What is a typical day like for a nanny? That’s a hard question to answer, as there are a million and one variables that can affect generalized procedures and schedules on a daily basis. If you like adventure and an ever-changing environment, being a nanny might be right up your alley.

Typical Nanny Duties

In broad terms, a family will expect a hired nanny to attend to all matters that relate to the care of the children in the home (note the usage of the word ”broad”).  Typical nanny duties might include:

• Breakfast, snack and dinner preparation
• Preparing lunches for school
• Taking the children to school
• Attending to homework
• Reading to and playing with children 
• Picking up children from school
• Transporting children to after school activities
• Playing soccer, basketball or other activities
• Changing diapers
• Light to heavy housekeeping and laundry

Here, again, keep in mind that daily duties assigned to a nanny are largely dependent on your individual situation: The activity level within the home, the children’s ages and interests, as well as parental need for assistance with home maintenance will greatly affect your responsibilities as a nanny.

If you are a live-in nanny, your work and living situation will most likely be completely different than that of an after-school nanny, hourly babysitter or live-out nanny. There are obvious pros and cons to each childcare position, highlighted, as follows:

The Live-in Nanny

The live-in nanny has the most precarious duties of all nanny positions. A live-in nanny is fully a nanny in the truest sense of the word. Here’s why: A live-in nanny is a consistently contributing, living member of the household. You cannot escape! You will be asked to assist with any number of activities that arise in a week’s span (and, chances are, you won’t even be asked to help, but rather it will be assumed that you will capably handle these household matters). Examples of such weekly tasks might include:

• Personal family errands
• Grocery shopping
• Household maintenance calls
• Scheduling appointments
• Walking the dogs
• Feeding household pets
• Driving children to and from school
• Transporting children to after-school activities
• Package delivery
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner preparation
• School lunch preparation
• Laundry duty
• Housekeeping
• Watering plants
• Answering the phone and door, etc.
• Anything else that may unexpectedly come up while on duty

While this is quite a load of work, the trade-off is a weekly salary in addition to free room and board. If you plan to live with a family, keep in mind that you must be relatively adaptable, flexible and open to doing what it takes (within reason) to help make the household operate smoothly.

Typically, your live-in nanny day will begin at 6:30 a.m. At this time, you will assist with getting the children ready and off to school. Breakfast and school lunch preparation are standards for the morning hours. Live-in nannies often transport children to school and then spend the remainder of the day (usually a 5-hour time slot) attending to matters in the home such as laundry, general housekeeping tasks, pet duty, watering of plants, etc. When school is out, around 3pm, it’s typically your duty to retrieve the children from school. Evening hours are generally comprised of homework, transport to after-school activities, tutoring and possibly dinner preparation a few times a week.

Live-in nannies generally work 12-13 hour days (6:30 a.m. to 7:00 pm). However, this time frame is subject to change on a daily basis, dependent upon the schedule of the parents of the home. Some parents are highly regimented while others are more laid-back in their daily operating patterns. This can be good and bad for the live-in nanny; there are days when you may be off-duty at 5pm and other days when you might be on-duty until 11pm. In this case, it’s imperative to communicate with the parents to keep abreast of their scheduled plans for the day and night. 

The After School Nanny

If you are hired to handle what is known as “after school nanny duty” you will most likely have the children under your charge from the moment school is out until the parents return from work (Some nannies also have the responsibility of attending to children in the morning hours while the parents prepare for work and get out the door. This often requires breakfast and school lunch preparation, in addition to seeing that the children get safely transported to school via car or bus). While the parents are at work, a nanny is able to handle her own, personal duties throughout the day. When school lets out, around 3pm, a nanny is back on duty, again, either picking the children up at school or meeting the children at home upon bus delivery. Late in the day, homework and snack time are usually the topics of focus. General tidying of the home and light laundry duty may also be requested and appreciated by parents. Part-time nannies who work this sort of schedule must be dependable and punctual.

The Live-out Nanny

Live-out nannies are required to be extremely punctual and dependable (reliable transportation is also a prerequisite). You will report to the family home at 8am-9am to attend to the children while the parents prepare for the work day. It is a fair assumption that most live-out nannies are often in charge of younger children who do not require the demands of school transport, etc., (unlike live-in nannies).  The all-day care of young children, under the age of five, or pre-school age, requires tremendous diligence, and responsibility. In this situation, a daily routine will mostly be comprised of breakfast preparation, reading, playing, meal preparation, diaper changing, assisting with bathroom detail, nap time as well as walks to the park or time at the local play center. Upon arrival of one or more parents, the live-out nanny is allowed to return home for the day, usually no later than 6-7pm.

Mother’s Helpers

A mother’s helper, which also falls under the nanny category, has an interesting dynamic to uphold: She must report, daily, and assist a mother with all that pertains to childcare in the home. This situation requires a flexible, adaptable person, as well. You will be working, almost always, under the supervision of the mother of the home. More often than not, mother’s helpers are hired to assist when a mother simply has too much to handle within the home (usually after the birth of a child or when there are more than one or two particularly demanding young children in the home under the age of 5). Daily duties vary, but may include:

• Breakfast, lunch and dinner preparation
• reading to the children
• taking children on walks
• playing with children
• laundry duty
• Some general home housekeeping  

As a mother’s helper, your days are more flexible, as there is always a parent in the home. On the average, your day will start at 9am and end around 5pm. This is an ideal situation if you do not mind working almost continually supervised. If you prefer to work with a degree of autonomy, fully in charge of children without a watchful eye, this is probably not the sort of nanny work to pursue.

The Babysitter/Nanny

Often times the terms “nanny” and “babysitter” are interchanged. The main differences are as follows: A true working nanny maintains a consistent, daily, presence in the life of a family. A nanny is often almost considered a part of the family due to the fact that she is so depended on, needed and appreciated. A traditional nanny is also awarded her salary, for the entire week, when that week’s service is completed.

A babysitter attends to matters of childcare for a family, but more so on weekends, an occasional afternoon or after-school.  Babysitters, just like nannies, provide childcare while the parents are away from the home. On a typical weekend evening, a babysitter might arrive at the family home around 6pm. At this time, she will greet the parents and children, as well as receive any special instructions (bedtimes, potential health issues with the children, dinner and snack suggestions, etc). When the parents depart from the home, a babysitter will spend her evening hours playing games with children, reading bedtime stories, watching movies, making snacks and finally, putting the children to bed. Once the children are in bed, a babysitter might do some tidy work around the home (the home should at least be in the same condition as it was when she arrived). When the parents return home, the babysitter is paid on the spot and free to go home.