Only an undocumented person would even consider this job. |
ok,the only thing is nanny will not take $25 for four children under six year old.. she should start her pay at $30.. are the three years old in school at all? |
OP here - Yeah, I'm getting the vibe that this won't work out well. I don't find handling them all to be much harder than just handling the twins alone, given that the older one helps with the little one, and the little one is just a cute little blob. Of course, I'm the mother. |
My nanny handles my four, and they were approximately the ages of OP's kids when she started. What I did to make it a more reasonable job was hire a second person. I call her a "mother's helper," but she is actually a grown-up and more of a part-time housekeeper who will also do whatever, including some child care. She overlaps with the full time nanny. She comes 7-12 every day, and helps me get kids ready for school. I take the oldest (who is now 6) to school, and she stays with the others until our regular nanny arrives at 8:30. When the baby (now almost two) was very young, she watched him in the morning (he was often napping) while the nanny drove #2 to preschool and did activities with #3. She also does all the laundry, dinner prep, some errands, and just general cleaning up around the house as time permits. We have a cleaning service for deep cleaning. These days, all three younger kids nap/do quiet time for an hour in the afternoon. Then they go get big brother at school, then they either play at home, go somewhere, or do an activity planned by the nanny. While it is more kids to manage, they also play together really well. It's like a built-in daily play date. With OP's needs, I might consider finding an afternoon part time person to help with the late afternoons. If you find the right person, you can cut back on your nanny's overtime, and keep her from burning out. The total payroll might not be less, but your second person can maybe help make your life easier in other ways. |
Op I'm interested in this position is there a way I could contact you? |
Overtime is time and one half. If the hourly is $25 the overtime is $37.50. It's the law. I suspect you can find a qualified nanny closer to $20 an hour if you guarantee the 50 hours a week. That's $1100 a month, or $57.2 a year. You will pay taxes too, so budget another $5 k for your share of Social Security and unemployment taxes. I'd offer a fixed $ amount to contribute to health insurance like $200 - 250 a month and let her pick what she wants. 4 children will cost you a premium for the care, most nannies work with 1-3 kiddos. |
where can you find a nanny for $20 for four children... no way.. even $25 is pushing it. |
I have 4 kids and have had a wonderful experience this year hosting an au pair for the first time. My kids are older though - ages 3, 5, 8 and 10 when au pair started. But it's been great and much more cost effective than nanny. |
Not OP, but I'm curious how much this costs per year if you don't mind sharing. |
OP, may i have your email address to apply for this position. |
Nanny works 42.5 hrs/wk (so low overtime) and mother's helper works 25 hrs/wk at a lower rate (she's more easily replaced, so I'm willing to risk less experience and potentially more turnover for a lower rate; I thought I'd get a college student, but I ended up with a young grandma type who just enjoys the variety and the kids). I pay high end of normal nanny range (not something crazy high) for the nanny, and $16/hr for the mother's helper. My current nanny has been with us three years and our mother's helper two years. |
Goodness, what a workload!
Here's what I suggest: 1. Adjust your hours so that you only need care for 45 hours a week, the maximum number of hours an au pair can work. 2. Hire an au pair whose primary responsibility during the day is your baby and then your older kids for just a few hours (3:30-6:30pm after school) till you guys get home. After placement fees, au pairs get paid $250 a week. Or hire a nanny and pay a rate of $15-$18 an hour when she has baby solo and $25 an hour when she has all four kids. 3. Send your three year old twins to preschool. They'll learn more and socialize better and, frankly, it's money well spent. 4. Hire a sitter/mom's helper whose job is to pick the older kids up from school and bring them home or to activities and then home. The going rate for something like this is $15-$20 an hour. This person, frankly, need only work about 5-10 hours a week. Best of luck! |
Yes, but I have also found that adding additional children doesn't add that much per hour. For example, I had one child and for babysitting the going rate was $20/hour. But friends who had 2 kids - same rate. Friends with 3 kids - $22/$23 an hour. |
You are more likely to get good help if you have the twins in part time preschool a few mornings a week. 3 is the age most kids start. |
Nannying is different from babysitting, but, yes, the main thing you are paying for is someone's time and willingness to believe that you, an individual vs. a company, is good for the living wage you promised. All the rest of it is how nannies differentiate themselves from one another and argue that they are worth higher pay, which is fine, but the workload isn't the primary thing you are paying for. |