A nanny can look after a child with a cold, a mild fever or a child who is on the mend but not yet allowed back at förskola (municipal preschool, from age one). With a stomach bug, a high fever or a child who is clearly unwell, a parent should be at home. A nanny does not replace VAB (vård av barn, the Swedish paid leave to care for a sick child), but it solves the days VAB does not cover: the third day of a cold, the meeting that cannot be moved, the sibling who is well.
Tuesday morning, six o'clock, in Älvsjö. The four-year-old has a temperature of 38.3, is cheerful and wants breakfast. The preschool will not take him. You both have days you cannot move, and it is the fourth sick day this month. This is where the question of a nanny during illness comes up, and it has a clearer answer than many people think. Here is how we see it, and how it works in practice.
When a nanny works, and when the child needs you
| A nanny works | A parent should stay home |
|---|---|
| A cold with a runny nose and cough, the child is playing and eating | High fever, the child is listless and just wants to lie down |
| Mild fever, under 39 degrees, with the child generally well in themselves | A stomach bug, and for 48 hours after the last vomiting or diarrhoea |
| Day three or four of an infection, the child is perking up | The first 24 hours of an illness you cannot identify |
| An ear infection or tonsillitis under treatment, with the pain under control | Breathing difficulties, a rash you do not recognise, the child is not drinking |
| The child is well but has to stay home another day under the preschool's rules | A child under one with a fever |
It is not only a question of contagion. A child who is properly ill wants mum or dad, not because the nanny is worse but because that is how children work. Those are the days to take VAB, and you should not feel guilty about it. The nanny is for the days in between: when the child is snotty and cheerful, when the fever has gone but the preschool wants another day, when one sibling is ill and the other is not.
VAB or a nanny: how they fit together
VAB, temporary parental benefit from Försäkringskassan (the Swedish Social Insurance Agency), replaces roughly 80 per cent of your salary up to a cap when you take time off work to care for a sick child. It applies to children from eight months to twelve years, with exceptions, and has a set number of days per child per year. Read our VAB for the details. A nanny is something else: you work, receive your full salary and pay someone to be at home with the child.
- VAB suits the days the child is really ill, the first days of an infection and always with a stomach bug.
- A nanny suits days three to five, the days the child is well but not allowed back at preschool, and the days a work commitment cannot be moved.
- A combination is the most common in practice: one parent takes VAB in the morning and goes to work when the nanny arrives at twelve. It is not VAB in the afternoon, but it is half a day instead of a whole one.
For parents who earn more than the VAB cap, or whose job makes absence difficult, a nanny often costs less than a lost working day. For parents whose salary is well covered by VAB, it is the other way round. Do the sums for your situation, and include the RUT deduction.
Contagion: what the nanny needs to know
Always say in advance what the child has. It is not so the nanny can say no, but so she can decide for herself. A nanny who visits three families a week cannot take a stomach bug, because she would pass it on to the others. Most take a cold without blinking. This is how we do it:
- A cold, cough, runny nose: yes, it is everyday life in every family with small children.
- Mild fever with the child generally well: yes, in consultation with the nanny.
- A stomach bug: no, and not until 48 hours after the last vomiting or diarrhoea.
- Chickenpox: yes if the nanny has had it herself, otherwise no.
- Hand, foot and mouth disease, conjunctivitis, threadworms: yes, with handwashing and separate towels.
- Something you cannot identify: call 1177 first, the nanny second.
How to set up a sick day with a nanny
- Call early. As soon as you know the child cannot go to preschool. If you have a regular nanny, she is the one you call, and she can often come at short notice if she is free.
- Write the note with the sickness details. What the child has, when they were given medicine and how much, when the next dose is allowed, what the doctor or 1177 said. Leave the thermometer out.
- Set the bar low. A sick day is the sofa, a book, a film, soup and sleep. No playground, no errands. Tell the nanny that, so she does not feel she has to keep the child entertained.
- Decide when you want to be called. If the fever passes a certain limit, if the child is not drinking, if anything is different. The nanny would rather call once too often.
- Come home earlier if you can. A sick child copes better with half a day with a nanny than a whole one.
Why the same nanny matters most right now
Everything we write about the same nanny every time applies twice over when the child is ill. A child with a fever wants someone they know. A new person on a sick day is the hardest shift there is, for both the child and the nanny. Families with a regular weekly nanny therefore have a solution for sick days that others do not: they call her. And since the nanny is sometimes ill herself, we recommend families with many shifts to have two nannies who both know the children.
The RUT deduction applies
Childcare in the home qualifies for RUT (the Swedish tax deduction for household services) whether the child is well or ill. The deduction is 50 per cent of the labour cost, the cap is 75,000 kr per person per year and the child must be twelve or younger. Payment must be electronic. We take the deduction off the invoice directly. Occasional bookings cost 199 kr an hour after RUT, regular arrangements from 165 kr. The full price list is on the prices page.
How we do it with our families
Denise has a family on Kungsholmen where she comes two afternoons a week. One Monday in February the mother rang at seven in the morning: the five-year-old had had a fever over the weekend, had been fever-free since Sunday evening but had to stay home one more day. Denise could be there at nine. The day was pyjamas, pancakes, three chapters of a book and an hour on the sofa with a film, which the mother had approved on the note. At two the child slept for an hour, which Denise wrote down, and at four the father was home. A sick day that would have cost one of the parents a whole working day became instead seven hours with a person the child had known for a year and a half.
This text is general information and does not replace advice from BVC (the child health clinic every family is enrolled in), your vårdcentral (local health centre) or 1177. If you are worried about your child, call 1177. In an emergency, call 112.
Would you like a nanny who comes on the same days every week and whom the children know? Book a free first meeting with the nanny at your home, and we will work out a quote for your hours.
Read more: VAB · Fever in children · Stomach bugs in children · FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Can a nanny look after a sick child?
Yes, if the child has an ordinary cold, a mild fever, an ear infection under treatment or is on the mend. With a stomach bug or a high fever where the child is clearly unwell, the child should be at home with a parent. Always tell the nanny beforehand what the child has.
Do you get the RUT deduction for a nanny for a sick child?
Yes. Childcare in the home qualifies for the RUT deduction whether the child is well or ill, as long as the child is twelve or younger and payment is made electronically. The deduction is 50 per cent of the labour cost and we take it off the invoice directly.
Can we take VAB and have a nanny at the same time?
No. VAB replaces income because you take time off work to care for the child. If you work and let a nanny look after the child, it is not VAB, it is childcare. One parent can, however, take VAB in the morning and the nanny can take the afternoon.
What happens if the nanny catches it?
That is a risk the nanny weighs up herself, and one we are open about. Most take an ordinary cold. Stomach bugs we say no to, both for the nanny's sake and for the other families she visits during the week.
Can the nanny do a long day when the child is sick?
Yes, with a nanny the child knows. A sick child wants someone they feel safe with, and a new person on a day the child feels poorly rarely works. It is one of the strongest reasons to have the same nanny regularly.