A nanny share splits one caregiver between two families. Done well, it's the best value in childcare. Done casually, it collapses in three months and costs both families their care at once.
Tammy was the expert Babylist turned to on nanny shares — on aligning two families’ needs and expectations before they hire and manage a nanny together. Read the Babylist guide →
Two families employ one nanny who cares for both sets of children at the same time, usually alternating homes or settling in one. Each family typically pays somewhat more than half a solo nanny's rate — the nanny earns more than a single-family job, both families pay less, and the children get a built-in peer.
The complexity isn't the care. It's that you now have a second family as a partner in a household arrangement.
Tammy Gold, LCSW, spent years matching families with nannies before writing Secrets of the Nanny Whisperer (Penguin). Today she works beside families, and their agencies, as a neutral expert: defining the job, interviewing candidates, checking references and setting up the first 30 days.
The screening call, the Gold Targeted Reference Check™, the three-part clinical interview, and a trial-day checklist — what to ask, and what to listen for.
Seven pages · from Tammy Gold, LCSW, author of Secrets of the Nanny Whisperer
PDF · 7 pages · no sign-up needed
Both families and the nanny need one agreement covering pay split, hours, whose home when, holidays and vacation (including what happens when one family travels and the other doesn't), illness policy, and how either family exits.
The exit clause matters most and gets written least. If one family moves or their situation changes, the remaining family suddenly owes a full salary or loses their nanny. Decide the notice period and what happens next while everyone is still friendly.
Not the nanny — the families. One family consistently late, a different tolerance for illness, uneven contribution to supplies, resentment about whose home absorbs the wear. Small imbalances compound because nobody wants to raise them.
A short scheduled check-in between the families every month or two solves most of it, for the same reason it works with a nanny: problems raised small stay small.
Every child's behavior has a reason, and the reason is different for every child. A Care Map call maps your child across all four domains — biological, emotional, social, environmental — so you stop guessing which advice applies to yours.
$189
$150 / month
Questions first? Text (818) 308-1358 or email info@caremapmethod.com