Would I need a part time or full time nanny?

[Anonymous]

Hi there,

I'm new to this whole Nanny thing and a bit overwhelmed with what I really need and where to begin. I live in VA and have a 4 yr old that currently is in a preschool/daycare environment. My DH travels a lot and so DC's days have been too long as of late so ideally we would love a Nanny or sitter that could pick DC up early from school and give DC some downtime at home as well as dinner or prep it etc until one of us can get home. Do you think anyone would be willing to do that? Or would it make sense to find a part time preschool program and have DC go for just 3 days a week and get a full time Nanny that could do some grocery shopping and light housekeeping on the days DC is in school? Also - can anyone provide insights on what those scenarios would cost from an hourly rate perspective?

Thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi there,

I'm new to this whole Nanny thing and a bit overwhelmed with what I really need and where to begin. I live in VA and have a 4 yr old that currently is in a preschool/daycare environment. My DH travels a lot and so DC's days have been too long as of late so ideally we would love a Nanny or sitter that could pick DC up early from school and give DC some downtime at home as well as dinner or prep it etc until one of us can get home. Do you think anyone would be willing to do that? Or would it make sense to find a part time preschool program and have DC go for just 3 days a week and get a full time Nanny that could do some grocery shopping and light housekeeping on the days DC is in school? Also - can anyone provide insights on what those scenarios would cost from an hourly rate perspective?

Thanks so much!

Hi OP!

There are nannies who will do the after-school shift you describe, but it's hard to say how decent the pool of applicants would be. It can be tough but not impossible to find someone, since they are harder hours to work a school schedule (or another job) around and most people need FT income (or need to attend classes). You might consider a nanny who needs to bring her own school-aged child, a retired mother with no professional nannying experience but lots of childcare experience, or someone otherwise not in the mainstream nanny market to find the right fit for that job. The cost there would probably range from $12/hr (a nanny with her own child) - $15/hr, approximately. Now, the only way to know for sure is to put out an ad and see who bites - if you're not impressed with the applicants, you'll need to consider whether offering more hours or more money per hour would make the job more appealing to the candidates you want to attract.

As for a FT housekeeper/nanny, those do exist and it should not be hard to find a good one. A nanny/housekeeper combo, hired under that title, is able to do heavy housekeeping as well (that's half-ish of her job after all) so if you go that route be sure to look into common expectations. A traditional nanny, as you know, does not do that kind of work, but you're talking about a different job here so it's okay to ask for laundry done, floors cleaned, bathrooms scrubbed, meals prepared, etc. An experienced nanny/housekeeper will probably run you more like $17-$22/hr depending on the amount of experience and the strength of her references.

[Anonymous]

There are plenty of PT nannies that have good experience that are looking for PT hours in the afternoons/evenings only. Some only do PT work and this is the schedule they normally seek out because it is easier to find (and you can always find a morning shift outside of childcare), some will already have a morning position and need something for just afternoons. I find many morning only positions, and there are MANY more after school positions around.

I wouldn't assume that the only people you would find are nannies trying to bring their own kids, or older woman with little to no childcare experience other than with their own kids.

[Anonymous]

You'll note I said she "might consider" a nanny like that. If, for example, she wants someone with a college education or teaching experience for PT work, she will probably have to broaden her search to include non-traditional nannies. It was meant to give her the full picture of a search for a nanny (there are plenty of PT nannies looking for work, but how many of those will be considered suitable?), not to give you a minor point to harp on.

[Anonymous]

You were misleading, PP, when you quoted rates for a nanny to bring her own child. As you know, this is highly unusual and potentially problematic.

There are many PT nannies out there who would be interested in your job, OP. Offer your job at $15-17/hr and you will find great professional candidates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You were misleading, PP, when you quoted rates for a nanny to bring her own child. As you know, this is highly unusual and potentially problematic.

There are many PT nannies out there who would be interested in your job, OP. Offer your job at $15-17/hr and you will find great professional candidates.

Misleading how, exactly? I said a NWOC would be several dollars below the oft-quoted "market rates" (as agreed upon by the majority of active forum users). It also is not unusual in my experience, and although I have said several times it comes with its own set of complications, it is something that people offering less-than-ideal positions should consider as an option. A top nanny with her own child is a better bargain than a bad nanny without a child, isn't it?

Here is a recent blog posted by White House Nannies about the difficulty of finding the perfect after-school nanny: http://www.whitehousenannies.com/where-is-my-after-school-wife/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You'll note I said she "might consider" a nanny like that. If, for example, she wants someone with a college education or teaching experience for PT work, she will probably have to broaden her search to include non-traditional nannies. It was meant to give her the full picture of a search for a nanny (there are plenty of PT nannies looking for work, but how many of those will be considered suitable?), not to give you a minor point to harp on.

PP, your quote "There are nannies who will do the after-school shift you describe, but it's hard to say how decent the pool of applicants would be" implies that most nannies she would interview won't be decent. That is a very misleading thing to say.

Nowhere did the OP mention needing anyone with a college education or teaching experience. She was asking about a nanny/sitter that could pick up her child earlier than she normally can from pre-school/daycare and to play with DC a bit, make dinner and so forth. That is not a demanding position. She offered to add in more hours if the person wanted more (when deciding between PT and FT work) which would be errands/housekeeping. Nothing about that suggests that she wouldn't be able to find MANY decent, if not very desirable, candidates who would do this for PT afternoon/early evening hours (therefore not needing FT hours from her). I think this is a major point of the conversation (not a minor one to harp on), it is whether she is likely to find people wanting PT hours with her available schedule and this is very likely. It seems like your opinion of the type of people who would take on a position like this are not very good at this type of job, or might have very little experience. This is not the case. I really think that you should stop assuming things about people that you have never met before and just answer whether people are indeed looking for positions like the one OP was hoping to offer with PT hours.

[Anonymous]

Good lord. 15:53 stated her opinion just like everyone else. You don't have to like it, and OP can take it or leave it. Lets not all pretend that filling a part time position is easy, because its not. Can it be done, of course. The problem is that part time hours are not what MOST nannies worth their stuff are looking for, and the ones for which it is desirable typically come with some trait that may make them less desirable, ie. a student with a wonky schedule, someone who doesn't need to work and may not take the job seriously, an older grandma type who is only looking for a few hours which for some families isn't what they desire, etc. The pool of decent committed desirable candidates is much smaller for part time, so it tends to be more challenging to fill a position, and these candidates can often charge higher rates due to greater demand than supply.

[Anonymous]

2:24 I'm going to go ahead and guess that you've never attempted to find a PT nanny? Also pretty sure I used words like might, maybe, and consider - not YOU WILL NEVER FIND SOMEONE ADEQUATE. Geez. OP sounds smart enough to filter through various opinions and experiences, while you seem determined only to take offense at some imagined slight. Finding a PT nanny who lives up to the nanny ideal is very difficult. The end.