freezer goodies we maybe out of (chicken nuggets, fish sticks, meatballs, etc). Since our nanny watches 3 toddlers we didn't want her to have to juggle keeping them occupied while making meals from scratch too. Quick and easy works best for our share :)
       
    2.  Our nanny does not bathe the kids.  Our pickup time is 5pm and we do evening baths after dinner.  We do encounter similar situations, like with potty training and toilet breaks where our nanny assists one child while the other two wait either by the door or continuing an activity.   
       
    3. We have a rate chart in our contract which I really recommend.  We have a "single child rate" for times when the nanny is with just one kid.  For ex if: Hourly rate is $30 (each family pays $15/hr),  we communally agreed on a "single child rate" of $18/hr (a bit more than min wage).   We pay her the "single child rate" if 1 kid is out sick ($15/hr from family w/nanny and $3/hr from family w/sick kid) or when we need nanny for a few more hours we pay the $18/hr rate.  Our "holiday rate" is the "single child rate" divided by two ($9/hr per family).  We also have an "overtime rate" for any weekend sits or overtime hours.  
    Mar 3, 2021

    We have been doing a nanny share for 9 months with two ~17 month old babies 40 hours/week. .

    1- Does the nanny prepare the food for both the kids? How does sharing of groceries/meals take place between the families?

    We host full-time and after trying a few different permutations, it just felt easiest for us/the host family to handle all the groceries. I did an attempt at average cost based on review of a few weeks of grocery receipts, and the other family pays me monthly. A lot of food the nanny serves the babies are leftovers from the night before, and i sometimes prepare simple things like fruit with yogurt or a frittata and I also have several things for our nanny to choose from and prepare (e.g. frozen fish sticks, hot dogs, pasta, frozen waffles, eggs, oatmeal, toast, a selection of fresh fruit, snacks etc). What i love about our situation is i dont tell her "today they should have X for lunch and Y for snack" she just knows what the options are and decides, although I point out if there's something new in the fridge that the babies might like.

    2- Does nanny usually give them a bath, and how does that go?

    We handle baths outside nanny share hours.

    3- For the hours that the nanny is looking after only 1 child, is the hourly rate going to be the higher rate (same as when both kids are present), or is it reduced?

    Our regular schedule is for both kids during the exact same hours, but if one of the families needs extra hours, we pay our half of the rate X 1.5 since its overtime hours.

    Mar 3, 2021

    1. As others have said, agree upfront. In our share, she often prepares simple breakfasts (scrambles eggs, makes oatmeal) or parts of lunches (cooks pasta) but the families provide food separately. We now host at our house full time, so we take a bit more advantage of this, but when we were going to another house we rarely sent food that needed preparation beyond being warmed for practical purposes.

    2. Again, depends on your timing, and should be discussed upfront. Ours doesn't regularly, but if the kiddos get particularly messy/big blowouts she sometimes gives them baths and they love it. 

    3. We have a set rate based on the number of children in the share; the rate for 1 child is lower than the combined rate for 2 (or 3) children (e.g. $20/hr for 1 child, but $25 total for 2). Anecdotally this seems most common. However, we also agreed to a set schedule with guaranteed hours, so if one child was away one day the nanny was still paid at the 2-child rate for those hours. But, for example, one family needed an additional 30 minutes of care in the morning, and they paid for that time at the 1-child rate. 

    Mar 17, 2021

    Thank you all for the responses 🙏🏽 very helpful

    Mar 28, 2021