Rete for 2 children, one in day care part time

[Anonymous]

Hi all,
We live in Fairfax county, but may be moving to Howard County in Maryland. (I wish they had something similar to DCUM but I haven't had any luck finding a similar site). I will be placing my two year old in day care 3x/week and his 3 month old brother will be with a nanny full time. The nanny will work 40 hours, 9-5, with the infant. The older child will be in daycare 8-12hrs 3x/week. Nanny will not have to drop off or pick up older child. My question is how much should I pay her? According to the quick rate calculator on care.com, the rate for 2 children, for a nanny with 6-9 years of experience, in my zip code for 40 hours/week is $14.50/hr. I'm not sure how to adjust this based on the fact that one children will be in daycare 12 hours/week. Or should I not adjust it at all since we will not be providing health insurance. We will provide 3 weeks paid vacation and paid holidays. (If I am missing any other required benefits please let me know). For any moms reading this in a similar situation, if you have any other tips for making this set up work I would love to hear them. Also, I'm curious as to how much it typically costs for 12 hours of daycare/preschool. Thanks for your help!

[Anonymous]

Do not adjust it. If your 2yo is sick or daycare closes, etc, nanny will be responsible for him. She will still have to clean up after him and prep food for him, even when he is not home.

Most importantly, you are paying for her time spent in your home and her knowledge and expertise. She will still have the same experience and level of responsibility (responsibility as in she is responsible for the well-being of the children) regardless of how many children she is caring for - that is what you're paying for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi all,
We live in Fairfax county, but may be moving to Howard County in Maryland. (I wish they had something similar to DCUM but I haven't had any luck finding a similar site). I will be placing my two year old in day care 3x/week and his 3 month old brother will be with a nanny full time. The nanny will work 40 hours, 9-5, with the infant. The older child will be in daycare 8-12hrs 3x/week. Nanny will not have to drop off or pick up older child. My question is how much should I pay her? According to the quick rate calculator on care.com, the rate for 2 children, for a nanny with 6-9 years of experience, in my zip code for 40 hours/week is $14.50/hr. I'm not sure how to adjust this based on the fact that one children will be in daycare 12 hours/week. Or should I not adjust it at all since we will not be providing health insurance. We will provide 3 weeks paid vacation and paid holidays. (If I am missing any other required benefits please let me know). For any moms reading this in a similar situation, if you have any other tips for making this set up work I would love to hear them. Also, I'm curious as to how much it typically costs for 12 hours of daycare/preschool. Thanks for your help!

your rate is too low. 15-20 is the norm here.

[Anonymous]

OP, a few things:

Care.com's suggested rates are laughably low for quality nannies. They keep them so low to convince parents they can afford in-home care even when they can't and thereby increase their membership. Even for just one child, $15-$20/hr is absolutely reasonable (and is also reasonable for two).

You should not adjust the rate at all, not because you're not offering health care but because you're not going to pay her a different rate when one child is home vs. two children are home. You're paying for the safety and security of your children, her expertise and professionalism, and the peace of mind knowing if your toddler gets sick mid-day she can go and collect him from daycare/she is home to care for him if daycare is closed due to weather or holidays/etc.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Excellent perspectives...Thank you!