First timer overwhelmed by this nanny forum

[Anonymous]

First time on the Nanny Forums. I'm usually on the DCUM Forums. We're looking for a nanny and people in DC recommended this site as one place to look. After reading a few threads, however, I'm a little overwhelmed. In all honesty, how legit is this website for looking for nannies? I've only been on this morning, but it seems like there is more snark than substance. Have any families actually found a good nanny on here? Or are the majority of the postings fake or vent sessions? Yikes.

[Anonymous]

I read both forums, and I don't really think the environment here is that much different than the main forum, considering the class, education, and power imbalances constantly playing out. I have gotten a lot of really good advice on this forum before, and you learn to ignore the assholes, just like in the main forum. I can't speak for my employers, but I found my job on this site, and we have worked well together for almost 3 years now.

[Anonymous]

MB here. We hired our nanny before I found this forum, thank god, I would have been terrified otherwise!

My experience in having a nanny for our kids has been overall far more positive than the general tone here. Although I have also found these boards helpful for advice on specifics or for noodling through a challenge.

We found our nanny through a neighborhood listerv - which I highly recommend. Tell everyone that you know that you're looking for a nanny - the family to family referrals yield wonderful candidates, with long term placements and families who try to help valued nannies find their next position.

Agencies can be good also - just more expensive across the board.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Thanks, PPs. For starters, what does MB mean?

[Anonymous]

Mom boss
db is dad boss
nf is nanny family

[Anonymous]

Thanks, PP.
Is it fair to say that nannies that families pay 'over the table' earn approx. 18/hour before taxes. Or is that low-end for one infant?

[Anonymous]

The range for one infant is going to be around $15-$20 depending on the specifics of your candidate and your needs. Reasons you may find yourself on the higher end of the range include a special needs baby, part time or hard to fill schedule, lack of other benefits, adding housekeeping duties, a very experienced or educated nanny, special skills such as bilingualism, the ability to plan and cook meals, teaching experience, etc. $18/hour is a solid hourly rate to offer, and would attract great candidates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The range for one infant is going to be around $15-$20 depending on the specifics of your candidate and your needs. Reasons you may find yourself on the higher end of the range include a special needs baby, part time or hard to fill schedule, lack of other benefits, adding housekeeping duties, a very experienced or educated nanny, special skills such as bilingualism, the ability to plan and cook meals, teaching experience, etc. $18/hour is a solid hourly rate to offer, and would attract great candidates.

VERY helpful. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Rates also will be affected by your location, number of hours you're offering, benefits package, etc...

Our nanny makes $15/hr average - but that is reflective of a longer work week so 40 hours at an hourly rate below $15/hr and 10-15 hours at an overtime rate of time and a half. It averages to $15/hr and her hours are guaranteed, but just so you know - you want to think those variables through so that when you're advertising a rate or thinking about costs you're prepared for those various scenarios. Also, you can offer benefits that aren't taxable the way income is - so health care cost reimbursement can be a great value to a nanny without being taxable to the employee or employer the way a salary is. (Of course, it also isn't reflected in the nanny's income for social security purposes but it isn't likely to be a sizeable enough amount for that to be a major issue).

[Anonymous]

Very few nannies in the DC area make $18 for one infant. $15 per hour is a pretty typical starting rate for one child. That will get you a mix of candidates, including students, former au pairs with 2-4 years experience, nannies who lack a college degree but have several years experience, and twenty-something college grads with little or no full-time nanny experience but lots of babysitting, summer camp and other childcare experience. You can also get experienced career nannies with a college degree and many years of experience at that rate if you are offering enough hours to bring the weekly total up. However, this is the group that can typically command a starting rate in excess of $15 per hour.

At $18 per hour, you should have a lot of stellar options. However, there isn't always a correlation between requested rates and nanny quality, so be sure you're getting an above-average nanny for that above-average wage. Years of experience doesn't always make for the best nanny. Some of the most experienced nannies are average at best and tired of/sour on the work, and it shows in their general demeanor, proclivity for tv and cell phones, etc. Some youngish nannies love what they do and have better childcare skills than their experience would suggest.

Also, most people around here negotiate in terms of guaranteed weekly pay. That means you pay the same weekly amount--including overtime--whether you use all those hours or not. This is more affordable than it sounds because it tends to drop the hourly rate. So, instead of paying a base rate of $15 per hour with time and a half at $22.50 after 40 hours, you would pay $15 per hour average rate, which means the base rate is $13-something and the overtime rate is $20-something. Just be sure you spell it all out in your work agreement.

