The Myth of the College Educated Nanny
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Anonymous
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I have been looking for a college educated nanny for an infant and have reached out to a couple of reputable, expensive agencies. I specifically asked about a college educated nanny and was told that regardless of how much we were paying (we are open to up to $40/hr, even $45 for the perfect person), it is extremely unlikely that we will find a long term college educated nanny. The agencies said that they could easily find one that would work for one or maybe two years tops, but that it would almost never extend beyond that because college educated nannies have so many other options and most nanny as a short term stint before moving in to something else (masters, teaching etc). They stressed that it’s not in their interest to tell me this since they would collect their 15% fee as long as nanny stays for 1 year, but that they wanted to be upfront re: expectations.
So now I’m stuck. I considered SAH, but DCUM convinced me that the college educated nanny path was the best way to go. I don’t want to change my child’s caregiver every 1-2 years. How is everyone else finding their long term educated nanny and how long did they stay with you? Are these really as available as this site makes it out to be or are they unicorns? |
Anonymous
| Serious question—why does your nanny have to be college educated? |
Anonymous
| Idk why a baby needs a college educated nanny? Don't let DCUM tell you want to do just SAH with an airtight post nup |
Anonymous
| You don’t have to have a college degree to be educated or know how to work with kids. |
Anonymous
| Absolutely untrue. Our nanny has a masters in ECE and we found her on care.com. She’s older and realized she didn’t like teaching due to the parents and administrators. She is amazing!! |
Anonymous
+1. I especially don't get it for infants and very young kids. |
Anonymous
| Something has to give. Probably the college education. |
Anonymous
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Another care.com educated nanny find here! Also an older nanny who went to a better college than DH or I did! Her vocabulary alone is outstanding.
Our nanny was a liberal arts major and finished her first career. Then she decided to be a nanny as she loved it when she was first out of college and nannies for a family in France. Our nanny has a passion for learning and is always taking child education classes and seminars. She also just has that “it” factor with kids. |
Anonymous
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You insist your kindergartener has a college education but not your nanny? Makes no sense to me. The first five years are the most important in terms of brain development (85%) so yeah, a college degree in a nanny was a must for us.
But we also had no luck with the agencies. Luckily we found our nanny from a mutual friend. Ask around; look around; go on care.com but specify college graduates only. |
Anonymous
*. You insist your kindergarteners TEACHER have a college degree... |
Anonymous
OP, serious question: what are you envisioning your nanny will be doing with your child during the day? What aspects of pedagogy in early childhood education are you expecting her to employ in caring for your baby. It is FAR more important to find a nanny with great communication skills, who clicks with your family, and has a similar approach and philosophy to childrearing to you. Even these PPs who say they love their college educated nannies? They are all saying these are older nannies who have retired from teaching or similar. The reason they love them is that these are people who have worked with young children for decades. It is their experience that matters, not their degrees. For infant care, experience and instinct are all that matter. As your child gets older, some experience in ECE is really useful. But it need not be a degree -- great nannies often get this experience in daycare centers, Montessori schools, homeschooling their own children, etc. You are focusing on the wrong thing. It's the least important credential. You should be grateful your service is being honest with you about this. |
Anonymous
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Some of the dumbest people I know have a college degree. Likewise, some of the smartest people in my class (rural midwest) went to technical school because they couldn't afford higher education and they didn't have families encouraging them. This is one of the most unnecessary elitist things I've heard about during my time in DC, and that's saying something. You could employ a brilliant and kind human being and be their 'leg-up', but you'd rather hire ms. 70 IQ whose dad paid for the college gym to get her a passing grade.
(I also have a college degree, and anyone who has one should know the idea of needing one to be a nanny is ludicrous. There are far better comparative tests for that career path). |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
| We had a number of college educated nannies and this sounds correct. This job is just a stepping stone for them in the middle of two different things, graduate school (x3) and a move overseas in one case with nannies we had to stay with us between 1 and 2 and 1/2 years. This worked out okay for us because my schedule was less than full-time and I stayed at home and provided the consistency. |
Anonymous
This is hysterical. I am a teacher and many (masters +) teachers I know smoke a lot of pot and party on weekends. College degree does not equal responsible and sane. OP--Not sure why you are caught up on the college educated aspect. We did not have a nanny but sent our children to a small home day care run by an older woman (not college educated). She has cared for so many children over the years and she has amazing patience and instinct that I wish I possessed as a parent (and teacher). She was invaluable when it was time for potty training and helped me immensely with my one very poor sleeper. Children under 5 need consistency, acceptance and support. A long term nanny who is not college educated could offer this in ways that a short term, college educated nanny could not. |