9 Nannies Whose Real-Life Stories Are Fit for a Suspense Novel

Nannies step into the heart of a family’s daily life, building deep bonds and shouldering immense responsibility. But behind closed doors, some have found themselves caught in situations far more intense than they ever expected.

• I nannied for a wealthy couple. The husband had a study in the house that the wife joked about “never being allowed in.” Now, I’m a nosy person, and I was curious about why you wouldn’t let someone in a study, especially since it looked like a fairly normal room: big desk, walls covered in bookshelves, books of architecture everywhere.
  So one day, I just roamed around in there. I didn’t really find anything, and I was kind of disappointed, but then I grabbed a book off one of the shelves. The thing had money pressed between its pages — about $500, if I had to guess. I picked up another book, found the same thing. I think I checked like ten different books, and every single one had money hidden in it.
  Still not sure if the dude was just paranoid about banks, or if he was intentionally hiding money from his wife. © Unknown author / Reddit

• I babysat a boy who had 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

• In my early twenties, I would babysit a set of twins on the weekend once in a while. Their mom was super beautiful, and she was always going on dates.
  One night, she told me she met a guy and was going on a date with him. She left at 6 and said she’d be back around midnight. Well, pushing 1 a.m., I’m thinking maybe she’s running late. 2 a.m., 3 a.m... I’m calling and calling her and finally her phone just goes to voice mail. I wake up, and it’s 7 a.m. and she still isn’t back. I finally found the grandparent’s number in an address book. I call her parents, and they don’t even seem phased. They just seem annoyed like this is business as usual but tell me they’ll be over to sit with the twins, so I can leave. I call the non-emergency police number and explain what’s going on and that the grandparents are on their way.
  I stick around for another hour, and then she pulls up wearing a men’s t-shirt, and heels, and she’s laughing. She says jokingly, “Oh my god! Call the police!” I never sat for her again. She just ended up staying with the guy all night and turned her phone off so she couldn’t be bothered. She truly thought I’d dismiss it like it was no big deal. © Kikabennet / Reddit

• I was nannying for a family who had just moved into a big old house. The 2 kids were sweet but super curious. One day, they asked me about a locked door in the basement. They said their parents told them it was “just storage” and not to worry about it. One night, after the kids were asleep, I heard a weird scratching sound coming from downstairs. Curious (but nervous), I went to check. The basement door was slightly open. Inside, I found a room filled with antique dolls—sitting in neat little rows, some facing each other like they were having a conversation. Then I noticed one had turned toward me... I slammed the door shut and never went back down. A couple of months later, the family moved out, saying the house had “too much history.”
  I didn’t ask for details.

• I once worked as a nanny for a family with three energetic boys who had the wildest imaginations. Their favorite game was pretending to be wolves—crawling on all fours, howling at the moon, and calling themselves a "pack.“One evening, we set up a backyard campout, and they insisted I join in. Laughing, I played along, but then I heard something—distant howling. The boys immediately fell silent, eyes locked on the dark woods behind the house. Before I could say anything, a large shadow rushed past our tent. My heart pounded as I grabbed the kids and hurried them inside.
  The next morning, we stepped outside to find paw prints circling the tent. The boys were over the moon, convinced they had summoned a “real wolf.”
  As for me? I decided my camping days with them were officially over.

• I was in the living room, watching Sister, Sister, when all of a sudden I hear a man say, “Hello.” I check the front door, look out the window at the driveway, the parents aren’t home. Go upstairs and check the kids, they’re both still in bed.
  Go back downstairs, hear it again, from the darkened dining room, “Hello, I am Armando.” They had a freaking parrot. © Unknown author / Reddit

• I secured a high-paying nanny job for 2 kids, but the parents made me sign a non-disclosure agreement. One day, at the park with the kids, a woman came to me, asking oddly specific questions about the kids’ routines. Before I respond, the family’s dog jumped at her, driving her away. Later that day, my blood ran cold as the mom of the kids, in tears, revealed that one of the 2 kids wasn’t theirs, but was the son of a foreign diplomat. She confessed that they had been entrusted with his care after a threat had been made against his family. The reason for the intense security, the strict confidentiality, and now the strange encounter at the park—all of it suddenly made sense.
  She was terrified that someone had tracked them down. Thankfully, after reporting the incident, the family was swiftly relocated to a safer place. The children were safe, and despite the terrifying experience, I knew I had done my part in protecting them.

• Once, I was babysitting and the kids had a toy room at the end of the hall. The light was out in the room, and it was nighttime, so, super dark. I asked 4yo to put something away in the room, and he started crying hysterically, saying there was a witch in the room. So, being an adult (I was actually a teenager at the time) I casually walked down the hall to put the toy away.
  The room was very creepy. As I was exiting the room, the kid was looking over my head looking terrified and started screaming, “The witch is behind you! The witch is going to get you!” I’ve never run so fast in my life. This_Conversation943 / Reddit

• A few years ago, I was a nanny for a sweet 6y.o. boy. His mom was a single parent—nice, but always tired, like she had a lot on her mind. Their house was old, filled with antiques, but one thing stood out—a locked attic door at the end of the hall. One day, the boy pointed at it and whispered, “Mom says we can never go up there.” I didn’t think much of it until one night when I was putting him to bed. I heard footsteps above us—slow, steady steps. My stomach dropped. His mom wasn’t home yet, and we were supposed to be alone.
  Trying to stay calm, I walked toward the attic door. As I got closer, I heard something even creepier—a soft humming, like someone singing a lullaby. My hand shook as I reached for the doorknob, but just as I touched it, a voice behind me made me jump. “You shouldn’t be here.” I turned to see the boy’s mom standing there, her face pale. She grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the door, like she was afraid of it. She never explained what was inside, just said, “Some things are better left alone.”
  I never asked again. But even now, I still wonder—was it just a memory, a family secret, or something else entirely behind that door?

Sometimes, parents with children feel entitled to special treatment, assuming they have the right to make demands simply because they have kids. Recently, a Reddit user shared an experience where a family attempted to pressure him into giving up his table at a restaurant. When he refused, tensions escalated, leading to an uncomfortable confrontation. Read the story through this link.