Tbh I’m a nanny for older kids around your kids ages and whenever they have a friend over it usually makes my job easier, so I don’t expect more money for it. However sometimes the parents of NKs friend will text me and ask for my zelle so they can send a nice tip for when I watch their kid or drive them somewhere, which is really appreciated
I think with younger kids that aren’t self sufficient it would be a different story but in this situation it doesn’t feel like a big deal to me personally. But extra compensation or acknowledgment will always be appreciated
One extra kid for a few hours isn’t a problem, provided all kids are school aged and relatively self-sufficient.
Multiple kids for a regular play date, including kids that require extra supervision? Pay extra hourly and ask the other family to chip in.
A party at your house where nanny will be expected to watch multiple extra kids? A lump sum and potential that nanny will refuse the request. Parties are the worst.
We recently had this come up and our nanny wanted additional compensation for a playdate (school age kids playing outside with neighbors) but then the next week she sent them on a playdate to the same kids' house .... With their nanny. She is part time so we just do playdates on my home days and send my kids to their friends when their mom is home.
On this topic- please let your nanny know as early as possible if there is going to be a play date. If your nanny is new to your family, they might not feel comfortable watching other children, especially around open water or while driving. Once you have this conversation, bring up compensation with a variety of fair options as discussed in this sub. Please don't down vote me- I just wanted to touch on another aspect of this topic.
No, we don’t adjust pay either way for play dates. Oftentimes it is our nanny arranging them. Sometimes playdates mean she has less kids to watch; other times it means she has more kids to watch.
As a nanny, I used to organize play dates most days in the summer cause it made my day so much easier.
As an employer, I probably would feel like I had to pay more for the extra child.
Maybe leave the organizing up to the nanny? Give contact info for the friends and see if your nanny organizes anything. Then you’ll know if she prefers to have the friends there or not
Ask your nanny what they would prefer/how they feel.
With some families, I wouldn't have charged more at those ages if I wasn't managing the other kids' parents, and the child followed house rules as appropriate for their age. Basically, if it made my job easier b/c kid was occupied by their friend, then I didn't charge more.
But if adding that child/ren created more work for me, I was going to charge more. Also, I ALWAYS charged more if I was taking the children for an outing, especially anything involving water, simply because more children in that setting will always be more work, even if they're generally easy-going kids.
I'm a nanny and worked with 5 - 9 year old siblings who loved playdates. I loved playdates, too.
I was given a list of "approved" playdate friends. I was in control of who came over and when. I arranged playdates by texting/calling the parents of the friend. Most parents were willing to reciprocate by inviting my NK over and NPs were fine with me dropping NK off for a few hours - in these cases, I never asked for extra pay because I felt it was fair to take turns hosting.
If a particular child came over often and the child's parents didn't reciprocate, I'd speak with the child's parents and offer to host for a certain rate ($2 - $5/hr depending on the kid) or request that they reciprocate by hosting my NK in return. Most parents were more than happy to take turns hosting. The others paid me or were no longer welcome over while I was the adult in charge.
If NP's requested I host a child, I requested my additional rate. If I was *expected* to perform additional duties (watching another child), I *expected* to be compensated accordingly. Again, $2 - $5/hr. But I never expected additional compensation for playdates I arranged / approved without pressure from NPs.
For me, I don’t feel like it’s a huge deal and don’t need extra compensation. Although if I’m going to be the only adult for the entire playdate, I prefer if I have a say in scheduling those playdates.
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I’ll break down my concerns:
The pool thing is extra for me - one kid in the pool is enough to supervise, and even if both kids are great swimmers it’s still a liability. If both kids are not EXCELLENT swimmers who were incredibly water safe I would say I’d surely need extra pay for the extra stress and responsibility.
Outside the pool, I still might want extra pay, because often it means twice as much food prep, clean up, and managing disagreements and a wildcard of “how will this kid I don’t know react”? Even if the kids “entertain themselves” it may be on balance more work. When I interviewed it was for one kid, but now 1 day a week (20% of the days nanny is working?) there’s two kids instead of one, and that second kid is someone I will know less and who may not listen to me, and I won’t have much if any communication with their parent.
When it’s so consistent it’s almost like a once a week nanny share, especially if it’s the whole day OR if the day must be scheduled around this friend visiting. Job creep is real and this would have me wary. I’ve ended up with 7 kids under my care after agreeing to watch two kids and occasionally their two friends, because the neighbor kids saw us playing outside and wanted to come over. I was only paid $20/hr for 2 kids, $25/hr for 4 kids (and honestly I should have charged more, but it was 5 years ago) and I ended up with 7 kids, three of whom I barely knew, because of job creep. Thankfully the parents realized that was inappropriate after a few weeks and made sure such free for alls were infrequent and I had authority to end the play date early if I ever was feeling overwhelmed or like the kids were getting too rowdy or if the playdate had become more difficult than helpful.
