In your situation, OP, it really might make the most sense to invite your current part-time babysitter to just go full time. For one, you and the kids know and trust her. Presumably you also feel safe with her social distancing routine, if that's a concern for you. Both of those factors to me, at least, would count against trying to bring in a new person in instead.

I agree with others that to get an experienced nanny who can handle educational aspects and is willing to take on what might be counted as "2.5" kids, one of whom is an infant, you would need to pay well over $20/hr and it might not be worth it since your 5 year old will be going to kindergarten in the fall anyway. And play is educational in its own right, especially at those young ages. As long as your current babysitting is playing with them and not sitting on her phone all day or what have you, letting them have a relaxed summer with her sounds like a good proposition.

Infant, 3 (probably dropping nap, getting ready for preK next year), and 5 (school age) with a WAHM around?

Oh, honey, you're going to have to pay a lot. Especially if you want someone to teach because all 3 have different needs at those ages.

That’s too low for an educator. I don’t rationalize the salary based thinking you’ll be putting the baby to sleep and feed. That’s just right now that he’s an infant but it won’t last.

3 kids including an infant is going to be way more than 20/hour. Especially since a lot of nannies do not like to work with mom in the house.

Also, are you asking nanny to drive and pick up kindergartener? Do you want a car nanny can use?

If you want someone to educate your children, look for a former teacher, tutor or homeschooler. If you want to keep costs down (somewhat), have two of your children share a room, and pay a live-nanny $15/hour.

Anonymous wrote:I can pretty much guarantee that your aren’t going to find a qualified nanny for three kids at $20 an hour. Ask your part time sitter if she’d be interested in going to full time just until daycare and school reopens.

+1, especially if you want a nanny that does any meaningful level of “educating” the two older kids rather than just keeping them occupied so you can do your work. Realistically, you have to set much lower expectations on the educating front at the $20/hr rate. I learned this by trial and error.

$20 per hour is low for one child. For 3 kids, it would be at least $25+

OP, as others have responded in your other post, $20 for three young children is not reasonable in the DC area. Think $25+ and you're in the ballpark.

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/nanny-forum/posts/list/361616.page

I really wish that people would post in ONE place, not two...

If your current sitter is trustworthy, reliable, and your kids enjoy being with her, it makes no sense to get rid of her in favor of someone unknown.
What were you wanting a nanny to "teach" your children?
The cost will vary depending on exactly what you expect and qualifications, but I guarantee it will be nowhere near $20/hr for someone to actually educate 3 young children while a parent is at home. Think much higher.

I can pretty much guarantee that your aren’t going to find a qualified nanny for three kids at $20 an hour. Ask your part time sitter if she’d be interested in going to full time just until daycare and school reopens.

We currently have a part time babysitter coming in to help with our two kids (3 and 5 years old) for about 5 hours a day. Since it doesn’t look like daycare will be opening anytime soon we are thinking about looking into a full time nanny.

Would it make more sense to try and see if our part time babysitter would be interested in going full time? Or hiring an experienced nanny? The current part time babysitter doesn’t really do any teaching with the kids, rather plays with them and keeps them entertained.

Also how much do full time nanny’s charge? We have a 5 year old (who is hopefully starting kindergarten in the fall), a 3 year old and a 4 month old. I would be working from home and taking care of putting the baby down for naps and feeding the baby. Is this doable? Would $20 an hour be reasonable?