How Many Nannies Do I Need for My Event? (The Staffing Formula, Explained)

Ages, not headcount. Two infants are as much work as four school-age children, and any staffing answer that ignores that will leave someone short.

Here is the formula we actually use, so you can run it yourself before you book:

Add the points. **One nanny covers up to 4.** Round up, minimum one.

Run it on your guest list

Eight children, all aged 6–10. Eight points. Two nannies.

**Four infants.** Also eight points. **Also two nannies** — same staffing, a quarter of the children.

Two toddlers and three school-age. 3 + 3 = 6 points. Two nannies.

**One infant, one toddler, one five-year-old.** 2 + 1.5 + 1 = 4.5 points. **Two nannies** — the half-point over the line is exactly the situation where one person would be stretched, and rounding up is the point of the system.

The booking form calculates this as you enter each child's date of birth, so you do not have to. But it is worth understanding, because it explains a quote that might otherwise look high.

What it costs

**$40 an hour, per nanny.** Four-hour minimum per day. Past eight hours in a single day, the rate goes to **$60 an hour**.

The threshold is **daily**, not cumulative — a two-day event resets on the second morning, so two eight-hour days cost less than one sixteen-hour day with identical total hours.

A six-hour reception with eight school-age children: two nannies × six hours × $40 = **$480**.

A ten-hour wedding, same children: two nannies, each eight hours at $40 plus two at $60 = **$880**.

Planning notes

**Count the children who will actually be there.** Not invited — attending. A guest list of twelve children where four are infants is a very different number from twelve five-year-olds, and RSVPs firm up late.

**Book the room, not just the people.** Nannies work best with somewhere to take children — a side room, a quiet corner, anywhere that is not the dance floor at 10 PM.

**Sort ID verification early.** First-time in-home bookings need photo ID verification reviewed by an administrator before dispatch. It is quick, but it is not something to discover on the morning of a wedding.

Booking

Minimum 24 hours notice applies, but events are not a 24-hour-notice kind of booking. Dates get taken, and a wedding needs matched caregivers rather than whoever is free.

One small thing worth knowing when you set the times: if your event runs close to eight hours, adjusting your start by an hour can keep you under the overtime threshold.