Finally, re guaranteed hours, be aware that this can lead to a situation where the nanny gets a lot more paid time off than you might be comfortable with (6-10 federal holidays, 3-5 days sick leave, two weeks paid vacation, plus another 3 or 4 weeks paid time off due to guaranteed hours and your travel with the kids). Contrary to what you will hear from nannies on this board, you can work out alternative duties or other compromises (banking of hours to be made up later) if you regularly take a lot of vacation with the kids and don't plan to bring the nanny with you. Or you can pay for all that time off but offer a lower hourly rate to offset the perk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Very few nannies in the DC area make $18 for one infant. $15 per hour is a pretty typical starting rate for one child. That will get you a mix of candidates, including students, former au pairs with 2-4 years experience, nannies who lack a college degree but have several years experience, and twenty-something college grads with little or no full-time nanny experience but lots of babysitting, summer camp and other childcare experience. You can also get experienced career nannies with a college degree and many years of experience at that rate if you are offering enough hours to bring the weekly total up. However, this is the group that can typically command a starting rate in excess of $15 per hour.

At $18 per hour, you should have a lot of stellar options. However, there isn't always a correlation between requested rates and nanny quality, so be sure you're getting an above-average nanny for that above-average wage. Years of experience doesn't always make for the best nanny. Some of the most experienced nannies are average at best and tired of/sour on the work, and it shows in their general demeanor, proclivity for tv and cell phones, etc. Some youngish nannies love what they do and have better childcare skills than their experience would suggest.

Also, most people around here negotiate in terms of guaranteed weekly pay. That means you pay the same weekly amount--including overtime--whether you use all those hours or not. This is more affordable than it sounds because it tends to drop the hourly rate. So, instead of paying a base rate of $15 per hour with time and a half at $22.50 after 40 hours, you would pay $15 per hour average rate, which means the base rate is $13-something and the overtime rate is $20-something. Just be sure you spell it all out in your work agreement.

Finally, re guaranteed hours, be aware that this can lead to a situation where the nanny gets a lot more paid time off than you might be comfortable with (6-10 federal holidays, 3-5 days sick leave, two weeks paid vacation, plus another 3 or 4 weeks paid time off due to guaranteed hours and your travel with the kids). Contrary to what you will hear from nannies on this board, you can work out alternative duties or other compromises (banking of hours to be made up later) if you regularly take a lot of vacation with the kids and don't plan to bring the nanny with you. Or you can pay for all that time off but offer a lower hourly rate to offset the perk.

You've gotten good advice on this thread OP. This poster is our resident "here's how to pay as little as possible" poster. She will tell you that experience, education, special skills, good references, and a good resume are not reasons to pay a better rate. She will tell you that an inexperienced nanny can be fabulous (they can be) but she will also tell you that they should be paid pennies. She will tell you how to get around paying overtime, how to milk your nanny for every hour, and how to inject non childcare duties into the job for free. She lives in a magical fantasy world where you get something for nothing, and how you treat people doesn't matter. Please ignore her.

[Anonymous]

13:27 is exactly why I would not hire a nanny from this site, OP. Most of the nannies who post here are very rude and seem only interested in inflating rates and saying nasty things about the families they work for.

We found our nanny through a neighbor's recommendation. I think the suggestion of the neighborhood list serve is a great idea.

[Anonymous]

A few bad apples unfortunately make all nannies look bad. This forum is anonymous so I don't even know if the crazy posters are even real nannies or people who like to stir up trouble and drama.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very few nannies in the DC area make $18 for one infant. $15 per hour is a pretty typical starting rate for one child. That will get you a mix of candidates, including students, former au pairs with 2-4 years experience, nannies who lack a college degree but have several years experience, and twenty-something college grads with little or no full-time nanny experience but lots of babysitting, summer camp and other childcare experience. You can also get experienced career nannies with a college degree and many years of experience at that rate if you are offering enough hours to bring the weekly total up. However, this is the group that can typically command a starting rate in excess of $15 per hour.

At $18 per hour, you should have a lot of stellar options. However, there isn't always a correlation between requested rates and nanny quality, so be sure you're getting an above-average nanny for that above-average wage. Years of experience doesn't always make for the best nanny. Some of the most experienced nannies are average at best and tired of/sour on the work, and it shows in their general demeanor, proclivity for tv and cell phones, etc. Some youngish nannies love what they do and have better childcare skills than their experience would suggest.

Also, most people around here negotiate in terms of guaranteed weekly pay. That means you pay the same weekly amount--including overtime--whether you use all those hours or not. This is more affordable than it sounds because it tends to drop the hourly rate. So, instead of paying a base rate of $15 per hour with time and a half at $22.50 after 40 hours, you would pay $15 per hour average rate, which means the base rate is $13-something and the overtime rate is $20-something. Just be sure you spell it all out in your work agreement.

