Nanny eating me out of house and home! Help!?

Question

Hello. I have a great nanny that watches my 4 year old and my 8 month old. The problem is that, even though she is a petite girl, she is eating us out of house and home! I don't mind her having a meal with my children, or even a snack or two, but she literally eats everything in my house, mainly ANYTHING sweet: ice cream; every ounce of chocolate she can find; fruit; cheese; cookies; crackers; milk (makes chocolate milk); juice; etc., etc.! She digs through my pantry to find things, and also chows down on anything I buy my daughter as a special treat. It is to the point where I am constantly replacing things so there is something there for my daughter to eat. She will literally go through an entire box of cookies in 3 days without my daughter getting one of them! To boot, she only works 30 hours a week! I don't know what to do. She really is a great nanny to my children and I feel like if I say anything, it will be petty, but there has to be a limit. Help!

Answer 1

why don't you place your child in a daycare where all of that is provided? if you can't afford it  deal with the Mikey that eats whatever you buy..

Answer 2

That is not petty at all.  Food is expensive and I'm assuming you are already giving her a salary so that she can buy her own snacks.  Don't feel like a prisoner in your own home by locking stuff up.  You need to talk with her about the food she is eating and that you will start deducting unreasonable amounts of food consumption from her pay.  IF she doesn't straighten up then, sorry, she has to go.  That is very irresponsible of her and it might start showing up in other areas too.

Answer 3

I had that problem with a nanny we used. What I did was mention that I was SOOOOOO swamped with work that I could barely write a grocery list, and that I needed her to keep a running list just to help me out. I told her that if she used up something to the 1/4 gone mark, to simply write it on a list stuck to the fridge. I never once mentioned her overeating (she is a small girl too, funny isn't it?) and played it all on me being too busy or scatterbrained to form a grocery list. The binging stopped immediately. I think she was too horrified to actually write down everything she ate in a day. Which, honestly I don't blame her. Try that trick

Answer 4

Next time you pay her, provide her with an invoice listing all the food she's consumed, and dock it from her pay.

Explain to her the position you hired her for did not include room or board and that you expect her to either a) start bringing her own lunch or b) expect to have her pay docked to cover the expense of the food she consumes.

Answer 5

Time to do the old switcharoo on her.  Have secret compartments where you keep the good stuff and keep the other stuff out.  Keep an extra freezer in the garage and lock it.  What else can you do?  Either that or fire her.

Answer 6

Be honest with her. Tell her you will be deducting the cost of food from her pay. She is there to watch your kids, not make your home into a personal buffet.

Answer 7

id lock up anything that u dnt want her eating so that your children can have what you bought for them. I dont know if Id tell her as she may take it to the heart and not want to eat anything. Maybe she doesnt have food at her house so she over eats at yours so she wont go hungry... hmmm

Answer 8

TELL HER TO QUIT EATING YOUR FRIKIN GRUB!

Seriously though, taht's a problem. You DEFINITELY need to confront her!

Answer 9

Besides costing you a lot of extra money...I would be concerned that my children would pick up the habit of eating this way.  You really should have a talk with her.  Just be very direct and honest with her.  Maybe you should set aside a cabinet and refrig section that is for her use during the day...but nothing else...I don't know. Good luck.

Answer 10

put name labels on the things you want your kids to eat specifically. and ask your kids if they got to eat them. if she is still eating them instead then you have the right to say something.

Answer 11

Start locking the extra food up with a padlock and maybe she'll take the hint.

Answer 12

stash your food in a locked cabinet.

Answer 13

Make a special shelf or two for the children's snacks, and tell her those are for your daughter as a special treat, and to feel free to give just a little each day to your daughter.

Tell her you will be grocery shopping on day X and ask her if she would like anything from the store.

Put a grocery list on the frig and have her write down anything they are out of, or that the nanny would like to have.

I am a nanny, and I know what methods are gentlest and work.  Your nanny is unlikely to put much on the list, empty out the "special treat" shelf etc. And at the same time you haven't had to embarrass her or call her out in any way.

It is considered customary to feed the nanny, usually since they are expected to eat with the children. But also just because that is usually how it is done! The best thing to have done would have been to bring it up when you hired her, but the above methods really should work. :D

If they don't then try telling her you have trouble getting to the store, and to please replace the foods that she is eating.

In general the skinny nannies eat a lot more of your food than the overweight ones. Overweight people do eat more, but are more careful to hide it. A 110 lb woman wouldn't feel nearly as  embarrassed about eating your child's cookies as a 210 lb woman would!

