We did that and it was fine. DH does speak Spanish but I was the one doing all the communicating, usually with google translate. She made plenty of friends in the neighborhood. She never took my kid to a restaurant (?) so it was never an issue.

Haha, the baby does not need to go to restaurants, libraries (not yet, at least), or even play dates. Most nannies at playground are spanish speaking. But, there are tons of little things to communicate each day, how would OP do that? Also, I am noticing that at the playgrounds I go to with my 6 month old, all Spanish speaking nannies' charges always have pacifiers. even kids who look like they are over 2s, and I always though this must be a cultural thing, but now I am like, maybe the parents cannot communicate with them about it since there is language barrier

Install google translate on your phone. It works fine.

Are you paying legal or cash?

I suspect if she only speaks Spanish she won't be a job hopper as jobs will be tougher to find.

DH and I interviewed a highly recommended nanny who spoke very little English. We thought we knew enough Spanish to make it work, but ended up using google translate for most of it. It was awkward and we couldn’t imagine communicating with a nanny like this on a daily basis. We hired someone fluent in both English and Spanish.

Anonymous wrote:Sounds great. Ignore the ones scaring you. In an emergency she is still a grown-up. If any, she may over react to little accidents.
Are all the kids whose parents don't speak English in disadvantage and in danger?
Tell her it's ok to ask for help nearby. Someone speaks Spanish. She needs all the info she can get from you.
It's not the language so much, but understanding one another and understanding the expectations.

Um...yes! I thought it was well established and that's why there are so many programs and services to help them.

It's not just about emergencies, it's about all the every day stuff too.
If your kid goes regularly to a park, story time at the library, etc. and gets along really well with another kid that also goes to those, it's natural to want to coordinate a playdate. How will the nanny do that with the mom if she can't speak English and the other mom doesn't speak Spanish?

I learned to speak Spanish

Sounds great. Ignore the ones scaring you. In an emergency she is still a grown-up. If any, she may over react to little accidents.
Are all the kids whose parents don't speak English in disadvantage and in danger?
Tell her it's ok to ask for help nearby. Someone speaks Spanish. She needs all the info she can get from you.
It's not the language so much, but understanding one another and understanding the expectations.

My nanny spoke only Spanish to my son for 4 years and he’s fluent BUT she speaks English well enough to communicate and I speak Spanish enough to understand their conversations.

I would not be ok with having that much of a communication barrier. There are a lot of conversations that go in to raising a child and miscommunications happen even when you speak the same language.

I've been in Montgomery County my entire life. At this point, I hear as much Spanish as English when I'm out and about (stores, healthcare, entertainment venues). I think it's a great idea and what I would have done if I could have afforded a nanny.

My sister’s nanny spoke only Spanish, and she worked for their family for 8 years. All 3 kids are fluent in Spanish and the nanny was awesome. They live in NYC so there was never a communication issue.

Anonymous wrote:I would never be ok with this. I speak some Spanish; I used to be fluent but rarely speak it anymore so I've lost a lot of my fluency.
I'm not the only one my nanny would need to communicate with. I'd want my nanny to be able to go to stores, restaurants, etc. with my kids and she'd need to be able to communicate with employees.
If I want my nanny to take my kids to the park, I'd want my nanny to be able to communicate with other parents there.
If there is an emergency, I'd want my nanny to be able to communicate without waiting for a translator.

Not sure where you live, but everytime I go to any of the places you mention in Montgomery County we encounter a Spanish speaker. For OP, I would only worry about the need to communicate urgent or important information with you in an emergency situation where detail matters. Is there someone you know who could be available to translate in urgent situations?

I would never be ok with this. I speak some Spanish; I used to be fluent but rarely speak it anymore so I've lost a lot of my fluency.
I'm not the only one my nanny would need to communicate with. I'd want my nanny to be able to go to stores, restaurants, etc. with my kids and she'd need to be able to communicate with employees.
If I want my nanny to take my kids to the park, I'd want my nanny to be able to communicate with other parents there.
If there is an emergency, I'd want my nanny to be able to communicate without waiting for a translator.

I would rather my kids speak French... If nanny is otherwise excellent, would not be a problem to me. Depends on how much you need to communicate. On second thought, if she is in the country for long time, why didn't she improve her English? and if she is a recently come, she cannot have possibly acquired lots of good recommendations. Just my thoughts.

It’s worked out great for us. You can use texting and google translate to communicate.

My kids are fluent (and I literally mean perfectly fluent with perfect pronunciation) in Spanish now at ages 5 and 7. They are in immersion school and their teachers swoon over my red headed children speaking perfect Spanish.

What are the drawbacks of hiring a only Spanish speaking nanny when DW speaks very little and I don't.

We hired this person as she has solid recommendations and has a flexible and easy going demeanor.