Nanny Bringing Their Own Child: Pros and Cons

Hi everyone!

Many people have certain “feelings” about a nanny bringing their own child to their nanny job. There are many families that aren’t interested in this arrangement and as a result, there are SO many fantastic nannies who struggle to find positions where they can bring their own child.

Check out my latest video where I discuss the pros and cons of a nanny bringing their own child to their nanny job.

While not everyone is a fan of these types of arrangements, I have worked with multiple nannies who brought their own child along when caring for mine and it was AMAZING!

Click the button below to watch and I hope you find this video useful. Have a wonderful week!

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A transcript of the video can be found below: 

Hi everyone, Laura from Nanny Parent Connection here.

Many people have certain feelings about a nanny bringing their own child along to their nanny job.

There are many families who are not interested in this arrangement at all, and as a result, there are SO many fantastic nannies out there who struggle to find positions where they can bring their own child along to the job.

Now, I know not everyone is a fan of this arrangement, but hear me out.

Despite having four kids of my own, I have worked with several nannies that brought their own child (or children) along to care for mine.

There were times when it was a little bit busy, but with the right person, it’s a fantastic arrangement where everyone benefits.

Here are the pros and cons of a nanny bringing their own child along to the job.

Pros:

First, it’s an opportunity for socialization for your child. This is particularly great if you have an only child or if you’re not quite ready for preschool or daycare yet. Your child has a built-in buddy whenever nanny care is happening.

It’s an opportunity to have a social circle but keep it small. This has been especially important due to COVID. A small social circle allows you to limit exposure and the number of germs flying around 🙂

The flip side of that is because you do get a little bit of exposure to different things here and there, it’s a great way to ease into building a child’s immune system.

Next, you can have more nanny options in a tight nanny market if you’re open to this arrangement.

Because not as many families are open to working with a nanny bringing their own child along, you might have an easier time snagging a truly fantastic nanny because other people are just not willing to entertain that idea.

Next, of course, the nanny is very appreciative of this arrangement.

They are likely to be even more loyal and more committed than they would have been had they not been bringing their own child along.

I guarantee you they are going to work extra hard to make sure the arrangement works, and works well for everyone.

Next, of course, you’re going to be helping out a fellow mom.

And let’s face it, we moms (and dads, for that matter of course), all need a little extra help and support at times.

It’s also a great way to expose your child to new things.

This could be new foods perhaps that the nanny has packed for their own child that your child might be interested in trying.

Or it could be that the nanny child’s love of dinosaurs trickles into your own home, and now your own child has this fantastic new interest.

Some nannies might even slightly discount their own rates as a courtesy for being allowed to bring their own child along. Disclaimer here: not all nannies do this.

If anything, a nanny bringing their own child along will tell you they are working even harder in this kind of arrangement, and as a result, some do not discount their rates.

We know there are so many fantastic nannies out there who are not moms, but the nanny moms out there have the added benefit of bringing those mom skills with them onto the job.

Another pro of a nanny bringing their own child along is that they’re going to have this experience, likely having done it before.

So, they will have knowledge on how the arrangement works, what helps it work well, etc.

And most importantly, they will have that experience of treating their charge and their own child as equals.

Cons:

The first potential con to consider is car seat space. If you already have several kids, you might not actually have the capacity to add one more and still have transportation happening on the job.

Another possible con is physical space. Does the home have enough space for all of the kids to nap, to store strollers and high chairs, and for all of the kids to eat/snack together?

You will need to think about these arrangements, and how they will work depending on what age and developmental stage each child is at.

And the last space consideration is if you have family members working from home in tight quarters, you just might not be able to physically manage having another child in the home at the same time.

Another con is that illnesses can be a factor and an added logistic. Because of this, it’s super important to have a solid sick policy, and a mutual agreement on what constitutes a sick day.

Most nannies are still comfortable with providing care as long as nobody is vomiting, coughing really violently, or has a high fever.

Of course, COVID has thrown everything off-kilter, so now you have to factor in whether these symptoms could be related to COVID, maybe somebody tests negative, and you’re still okay bringing the nanny back in for the day, or vice versa, the nanny’s comfortable providing care that day with negative COVID tests despite some symptoms.

Whatever arrangement your family and nanny discuss, make sure it’s agreed upon, and everybody feels comfortable.

Another con can be if you have additional kids who need care.

If the nanny normally cares for one child, but then summer break happens and maybe one or two additional children need care, now all of a sudden, that can get a little bit busy.

And this also circles back to physical space; you might not have the space to accommodate that, so that could be another con.

And let’s not forget that kids develop certain language and behavior skills at times that are not always ideal, and the other little friend can learn from these behaviors that we don’t want to necessarily propagate.

That can be another issue. However, I will say that is going to happen at a later stage anyway, probably when the child gets into school.

You know, it’s something you have to deal with, and it’s going to come up in life anyway, but it can be a con because sometimes you can get those undesirable behaviors now in your home that weren’t there before.

If this is an arrangement you are open to, that’s awesome!

Here are a few additional things to think about:

Liability

Have a discussion about safety in the home and consider adding an umbrella policy to your homeowner’s insurance policy.

Food

For outings, the nanny is going to pay for their own child for entrance to the zoo, for example, or for a meal out.

The nanny would also be expected to bring any snacks or meals that their own child will be eating during the day in the home.

Alright, everyone, that’s it for today.

Remember, communication and trust are essential for this type of arrangement to work.

And I hope you learned more about how it works when a nanny brings their own child along to the job.

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Thanks, everyone! Bye!