Answer 14

hide all the snacks or tell her that she need to put a limit because you are worried about your young children's health

Answer 15

Thats a tough one. Print out what you just wrote and leave it inside a cookie box.. maybe she'll get the idea -_-

Answer 16

its probably not the same but my frined did the same thing...but anyway, when you but these things for your daughter and treats that you don't want her to eat...HIDE THEM!!! not in the kitchen she will probably find them but hide them in your room... i dont think she would dig through your room unless she wants to get fired but really start hiding the good stuff she will never know!!

Good Luck!

Answer 17

well if she was a bad nanny then i would say fire her and get a new one

but in this case she is really good  at being a nanny

so just tell her the truth- or ask her to bring her her own food

Answer 18

Wow. U do have a problem.  Well, guidelines should've been set before she even started taking care of your children.  She needs to respect you, your home, your kids and everything else that has to do with you!  Make a list of rules, post it, go over it with her so there is no excuse of her "not knowing."  And it's not petty.  Set limits and rules and she must abide.  If not, find someone else.  There are plenty of good nannies out there.  Also, tell her as part of your guidelines that anything she eats, breaks or goes missing while she is watching your kids, she must replace.  That'll get her to stop pretty quick I'm sure.  But you really should start finding someone else.

Answer 19

Quietly take inventory for one week and write what is consumed. If you have a camera, use it.

Make out planed meals...snacks-meal, drinks for the nanny when she shows up on the following Monday. Have the portions you want to be used that day in labled baggies, and containers.

Again make a check of what has been used that day.

The next day tell the nanny politely that she needs to bring extra snacks for herself...

Wait and keep list of anything at your home she continues to eat.

When you pay her--also present her a bill for the food she has eaten.

Wait for payment  for one week-still keeping an eye on the pantry.

The next pay day give her a ticket for the food she ate...borrow a pad from your favorite restaurant!

Present her the bill and inform her that the amount has been deducted form her check.....that should work...LOL

Answer 20

Easy, only have available enough for the kids and a little extra for her. Ex. Hide all the snacks and start making their breakfast lunch and dinner portions. You don't want to fire her. It's hard to find good sitters you trust and eating you out of a house and home isn't quite a major problem. Just say "Boy, everything is going up! I can't believe it was $5 bucks for 3 oranges!!" and "The crackers went up .50 cent!"

Try those first and see if she gets the hint. She may start to feel bad. Next question may be, do you pay her well? She may be struggling and her money may go to her bills and her family and she get's her meals at your home. Sounds shady but she may not even be thinking that way. She may feel at home. Also she may need to plan more activities. She maybe bored. Buy a toy for her to put together or some arts and crafts if you haven't already. good luck, but don't fire her over this.

Answer 21

Evidently she isn't giving your children anything as she is eating it herself. It's a hard situation. What are you going to do...tell her not to eat anything? Just ask her if she could please cut down on the snacking as it is costing you too much money. Bake a couple of things for her to snack on...or put everything together in a certain area and label it SNACKS ONLY and tell her those will be the only treats and when they are gone you won't supply more. I'd be concerned my children were getting food during the day.

Answer 22

start a weekly meal menu

plan lunch, dinner, snacks & purchase just enought for these meals

she should get the hint

is she bulimic?

Answer 23

Are you sure she doesn't have an eating disorder? Otherwise she just has a serious issue with food or maybe she is just a starving student. I personally don't think it is petty at all to mention it to her. She may be great with your kids, but how about the bigger picture? She is technically employed by you and if someone had an issue with me I would prefer they confront me with it instead of going around locking things up. Or you can try just buying a few things for your kids and set it out on the counter with instructions - i.e. the kids can have x*x today for a snack. Then lock the rest up or hide it well. Either way I wish you luck!

Answer 24

I can eat a packet of biscuits in 3 minutes, never mind three days. Maby you are lucky....try talking to her about it explaining that what is in the cupboard in there for your daughter and yohave left something out for her.

Answer 25

Set food out for the day.  Tell her the snacks on the counter are for today and that everything in the pantry is for another day.  

Make up a daily menu.  Post it on the fridge and ask her to follow it.  Include lunch and snacks.  Ask her nicely to follow and explain that it is set up to accommodate your shopping schedule.  

If worse comes to worse you could buy a tote and stock it with treats to and hide it in your bedroom or something.  Limiting what you have out.

Answer 26

your not paying her to take care of her rumbling belly your paying her to take care of your kids !! strap on a pair and tell her its fine to eat when your children eat (meal times and snack times). if she eats like this imagine what she feeds your kids ?! you go girl

Answer 27

She's a fatty.

Casually tell her that you think rats are eating your food.

Either that, or ask her to bring a packed lunch.

She should be looking after your kids, not eating all the bloody food.