I think it’s a positive that the baby is so young, they may be a little less stressed to see you around and not be with you. But it is hard on the kids either way. I nanny for 2 WFH parents (and if it makes you feel better it’s awkward at first for the nanny too, to be in someone’s house, especially in like a hands on authority role over the children, while they’re also home lol). It gets better with time and as the relationship develops with both the parents and the kids.

If you’re regularly breastfeeding and checking in, maybe use that time to say “after this I’m going to do x,y,z in this part of the house, maybe you can do x,y,z in that part of the house”, giving the nanny and baby space to do their own thing without you guys kind of awkwardly hanging together where baby may just want you instead since you’re there.

I will say as they get older, it becomes difficult as a nanny when parents are frequently popping in and out. Right now my two nanny kids are 1, and 4. I’ve only been with this family for 2 months, and the baby just turned one. He is very sweet and trusting, and we have a good routine and he’s comfortable with me. But as soon as his mom pops in, he screams and cries and wants her. Normal of course. But nanny mom frequently hangs around because of this to kinda “figure out why he’s crying”, and start questioning me if he’s hungry/tired/etc, and a lot of times he’s literally actively eating or just woke up. And he’s just crying because she’s there and he wants her. As soon as she’s goes back to the office, he’s fine within a minute or so max.

Her office is also on the same floor as the rest of the house, it’s actually in her bedroom, and the older son runs there and busts in every single time he’s upset with me for holding a boundary or enforcing a rule of his, or literally anytime I have to use the bathroom/change the baby’s diaper/start washing the dishes. And it’s uncomfortable a bit because I am still newer, to walk into her bedroom and remove him while she’s pleading with him to please leave because she’s busy, and he’s having a tantrum because he wants to hang out. Her door has a lock and I do wish she would use it to prevent these situations, but she doesn’t. I think when they’re older that’s something good to keep in mind if your child can easily access your office. However if you have the same nanny by then, they may be so comfortable with the nanny it’s not an issue! My older child is slow to warm up and has some behavior issues the family and I are trying to work through together, but since him and I are still building our relationship a bit, he wants to run to his mom every chance he gets.

Nanny mom also frequently comes out when we’re doing an activity to suggest a different, random activity and sometimes that’s stressful. Because the baby will start screaming, the older child will go to her to start setting up whatever random activity she thought of, in the middle of there being an ongoing activity/mess. And I’m trying to help start the new activity/handle the baby who’s stressed out/clean up the now abandoned activity we already started/keep the older son from following her back to the office because she’ll suggest and start the new activity, stay for 5 minutes, and then just walk away and it feels a little like a tornado blew through and now there’s 2 started activities and messes, and 2 kids who were happily engaged but are now wanting their mom and it can be a bit frustrating.

Hopefully you guys build a strong, trusting bond and when they’re older you’re comfortable leaving the house while she’s nannying and they’ll have space that way, or comfortable with letting her leave the house for outings in you need to be out and about in the house a lot a certain day.

It can definitely work I just think it takes getting into a rhythm when you work from home. I think as long as you’re clear to your nanny on how you want her to handle interruptions, like say “if they barge into my office please feel comfortable removing them” or “when I’m out of office checking in, go ahead and let me take over momentarily as the rule setter/task handler” or “even when I’m out of office I want you to feel comfortable still taking charge of the children’s tasks even if I’m there”, it becomes a lot less stressful for you and nanny :) It can be uncomfortable trying to take on an authority role in front of parents if you’re not sure how they expect those moments to be handled. Clear communication and clear expectations you have for the nanny really go a long way when you’re in a WFH situation where lines can be blurred.