Which nanny would you hire and why?

[Anonymous]

We have narrowed it down torso nanny candidates who have many similarities but a few big differences. They both stood out from the others that we interviewed and both could be a good fit for our family, but we are having the hardest time choosing one vs the other.

Nanny 1 is in her late 40s and has 3 adult kids (youngest in college). She has 15 years of experience and has had all long term 4+ year jobs. She was very chatty and energetic, and was also very confident in her abilities, saying kids love her and that she is a great nanny. She wants $1 more per hour than the other nanny, and says she isn’t negotiable on that.

Nanny 2 is 30 and doesn’t have kids (yet, she got married a year ago). She seemed very calm and cool in terms of demeanor. Seems like she genuinely loves kids and has about 5 years of experience but has been with 3 families who all let her go once the youngest was in preschool.

They both had excellent references, are willing to do the job duties we outlined, love to cook and do arts and crafts, know our specific neighborhood well, are good drivers, etc.

Any guidance for how to choose?

[Anonymous]

Nanny 1. Her experience sounds excellent and it’s good that her own kids are independent by now.

[Anonymous]

Nanny 1.

Nanny 2 flitting between 3 families in 5 years is a red flag. Pre-school doesn’t even start until age 3!

[Anonymous]

Nanny 1. Agree the 3 Jobs in 5 years is a flag. The other nanny had multiple jobs over 4 years. That speaks volumes.

[Anonymous]

First one, how is this even a question

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nanny 1. Agree the 3 Jobs in 5 years is a flag. The other nanny had multiple jobs over 4 years. That speaks volumes.

+1 unless you’re just using the nanny as a quick stopgap until you get a daycare slot, nanny 1 sounds much more stable and having a dependable nanny is priceless

[Anonymous]

Nanny #1! Absolutely no question.

[Anonymous]

What you posted about nanny 2 read like she is low energy and not very hard working.

[Anonymous]

Clearly, nanny one. Nanny 2 is going to leave you in a couple months for pregnancy or because it’s her MO. Older nannies are the best, IMO.

[Anonymous]

I’ll dissent. Both sound great (the “excellent references” part is what’s key to me) and $1 an hour, assuming she works 40 hour weeks, is over $2k a year. For me, at least, we’re really stretching to pay our nanny, so I’d go with the cheaper (but clearly still great) younger nanny.

Considering whether or not she may choose to have kids soon is illegal, unethical and immoral and I would NOT let that impact my decision.

[Anonymous]

3 families in 5 years is a real red flag.

Nanny 1 for me no question.

[Anonymous]

Nanny 1

Excellent references are useless. Pretty much everyone has them. I gave my old nanny great references too, mostly because I liked her. That doesn't mean that there weren't issues. Most people tend to do that. Had a nanny once that had great references, but she was far from great--in fact I ended up firing her after a couple of months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nanny 1

Excellent references are useless. Pretty much everyone has them. I gave my old nanny great references too, mostly because I liked her. That doesn't mean that there weren't issues. Most people tend to do that. Had a nanny once that had great references, but she was far from great--in fact I ended up firing her after a couple of months.

Yep. Long-term retention is the best sign for something like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ll dissent. Both sound great (the “excellent references” part is what’s key to me) and $1 an hour, assuming she works 40 hour weeks, is over $2k a year. For me, at least, we’re really stretching to pay our nanny, so I’d go with the cheaper (but clearly still great) younger nanny.

Considering whether or not she may choose to have kids soon is illegal, unethical and immoral and I would NOT let that impact my decision.

Sorry but it definitely would impact my decision if given a choice! The maternity leave alone would cripple us.

Nanny 1, OP.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone.

I didn’t mean to paint nanny 2 as low energy, she seemed really sweet and her current family said she is incredibly fun and always coming up with cool games and crafts, but she has a very even keeled demeanor and isn’t over the top.

Also, 2 of her jobs were 2 years each and her most recent on was a year but the family just moved out of state which is why she is looking again. The two 2 year jobs ended when the kids started daycare/preschool. Both of those families said they absolutely loved her and wanted to keep her but needed to do less hours which didn’t work for her.

But, it sounds like #1 is the unanimous vote.