What exactly is the job of a Sky Nanny?

If we have a 1 year old and want to share our nanny with a second family, will the age of the second child have a large impact on how much harder the nanny's job will be?

• We have a 1 year old daughter with a full time in-home nanny that we love, but we're thinking of bringing in a second family to bring their child to our home to share the nanny. (The main reasons we have for doing this are defraying the cost and giving our daughter some social exposure.) We also want to make sure that our nanny will be happy with this arrangement, and it's possible that certain ages will make her job much more difficult, though it's also possible that her job will be about as difficult no matter the age of the second child.

• Answer:

  Looking after two kids can actually be easier than one as they entertain each other intellectually. The adult still has to be present physically of course, but there is not the pressure for constant social interaction. The nanny will be called upon to referee arguments, but there will a distinct lessening of the need for her to discuss specific toys, foods and pooh. I would be looking at making sure that the other child has been reasonably socialised first. A brat will make the nanny's job infinitely harder and the behaviour will rub off on your child. Spend time with them and the family first to make sure you have the same expectations of acceptable behaviour. PS: I missed the part where your baby is 1 year old - so obviously she isn't discussing pooh yet, but you probably hope to keep her on for a few years whereupon these things will be a consideration. An older child could be a good solution in this case if the nanny is able to do a school pick-up run. Many children enjoy entertaining babies and are far more capable of entertaining themselves.