Trying to get a sense for Nanny search/costs/interview process etc

[Anonymous]

My husband and I are expecting our first child in early May 2014. We are on a wait list for infant daycare, but we are now leaning a lot more on getting a full time nanny instead. We are both small business owners, but work close to home. Both our families live out of state/overseas, so we will not have family help for the first few weeks.

My friend has the model nanny. Even now that her children are 5 and 9 years old- she still is part of their lives because she genuinely cared about them. I am really hoping we get someone who is professional, but who genuinely cares about children. I also want to be fair and reward the person who is helping care for our family. I want to get a sense for what realistic expectations are.

Here are my questions:

1. If we are looking for someone full time (to come in at 8 a.m. and leave around 6 p.m.)- what should we expect will be a fair pay.
2. We have the option of providing housing for our full time nanny. We have a complete separate fully stocked/furnished private english basement. If we have a live-in, what should we anticipate the cost will be? We live in Mount Pleasant.
3. How do you work around the hours when someone in a live-in.
4. If we live close to parks etc, would we need our nanny to have a driver's license, and drive our LO around?
5. Can we expect that our nanny will also do light housework? Is this extra? We have a housekeeper currently who comes in twice a week.
6. If we wanted additional help like a night nurse a few nights a week, what should we expect in terms of costs.
7. When should I start interviewing for next May?
8. Is it better to use an agency?

Thanks for your help in answering any or all of the questions.

[Anonymous]

We have a full time live out manny.

1. If we are looking for someone full time (to come in at 8 a.m. and leave around 6 p.m.)- what should we expect will be a fair pay. You figure pay based on hourly pay generally, and that's based on how much education and experience they have plus how many kids you have.
2. We have the option of providing housing for our full time nanny. We have a complete separate fully stocked/furnished private english basement. If we have a live-in, what should we anticipate the cost will be? We live in Mount Pleasant. When you have a live-in, the salary goes down since they don't need to pay rent.
3. How do you work around the hours when someone in a live-in. I would assume you work them the same way as live-out.
4. If we live close to parks etc, would we need our nanny to have a driver's license, and drive our LO around? Nobody wants to be stuck inside the house all day every day, especially when they're at someone ELSE'S house.
5. Can we expect that our nanny will also do light housework? Is this extra? We have a housekeeper currently who comes in twice a week. If by "light housework" you mean doing the baby's laundry and cleaning up after the baby's meals, and cleaning up the baby's toys, then yes. If you mean vacuuming your house and mopping floors and dusting and washing a sinkful of last night's dishes when they come in the morning, no.
6. If we wanted additional help like a night nurse a few nights a week, what should we expect in terms of costs.
7. When should I start interviewing for next May? Is May when the baby is going to be born or when you have to go back to work? I started looking about six weeks before I needed the person to start.
8. Is it better to use an agency? I think so.

[dcmamaconcierge]

Based on the information you provided I have a couple suggestions.

Being a small business owner and needing a 50 hr per week nanny I'd suggest hiring both a nanny and a household manager/personal assistant.

Providing housing for the household manager/personal assistant in exchange for 10-15 hours per week of work would offer a lot of flexibility is terms of things you could remove from your "plate" i.e. Errands, help around the office, light housekeeping etc. Unsure of the tax implications of this but its pretty common in the DC area as several of my clients move from an aupair or nanny to this arrangement once their children have become school age.

The expense of a nanny varies pretty wildly depending on the qualifications of the nanny and the type of duties you'd like her to provide. I would say 600-800 per week is the range. You can expect light housekeeping at no extra cost.

I would hold off on hiring a night nurse because you may luck out and have a child who sleeps through the night

You should begin your search around Feb-March time frame making contact with the strongest candidates for phone interviews. Be clear about the start date. March-April you should start interviewing in person. When you find a nanny you like make a formal offer and inform the second best she was not chosen for the position but you'd love to keep her information on hand for other child care opportunities.

Because you are being proactive there is a chance you could hire a nanny and come May find out she accepted a position with a different family. To prevent this try and stay in regular contact and have her come by for a "trial day" or contract signing close to your due date.

I don't have any recommendations for nanny agencies and feel like they generally use the same methods available to you i.e. Care.come, sittercity, this forum etc. to find their nannies. If you become overwhelmed with the nanny search then go with a nanny agency but start out on your own first.

If you have any additional questions feel free to contact me at [e-mail]!

