12 Nannies Who Faced Challenges Far Bigger Than Babysitting

Think being a nanny is just handing out snacks and reading bedtime stories? Think again. Behind the playtime and lullabies are real-life stories packed with drama, surprise, and emotion. From bizarre requests that would make anyone’s jaw drop to heartfelt moments that could bring you to tears, these experiences feel like they were ripped straight from a Netflix drama. If you crave family drama, shocking twists, and unforgettable life moments, these are the stories you’ll devour from start to finish.

• I had a phone interview with a mom that went well, so we met in person for a second interview with her husband and 4 children. It went well until she explained her nanny was fired for having an affair with her husband and how their new nanny needed better morals and to limit her interaction with her husband (who was sitting there the whole time with us).
  I’ve never felt more awkward in my whole life as she told me that I’m pretty but thankfully not his type as he just nodded his head. I just find it irritating how it’s the nanny’s fault when her husband also had the affair, and how the nanny needs morals when her husband doesn’t. So yeah, definitely not accepting this job!

• The parents were bodybuilders and had one daughter. I don’t even know what her name actually was because I heard them call her so many different things.
  Anyway, this kid would lose her mind unless I played cartoons on TV and consistently fed her cheese. I would usually try and distract her with any other snack, but she would only eat cheese. The parents encouraged me to give her all the cheese she wants. “She’s going through that stage where she only eats cheese,” they said.
  I was seriously concerned for this kid’s health. For 2 years, I only ever saw her eat cheese. She was constipated almost every time I babysat. One time I ended up feeding her an entire block of cheese in 2 hours and refused to babysit for them after that. © norberthp / Reddit
• A couple of years into my nanny career. I was watching two little guys who I had every weekend. They were eating a snack happily. The toddler was eating crackers, nicely putting one in his mouth at a time, just like we’d taught him.
  I turned my back to wash a dish and suddenly heard nothing. He was quiet, the kind of silence toddlers just can’t do. I whipped around to see a choking child. My mind froze, but my body sprung into action.
  I quickly felt and listened for breathing; there was none. I gave him quick pats on the back, nothing. Then I pulled him out of his seat and performed the Heimlich maneuver. I even managed to aim him over the sink.
  His throat full of crackers flew out, and he cried for a minute. Then he looked up at me and said, “More fishies?” © Unknown author / Reddit

• Watching a family and had just put the kids to bed. I was watching TV and heard the garage door open, so I knew the parents had just arrived. The door opens from the garage, and in walks a 6’3″ man. I froze and was thinking that the kids and I were in danger.
  I guess the oldest kid was still awake and came downstairs and yelled out, “Darrell!” and went and hugged him. Apparently, this guy was living in the basement, and the parents forgot to mention it. When they did get home, they apologized profusely and gave me extra money. © Awdra / Reddit
• It was my first day as a nanny for a 6-year-old girl. While I was tucking her in, she said, “The lady I live with now isn’t my real mom. She told me not to talk about it.” My stomach turned. Later that night, I called the agency. Turns out the woman had recently gained emergency custody. The girl’s biological mother had passed away suddenly, and she was the child’s aunt.
• He was mid-tantrum, red-faced and thrashing, screaming for his mom. I knelt down, held his arm gently. “I’m here, Max. I’m here.” He stopped.
  Stared at me. “You are Mommy,” he whispered.
  I laughed nervously. “No, sweetie, I’m your nanny.”
  He blinked.
  Then added, “But Daddy said you’re going to be Mommy soon.”
  And just like that, I realized why his mom stopped making eye contact with me weeks ago.

• I babysat a little boy who had severe emotional problems. One time, he ran away while I was upstairs playing with his sister. He went to the park down the block, climbed a tree, and refused to come down because he believed “no one loved him.”
  I was young and didn’t think about calling the police or anything. I just sat at the bottom of the tree and literally talked him down. I convinced him that I loved him and wanted him to come home. His siblings also helped by saying they loved him too. It was so scary. © mieds / Reddit
• The mom didn’t work. The dad was “between jobs.” Still, they insisted on paying me more than I asked for.
  One day, I found the 13-year-old girl crying. She confessed she was the one paying me, from a college account her grandma left her. Because, she said, “You’re the only calm in this house.”
  I quit the next morning. And returned every dollar.
• The 9-year-old was quiet, neat, polite — and always had missing homework. The teacher blamed me, the parents blamed him.
  One day I caught him folding worksheets into tiny pieces and tucking them under the dog’s bed.
  I asked why. He said, “If I get bad grades, maybe Dad will stop expecting me to be perfect.”
  I started helping him with assignments, secretly. Two months later, he got a B+ and his dad finally said, “Good job.”

• One afternoon, the mom told me she needed a “small favor.” She was in a legal battle with her sister over their father’s will. She asked me to say I witnessed a conversation between them.
  It never happened.
  When I said I couldn’t, she calmly said, “Well, think about whether you still want to be in this country.” I reported her.
• When I was 23, I worked as a nanny for a wealthy couple. Their 5-year-old son, Joe, would always say that he had been separated from his real mom, who secretly visited him at night. His dad would laugh it off, and I dismissed it as a child’s imagination.
  19 years later, I saw Joe, now 24, on the news. I was in complete shock. It turns out that what he used to tell me was true. I froze when I found out he had written a book about his experience, and it had become a bestseller.
  In it, he revealed that his powerful father had taken full custody of him and kept him away from his mother. She had resorted to visiting him in secret — at school, and even in the garden of their home. His book was written to raise awareness and fight for mothers who are forcibly separated from their children.
  I couldn’t stop crying. I still don’t understand how his mother managed to sneak into the garden — I never once saw her. But I wish I had believed him. More than that, I wish I had done something to help him reunite with her.

• I was a nanny for a 5-year-old girl. We were at the park when a woman I didn’t recognize sprinted up to us. She was crying, yelling, “That’s my daughter! Give her back to me!” I immediately called the parents.
  Turns out this woman was the real mom, but she had lost custody to her sister, my employer. Later that week, I gave my notice. It just didn’t sit right with me that they hadn’t told me something that serious.
  A year later, I got a message from the mom on Facebook — she found me somehow. She wanted to thank me for keeping her daughter safe, even when I didn’t know the full story. She and her sister were slowly rebuilding their relationship, and after a long process, she had finally been allowed supervised visits.

Before you go, check out our other article, where our reader reveals why she considered leaving her husband after uncovering what he did to their nanny.