Even before marrying Kody Brown, Sister Wives star Robyn Brown has always had a nanny or a babysitter. Audiences have tried to figure out why she needed a nanny and never utilized her sister wives and have come up with their theories. Christine Brown and Kody Brown’s 21-year-old daughter, Gwendlyn Brown, is also baffled by Robyn’s need for constant childcare. Here’s what she had to say on the subject.
A timeline on Robyn’s nannys and babysitters
Before Robyn even married Kody in 2010, Christine Brown’s daughter, Mykelti Padron, came to live with Robyn as a free live-in babysitter for her three children. If Kody and Robyn began courting in 2009, Mykelti would have been around 13 years old.
Robyn’s children (from her previous marriage with her first husband, David Jessop) were still young enough to need a nanny. Dayton Brown would have been 10 years old. Aurora Brown would have been around eight years old, and Breanna would have been around five years old.
In Sister Wives Season 5, the Brown family began constructing their custom homes in the Las Vegas, Nevada cul-de-sac. Robyn hired her younger sister, Taralyce Sullivan, to babysit her three children in 2011. This was the same year Robyn and Kody’s youngest son, Solomon Brown, was born.
In Sister Wives Season 8, the homes are built, and Robyn hires her “step-niece,” Mindy Jessop, to help with childcare. Christine felt hurt that she didn’t ask her, as her sister wife, to help her and instead hired someone else. She continued to be her nanny after the birth of her fifth child, Ariella Brown, in 2016.
Gwendlyn doesn’t know why Robyn needs a nanny
For many seasons, Sister Wives fans have wondered why Robyn hired a nanny instead of using her sister wives for childcare. A fan asked Gwendlyn during a Q&A on her Patreon account if she knew a reason why Robyn would need a nanny. “Can you please possibly tell us the exact reason Robyn has ALWAYS had to have a nanny? Is she sickly? Lazy? Too uneducated to school her children?”
It seems that Gwendlyn is just as baffled by Robyn’s need for a nanny as many Sister Wives fans are. “No idea. Genuinely none of the reasons that I’ve ever come up with make any sense without being offensive, and I’m trying to avoid that,” Gwendlyn replied.
Robyn and Kody still have Mindy as a nanny
Fast forward to Sister Wives Season 16, Kody revealed that Robyn hired a nanny during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to help with then 10-year-old Solomon and 5-year-old Ariella.” Robyn and I have an employee. We call her a nanny. She comes over, she helps with caring for the kids, and she helps with schooling the kids,” Kody explained on Sister Wives.
While Robyn and Kody were confident that their nanny had followed their strict coronavirus protocols, the nanny spread the virus to the family. This caused significant tension within the family, as Christine didn’t understand why the nanny was allowed in and out of Robyn’s home, but her children weren’t. This led to Christine asking the now-infamous question: “What does the nanny do?”
On March 16, 2023, a fan snapped a pic of Kody and Robyn and their two youngest children, 11-year-old Solomon and 7-year-old Ariella, at the Phoenix Aquarium with their nanny, Mindy (via Reddit). Perhaps questions will be answered on Sister Wives Season 18, rumored to return in September 2023.