[Anonymous]

Congrats on your impending arrival! If you search through prior threads, you'll get a feel for some of these issues, but here goes:

1. If we are looking for someone full time (to come in at 8 a.m. and leave around 6 p.m.)- what should we expect will be a fair pay.

In Mt. Pleasant, like most of NW DC, rates for an experienced nanny range anywhere from $15 on up. I pay 17.50/hr, other MBs I know pay around this rate as well (that's not to say that others pay more or less, though). As a point of comparison, nanny shares often pay around $20/hr ($10 per family). We also provide a healthcare and transportation stipend. With respect to overtime, you'll have 10 hrs/week and you have to make sure that you are in compliance with the law. One way to do it is decide what AVERAGE rate you want to pay (i.e. $20 for ease of math) over the 50 hours, meaning that the first 40 hours are paid at 18.20, and the last ten are paid at 27.30. In the contract you specify explicitly that the first 40 hours are paid at x and the next 10 are paid at 1.5x, so there are no misunderstandings. You will have other expenses in addition to the nannies salary: first and foremost, your portion of taxes, which drives up costs by about 10-15%, and then if you use a payroll service that can run about $1000/year, and then holiday and anniversary bonus (can range anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to a week's worth of pay - it's up to you), petty cash for the nanny (if you so choose), etc etc. Basically you'll spend anywhere from 40K on up (depending on a variety of factors). It's expensive.

2. We have the option of providing housing for our full time nanny. We have a complete separate fully stocked/furnished private english basement. If we have a live-in, what should we anticipate the cost will be? We live in Mount Pleasant.

Not sure about this... Perhaps you could determine what the fair market value of the housing arrangement would be - i.e. $2000, give the nanny a break on it, i.e. value it at $1400, and then subtract the value from the compensation rate (i.e. she'll make $350 less a week).

3. How do you work around the hours when someone in a live-in.

The same as if she were a live out.

4. If we live close to parks etc, would we need our nanny to have a driver's license, and drive our LO around?

I wish that we had hired a nanny who drives. At first you probably won't care if she can drive because she and your baby will be staying somehwat close to home, probably. And there are tons of places you can go via public transportation from Mt. Pleasant. But as your baby gets older, and there are some locations that are a pain to get to by public transportation (i.e. some of the splash parks). Then, fast forward a few years - maybe you'll have your child in a preschool program or one of the montessoris or whatever a few days a week, and the location requires (or is much easier) with a car... Point being, if you intend to keep your nanny for the long haul, having her drive will make things easier down the road.

5. Can we expect that our nanny will also do light housework? Is this extra? We have a housekeeper currently who comes in twice a week.

Any baby related tasks - definately; general cleaning, dishes, etc, probably not, unless you pay extra.

6. If we wanted additional help like a night nurse a few nights a week, what should we expect in terms of costs.

No experience here, but the general rates I've heard quoted are about $30/hr.

7. When should I start interviewing for next May?

I would wait until a month or so before you are due.

8. Is it better to use an agency?

I don't think it makes much of a difference on quality, because you still have to vet the candidates quite carefully (don't trust the agencies' vetting procedures). It also costs tons, but if you want someone to narrow the field for you, I supposed it could be useful.

Good luck with your search!

[Anonymous]

I personally don't know any live-in nannies who accepted more than a $1/hr cut in their rate as an exchange for living in - it actually isn't a perk to live with your bosses, so don't get too carried away trying to reduce salary or I expect you'll be disappointed in the response. Live-in tends to be ideal for split-shift schedules or jobs that require early morning starts (5 or 6am), but for a standard position many nannies will prefer to live out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I personally don't know any live-in nannies who accepted more than a $1/hr cut in their rate as an exchange for living in - it actually isn't a perk to live with your bosses, so don't get too carried away trying to reduce salary or I expect you'll be disappointed in the response. Live-in tends to be ideal for split-shift schedules or jobs that require early morning starts (5 or 6am), but for a standard position many nannies will prefer to live out.

while this might be true for a situation where the nanny only gets a bedroom, I think it's different if the OP has a full english basement. If there's a kitchen, living room, bedroom, full bath, and private entrance. It can be a big perk to some.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I personally don't know any live-in nannies who accepted more than a $1/hr cut in their rate as an exchange for living in - it actually isn't a perk to live with your bosses, so don't get too carried away trying to reduce salary or I expect you'll be disappointed in the response. Live-in tends to be ideal for split-shift schedules or jobs that require early morning starts (5 or 6am), but for a standard position many nannies will prefer to live out.

while this might be true for a situation where the nanny only gets a bedroom, I think it's different if the OP has a full english basement. If there's a kitchen, living room, bedroom, full bath, and private entrance. It can be a big perk to some.

