Jessica Genick shares the following responses to her query re what to pay a nanny who cares for kids all day and overnight while parents are away on vacation. She wondered whether doubling the daytime salary was appropriate.  Thank you, Jessica.

I used to pay a bonus of $100 a day for both sleeping over and the sheer responsibility. My nanny was happy with this. Good luck and be sure to tell her up front you are going to pay her extra and the amount. Lastly, good for you for going on vacation!

I usually pay $75 for the overnights and then a little extra if the waking hours of care are more than the normal work week....so double the salary is very generous but at least gives you peace of mind!

My nanny usually spends the night when we go out in the evening and for that she takes an extra $50 from me. She prefers to sleep over instead of going home in a taxi late at night. The boys go to sleep around 8 and she eats dinner and goes to bed by 9.30 and leaves early in the morning.

My recommendation would be time-and-a-half, rather than double (that’s what we pay when my nanny works holidays or weekends). If you double it now for [a vacation], even one over-nighter in the future will become an expensive issue; the precedent is set. I know some people offer $50 a night for the overnight part since its really just sleeping & breakfast...

I think it is fair to pay on an hourly basis for the hours worked, plus a flat rate for sleeping hours. For example, if the twins wake up at 7AM and she's on duty at that time, then her hourly pay would start at 7. Then you'd pay her hourly until 10 or 11PM - the time that you'd normally come home if she were babysitting (and when she would go to sleep). Then I would add a stipend for sleeping over which could be anywhere from $25 to $50 per night. It may come out to the same as doubling her salary - do the math and see.

Double is TOO MUCH!!! Ask her what she thinks is fair. She'll probably say at most 50% more. I usually pay $50/night when someone sleeps over. For a while extra week with me away, I would do about 50% more.

We recently went away for a weekend and doubled our nanny's salary while we were away.

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