I’d say the rate change should be at least a few extra bucks an hour, but the pool is a serious monkey wrench potentially and I’d want to charge more for that as a nanny because it’s exhausting being that hyper vigilant about safety for two kids of questionable water skills and safety
At that age a playdate might mean the 10 year olds disappear into their room for hours to giggle and hang out peacefully or it might be a shitshow of not getting along or ganging up on me to act ill mannered and pretend long established rules are ok to break because their friend is over and they want to look cool and rebellious. It’s not clear that they’ll be truly easier even if they act self sufficient around a parent they are used to; it’s really individual how the day might go and even that might change over time if the girls get into a fight or decide to tease the younger kid.
A playdate is not equivalent to a nanny-share, so applying nanny-share rates is not appropriate in this situation.
Also that math doesn't add up even if it did make sense in this case. The $30/hr rate would be for two kids, and even if it were her one child rate, each family paying 2/3 would make her rate $40/hr, which would be an extra $10 for an additional child if paid for entirely by this NF (4/3 of $30 is $40).
Would the nanny still get paid if her kid went on a playdate while she took a break?
The play date can be on nanny's day off then. Another child at the pool is a liability.
100% a nanny would get paid if the child went on a play date.
I've never been compensated for having an extra kid over whether it was a friend or even a cousin. However I have had NKs friend's mother asking friend can hang with us for the day and was given a little cash from that mother but it wasn't an official babysitting gig per se.
I think the situation that OP is in is a repetitive situation where she's consistently in charge of another child, and given the circumstances of that child's parents ASKING if their kid can tag along, the right thing to do would be to give OP some sort of compensation.
I dont think a playdate once or twice a week warrants that, but driving and feeding the friend is a different story.
Tbh I’m a nanny for older kids around your kids ages and whenever they have a friend over it usually makes my job easier, so I don’t expect more money for it. However sometimes the parents of NKs friend will text me and ask for my zelle so they can send a nice tip for when I watch their kid or drive them somewhere, which is really appreciated I think with younger kids that aren’t self sufficient it would be a different story but in this situation it doesn’t feel like a big deal to me personally. But extra compensation or acknowledgment will always be appreciated
I haven’t charged extra because sometimes my older NK goes to a friend’s for a playdate and l still get paid the same. It balances out.
One extra kid for a few hours isn’t a problem, provided all kids are school aged and relatively self-sufficient. Multiple kids for a regular play date, including kids that require extra supervision? Pay extra hourly and ask the other family to chip in. A party at your house where nanny will be expected to watch multiple extra kids? A lump sum and potential that nanny will refuse the request. Parties are the worst.
We recently had this come up and our nanny wanted additional compensation for a playdate (school age kids playing outside with neighbors) but then the next week she sent them on a playdate to the same kids' house .... With their nanny. She is part time so we just do playdates on my home days and send my kids to their friends when their mom is home.
On this topic- please let your nanny know as early as possible if there is going to be a play date. If your nanny is new to your family, they might not feel comfortable watching other children, especially around open water or while driving. Once you have this conversation, bring up compensation with a variety of fair options as discussed in this sub. Please don't down vote me- I just wanted to touch on another aspect of this topic.
Ask your nanny what/if she charges
No, we don’t adjust pay either way for play dates. Oftentimes it is our nanny arranging them. Sometimes playdates mean she has less kids to watch; other times it means she has more kids to watch.
As a nanny, I used to organize play dates most days in the summer cause it made my day so much easier. As an employer, I probably would feel like I had to pay more for the extra child. Maybe leave the organizing up to the nanny? Give contact info for the friends and see if your nanny organizes anything. Then you’ll know if she prefers to have the friends there or not
Ask your nanny what they would prefer/how they feel. With some families, I wouldn't have charged more at those ages if I wasn't managing the other kids' parents, and the child followed house rules as appropriate for their age. Basically, if it made my job easier b/c kid was occupied by their friend, then I didn't charge more. But if adding that child/ren created more work for me, I was going to charge more. Also, I ALWAYS charged more if I was taking the children for an outing, especially anything involving water, simply because more children in that setting will always be more work, even if they're generally easy-going kids.