PP here and this is absolutely true. I'd still recommend testing the waters before making any assumptions about how much of a salary cut your ideal caliber of nanny would accept, but you may find someone great who finds this arrangement suits them perfectly.

[Anonymous]

I'm a live in nanny and have been for years. I think 600 a week would be fair for a live in working 50 hrs a week taking care of an infant. The hrs of a live in nanny are what you the employer wants them to be. Usually anything over the agreeed upon amount is extra. Light housekeeping is expected. And a drivers license is always a good idea. Offering the live in nanny access to a car is a good idea.

[Anonymous]

I personally don't know any live-in nannies who accepted more than a $1/hr cut in their rate as an exchange for living in - it actually isn't a perk to live with your bosses, so don't get too carried away trying to reduce salary or I expect you'll be disappointed in the response. Live-in tends to be ideal for split-shift schedules or jobs that require early morning starts (5 or 6am), but for a standard position many nannies will prefer to live out.

It's cute that you want to paint a live in position as something a nanny has to endure because free rent isn't a perk. If you are so put out by the idea of living in, don't apply for such jobs.

The fact is, living in and the rent stipend it affords is very attractive to many professional nannies. Families should research the market rate of their accommodations and prorate the hourly rate for the offer for a potential live in nanny. It is part of a total compensation package.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I personally don't know any live-in nannies who accepted more than a $1/hr cut in their rate as an exchange for living in - it actually isn't a perk to live with your bosses, so don't get too carried away trying to reduce salary or I expect you'll be disappointed in the response. Live-in tends to be ideal for split-shift schedules or jobs that require early morning starts (5 or 6am), but for a standard position many nannies will prefer to live out.

It's cute that you want to paint a live in position as something a nanny has to endure because free rent isn't a perk. If you are so put out by the idea of living in, don't apply for such jobs.

The fact is, living in and the rent stipend it affords is very attractive to many professional nannies. Families should research the market rate of their accommodations and prorate the hourly rate for the offer for a potential live in nanny. It is part of a total compensation package.

Sigh.

I did follow up by agreeing that a full apartment with a separate entrance is, indeed, different from a bedroom on the second floor. Perhaps you didn't get that far in the thread?

I also didn't say "NANNIES WOULD NEVER AGREE TO THIS DON'T BE SO SELFISH" or anything of the kind. I simply said that, in my experience, nannies aren't that desperate for a live-in job that they're willing to take a large pay cut for one. Perhaps OP will find some who are, who knows! I was only cautioning her to assess the compensation package carefully and suggesting that if she isn't getting the response she was hoping for, perhaps it is because she has deducted too much for the "rent" of the room/apt.

I don't understand why you needed to be rude and condescending in your post? I felt like I was polite, fair, and offered my experience - which is what discussion forums are all about, right?

[nannydebsays]

Anonymous wrote:My husband and I are expecting our first child in early May 2014. We are on a wait list for infant daycare, but we are now leaning a lot more on getting a full time nanny instead. We are both small business owners, but work close to home. Both our families live out of state/overseas, so we will not have family help for the first few weeks.

My friend has the model nanny. Even now that her children are 5 and 9 years old- she still is part of their lives because she genuinely cared about them. I am really hoping we get someone who is professional, but who genuinely cares about children. I also want to be fair and reward the person who is helping care for our family. I want to get a sense for what realistic expectations are.

Here are my questions:

1. If we are looking for someone full time (to come in at 8 a.m. and leave around 6 p.m.)- what should we expect will be a fair pay.

What is your budget for childcare? Determine what you want to pay, than what you can afford to pay, and see what sort of candidates you have responding at the various pay levels.

2. We have the option of providing housing for our full time nanny. We have a complete separate fully stocked/furnished private english basement. If we have a live-in, what should we anticipate the cost will be? We live in Mount Pleasant.

LI nannies may be willing to take $2 or so less an hour, and in many cases a LI does not get paid OT, which makes a much larger difference in your costs. There are many IRS laws regarding what you can "charge" a LI for her quarters, and I would find someone qualified to answer those questions.

