How do you find backup care when nanny is on vacation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nanny here- My boss uses an agency and hires a temp.

Ps. Your nanny is not a robot and it’s better for your child new to have her rested and happy. Please don’t make a big deal out of this because it’s REALLY hard for us to ask for time off but right now especially we need it- desperately!!

Not sure why you’d think I’d make a big deal out of it - obviously I want her to use her vacation time, but she’s getting two weeks off now and another three weeks in just a few months. I don’t want to go the agency route for a temp, the fees are way too high for three weeks of care.

So, you're just cheap.

[Anonymous]

A temp / fill-in would not have worked for us because our kids wouldn’t be able to transition that quickly to someone new, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving them with a stranger. So we would have a relative come, or travel to a relative and WFH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can do drop in care at an inhome daycare or a regular daycare. Inhome would likely have availability for all 3 weeks, whereas regular daycare drop ins are better for when nanny calls in sick.

Our inhome charges $50 a day per kid for drop ins. The infant might be harder there since infants are a lot of points.

A good inhome daycare is unlikely to have two spaces sitting open for drop in care. Quality inhomes will not be accepting random drop ins and exposing the group and their own family to higher covid risks.

[Anonymous]

Three weeks isn’t long when visiting another county —likely a developing nation in Africa, Latin America, or Asia. If the nanny’s family lives in a rural area rather than a major city, she might spend 2-3 days just traveling there from the airport.

See if the nanny can recommend someone. She may have a relative or friend who is between positions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A temp / fill-in would not have worked for us because our kids wouldn’t be able to transition that quickly to someone new, and I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving them with a stranger. So we would have a relative come, or travel to a relative and WFH.

Why can't you and your husband take time off to take care of your own children? Better still, why haven't you taught your children that the rest of the world does not revolve around them and life has constant changes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Three weeks isn’t long when visiting another county —likely a developing nation in Africa, Latin America, or Asia. If the nanny’s family lives in a rural area rather than a major city, she might spend 2-3 days just traveling there from the airport.

See if the nanny can recommend someone. She may have a relative or friend who is between positions.

It is not the nanny's responsibility. OP needs to accept the fact that she is responsible for her children and no one else.

[Anonymous]

Dh wrote out the kids schedule and put our contact info and their doc info on it as well. It was posted on the inside of our pantry door. We lined up four different people as backups. So we might have one person for two days and someone else shuttling the older one back and forth from preschool. Then someone else for three days. But the kids always ate and slept at the same time, and their nap routine was the same no matter who was doing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ignore that ridiculous nanny poster. Three weeks is a LONG time to ask for consecutive time off. My own job wouldn't let me do that for vacation, for crying out loud. I think you're being really generous to accommodate it, and if your nanny starts making a habit of taking extended vacations I would certainly look for another one in the coming year.

In the current situation looking for a temporary nanny share as a PP recommended is one good potential solution, although since you have both an infant and a toddler in the mix that might be hard to find. You and your spouse taking vacation is the other 'easiest' solution when you can't afford an agency for temp care (DH and I can't either, so I'm sympathetic). If you feel comfortable with it, you might also look for a college student to help out. Our neighbor's daughter is in college right now and she's been able to pitch in for us on occasion even when school is in-person - she is local and just filling in when she had to be on campus for classes was easier than taking off a whole week.

You are crazy. Many nannies are from foreign countries and take a month to six weeks off every two years to go to their home country to see their families. I worked at IMF and two month home leave was a way of life.

[Anonymous]

Your DH is a lawyer and you are working so, obviously, you have the money to hire someone if you weren't so cheap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

You are crazy. Many nannies are from foreign countries and take a month to six weeks off every two years to go to their home country to see their families. I worked at IMF and two month home leave was a way of life.

Lol, ok, IMF worker. Like you know anything about how real people live.

[Anonymous]

Ask your Nanny if she knows another nanny that will be her back up. If so ask her for the Nanny phone number and do a meet an greet. If you have a good Nanny do not allow anyone to tell you 3 weeks is to long for her vacation. I give my nanny 4 weeks vacation.

I have also witness parents taking advantage of nannies. Just FYI. Parents want the nanny to cook, clean, do virtual learning but don't want to pay the nanny her worth or give her a short vacation. If parents say the nanny is apart of their family then parents should act like it. Nannies are not Parents personal slave pay your nanny her worth. Also give a pay raise once a year or gift her Christmas money. While your baby/babies are a sleep your nanny should have a break. As a mother we know how hard it is to take care of our baby/babies an work, clean ect.. So why would any parent think because you hire a childcare provider it's okay to take advantage of them.