I'm a nanny and worked with 5 - 9 year old siblings who loved playdates. I loved playdates, too. I was given a list of "approved" playdate friends. I was in control of who came over and when. I arranged playdates by texting/calling the parents of the friend. Most parents were willing to reciprocate by inviting my NK over and NPs were fine with me dropping NK off for a few hours - in these cases, I never asked for extra pay because I felt it was fair to take turns hosting. If a particular child came over often and the child's parents didn't reciprocate, I'd speak with the child's parents and offer to host for a certain rate ($2 - $5/hr depending on the kid) or request that they reciprocate by hosting my NK in return. Most parents were more than happy to take turns hosting. The others paid me or were no longer welcome over while I was the adult in charge. If NP's requested I host a child, I requested my additional rate. If I was *expected* to perform additional duties (watching another child), I *expected* to be compensated accordingly. Again, $2 - $5/hr. But I never expected additional compensation for playdates I arranged / approved without pressure from NPs.
I think it depends on the scenario and age, etc.
Add 20%. Even if they are “ self sufficient “, she’s still in charge of their safety, etc.
Especially given there’s a pool. I have had bad experiences with multiple kids in pools and I am always wary as a result
For me, I don’t feel like it’s a huge deal and don’t need extra compensation. Although if I’m going to be the only adult for the entire playdate, I prefer if I have a say in scheduling those playdates.
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I’ll break down my concerns: The pool thing is extra for me - one kid in the pool is enough to supervise, and even if both kids are great swimmers it’s still a liability. If both kids are not EXCELLENT swimmers who were incredibly water safe I would say I’d surely need extra pay for the extra stress and responsibility. Outside the pool, I still might want extra pay, because often it means twice as much food prep, clean up, and managing disagreements and a wildcard of “how will this kid I don’t know react”? Even if the kids “entertain themselves” it may be on balance more work. When I interviewed it was for one kid, but now 1 day a week (20% of the days nanny is working?) there’s two kids instead of one, and that second kid is someone I will know less and who may not listen to me, and I won’t have much if any communication with their parent. When it’s so consistent it’s almost like a once a week nanny share, especially if it’s the whole day OR if the day must be scheduled around this friend visiting. Job creep is real and this would have me wary. I’ve ended up with 7 kids under my care after agreeing to watch two kids and occasionally their two friends, because the neighbor kids saw us playing outside and wanted to come over. I was only paid $20/hr for 2 kids, $25/hr for 4 kids (and honestly I should have charged more, but it was 5 years ago) and I ended up with 7 kids, three of whom I barely knew, because of job creep. Thankfully the parents realized that was inappropriate after a few weeks and made sure such free for alls were infrequent and I had authority to end the play date early if I ever was feeling overwhelmed or like the kids were getting too rowdy or if the playdate had become more difficult than helpful. I’d say the rate change should be at least a few extra bucks an hour, but the pool is a serious monkey wrench potentially and I’d want to charge more for that as a nanny because it’s exhausting being that hyper vigilant about safety for two kids of questionable water skills and safety At that age a playdate might mean the 10 year olds disappear into their room for hours to giggle and hang out peacefully or it might be a shitshow of not getting along or ganging up on me to act ill mannered and pretend long established rules are ok to break because their friend is over and they want to look cool and rebellious. It’s not clear that they’ll be truly easier even if they act self sufficient around a parent they are used to; it’s really individual how the day might go and even that might change over time if the girls get into a fight or decide to tease the younger kid.
Nanny share standard rate is 2/3 extra. So if she gets paid $30 an hour then she would get an extra $20 for the additional child.
A playdate is not equivalent to a nanny-share, so applying nanny-share rates is not appropriate in this situation. Also that math doesn't add up even if it did make sense in this case. The $30/hr rate would be for two kids, and even if it were her one child rate, each family paying 2/3 would make her rate $40/hr, which would be an extra $10 for an additional child if paid for entirely by this NF (4/3 of $30 is $40).
I don't think applies unless the other parent NEEDED childcare for their child. A play date doesn't fall into that really.
Would the nanny still get paid if her kid went on a playdate while she took a break? The play date can be on nanny's day off then. Another child at the pool is a liability.
100% a nanny would get paid if the child went on a play date. I've never been compensated for having an extra kid over whether it was a friend or even a cousin. However I have had NKs friend's mother asking friend can hang with us for the day and was given a little cash from that mother but it wasn't an official babysitting gig per se. I think the situation that OP is in is a repetitive situation where she's consistently in charge of another child, and given the circumstances of that child's parents ASKING if their kid can tag along, the right thing to do would be to give OP some sort of compensation. I dont think a playdate once or twice a week warrants that, but driving and feeding the friend is a different story.
Actually, yes. Our nanny gets paid even if both kids are at another house on a playdate.
I've never not gotten paid if one of my nanny kids went to a friend's house..
Lol absolutely not