3. How do you work around the hours when someone in a live-in.

You use a work agreement, and you specify what hours nanny will be working. If you need nanny to work more than those hours, you specify what sort of notice you must give nanny, what she will be paid for that extra time, and whether nanny has the right to refuse any additional hours. FYI, I can't imagine a nanny willing to be "forced" to work extra, so that clause would be more of a CYA for the nanny in case you got upset that she refused extra work hours.

4. If we live close to parks etc, would we need our nanny to have a driver's license, and drive our LO around?

Unless you are absolutely sure you will never ever need nanny to drive your DC anywhere through the duration of her time with you, I'd look for someone capable of driving if needed.

5. Can we expect that our nanny will also do light housework? Is this extra? We have a housekeeper currently who comes in twice a week.

Generally speaking, nannies are willing to do work that relates directly to the child(ren) they care for - laundry, general toy and living space tidying, some cooking, possibly light kitchen tidying, like dishwasher loading/unloading. Some nannies refuse to do anything other than childcare, some are willing to do more than childcare-related housekeeping. You need to decide what you want nanny to focus on.

6. If we wanted additional help like a night nurse a few nights a week, what should we expect in terms of costs.

$25 - $40, depending on the level of experience of the night nanny or the Newborn Care Specialist.

7. When should I start interviewing for next May?

No more than 3 months in advance, unless you are willing to pay a retainer fee to a candidate. Most quality candidates who are employed will want to give their current families adequate notice, which can range from 2 weeks to 2 months time.

8. Is it better to use an agency?

You still have to do some of the "scut work" to verify references and employment, asking references questions, and so forth, but an agency can do the initial weeding out of unacceptable candidates so that you don't spend hours trying to find someone to interview.

[Anonymous]

congrats!


1) 50 hours a week is fairly standard. Pay will vary according to experience and extras, like driving, etc. Our non-driving, somewhat experienced nanny started at 15/hour (22.50 an hour for overtime, which is anything over 40 hour weeks). She has gotten 3 raises in 2 years (on each anniversary and when we added a kid) to 18/hr. Most nannies will want to know what their guaranteed weekly take home is. FOr one child, 15-17 hour is standard in NW DC, but you will find people paying far less and far more.
2) I would not limit my pool of options by making live-in part of the deal unless you really want a live in or you find a nanny you love who would want to live in. Many nannies have families or significant others and don't necessarily want to move. Financially, you're better off renting it separately.
3) n/a
4) our nanny does not drive and while this was initally a consideration, it hasn't been because she loves to walk. Mt Pleasant has tons of great options for parks, libraries, playdates. We are also fully comfortable with our nanny taking our kids on the bus and metro to the museums. That being said, a car/license is nice for inclement weather days.
5) most nannies expect to do some child-related housework (laundry, tidying toys, dishes, preparing meals, giving baths). Our nanny, onher own initiative, often vacuums, takes out gabage, does breakfast dishes and generally leaves the house looking better than when she showed up. Other nannies will expect this to be an additional cost.
6) you might want a night nurse, or you might want a postpartum doula or you might be fine. I would not worry about this yet, but just line up some numbers/names. Never had a night nurse, we managed. But for #2, i did hire a nanny in between jobs to come a few hours a day, take my older one to the park, tidy up, help out, hold the baby while I did a few things.
7) late march/early april
8) If you have time to interview and do background checks, it is not necessarily better.

[Anonymous]

PP here, I meant for kid #1, before we hired the nanny and I was still on leave, I had a temporary nanny help out temporarily. Found her on DCUM!

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you for all the responses. I think I will hire a live out for 50 hours a week with the occasional sitter. My husband and I will need to tag team the weekends. I posted a 'sample ad' on care.com at 16/hr, and was overwhelmed with responses. I know that does not always equal quality, but I can sift through and find someone good.

[nannydebsays]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for all the responses. I think I will hire a live out for 50 hours a week with the occasional sitter. My husband and I will need to tag team the weekends. I posted a 'sample ad' on care.com at 16/hr, and was overwhelmed with responses. I know that does not always equal quality, but I can sift through and find someone good.

One word of caution - if you are offering $16/hour straight time plus $24/hour OT ($880/week) you will be caught in a deluge of responses from "nannies", and you'll need to work very hard to sort out the great from the mediocre - awful. Heck, even if your $16/hour is the "average" rate ($800/week), you'll still get many responses from people with no business calling themselves nannies. Do your homework, find lots of questions to ask, screen once, twice, and then thrice.

Good luck to you!