Finally, re guaranteed hours, be aware that this can lead to a situation where the nanny gets a lot more paid time off than you might be comfortable with (6-10 federal holidays, 3-5 days sick leave, two weeks paid vacation, plus another 3 or 4 weeks paid time off due to guaranteed hours and your travel with the kids). Contrary to what you will hear from nannies on this board, you can work out alternative duties or other compromises (banking of hours to be made up later) if you regularly take a lot of vacation with the kids and don't plan to bring the nanny with you. Or you can pay for all that time off but offer a lower hourly rate to offset the perk.

You've gotten good advice on this thread OP. This poster is our resident "here's how to pay as little as possible" poster. She will tell you that experience, education, special skills, good references, and a good resume are not reasons to pay a better rate. She will tell you that an inexperienced nanny can be fabulous (they can be) but she will also tell you that they should be paid pennies. She will tell you how to get around paying overtime, how to milk your nanny for every hour, and how to inject non childcare duties into the job for free. She lives in a magical fantasy world where you get something for nothing, and how you treat people doesn't matter. Please ignore her.

Ah, yes. One of our parent-bullying, rate-inflating nannies is back to tell you that you'll never keep a nanny and will scar your child forever if you don't pay over your child's college savings and then throw in employer-provided meals, three hour lunch breaks, nine weeks PTO, and quarterly spa days. And don't you dare ask her to start dinner for the adults or wash a towel along with the half-empty load of baby laundry. That would make her feel like the hired help. She might do those things, but only if she feels like you've earned a favor that day.

Here's the thing, OP: As a first-time parent, you want to do right by your kid. You might still be sleep deprived and hormonal and you probably have no experience with the nanny market. This gives nannies a huge information advantage in the hiring process and some of them don't hesitate to take advantage of that to negotiate an above-market deal for themselves. Those nannies tend to congregate on this board in gross disproportion to their presence in the marketplace. And they hate when parents write in to share information that you might otherwise learn several months or years into your relationship with your nanny.

I'm not saying that a good nanny is not hugely important and worthy of a livable income. They are, and most nannies in real life are far more flexible, pleasant, and hard-working than the loudest of those on this board. I am simply saying that nanny compensation is full of quirks, market rates are more affordable than some of the nannies on here want to admit, and there are plenty of nannies who excel with the kids yet are willing to help out around the house during their naps without expecting additional compensation as long as the regular rate is within market norms. New parents deserve to know that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very few nannies in the DC area make $18 for one infant. $15 per hour is a pretty typical starting rate for one child. That will get you a mix of candidates, including students, former au pairs with 2-4 years experience, nannies who lack a college degree but have several years experience, and twenty-something college grads with little or no full-time nanny experience but lots of babysitting, summer camp and other childcare experience. You can also get experienced career nannies with a college degree and many years of experience at that rate if you are offering enough hours to bring the weekly total up. However, this is the group that can typically command a starting rate in excess of $15 per hour.

At $18 per hour, you should have a lot of stellar options. However, there isn't always a correlation between requested rates and nanny quality, so be sure you're getting an above-average nanny for that above-average wage. Years of experience doesn't always make for the best nanny. Some of the most experienced nannies are average at best and tired of/sour on the work, and it shows in their general demeanor, proclivity for tv and cell phones, etc. Some youngish nannies love what they do and have better childcare skills than their experience would suggest.

Also, most people around here negotiate in terms of guaranteed weekly pay. That means you pay the same weekly amount--including overtime--whether you use all those hours or not. This is more affordable than it sounds because it tends to drop the hourly rate. So, instead of paying a base rate of $15 per hour with time and a half at $22.50 after 40 hours, you would pay $15 per hour average rate, which means the base rate is $13-something and the overtime rate is $20-something. Just be sure you spell it all out in your work agreement.

Finally, re guaranteed hours, be aware that this can lead to a situation where the nanny gets a lot more paid time off than you might be comfortable with (6-10 federal holidays, 3-5 days sick leave, two weeks paid vacation, plus another 3 or 4 weeks paid time off due to guaranteed hours and your travel with the kids). Contrary to what you will hear from nannies on this board, you can work out alternative duties or other compromises (banking of hours to be made up later) if you regularly take a lot of vacation with the kids and don't plan to bring the nanny with you. Or you can pay for all that time off but offer a lower hourly rate to offset the perk.

You've gotten good advice on this thread OP. This poster is our resident "here's how to pay as little as possible" poster. She will tell you that experience, education, special skills, good references, and a good resume are not reasons to pay a better rate. She will tell you that an inexperienced nanny can be fabulous (they can be) but she will also tell you that they should be paid pennies. She will tell you how to get around paying overtime, how to milk your nanny for every hour, and how to inject non childcare duties into the job for free. She lives in a magical fantasy world where you get something for nothing, and how you treat people doesn't matter. Please ignore her.

Ah, yes. One of our parent-bullying, rate-inflating nannies is back to tell you that you'll never keep a nanny and will scar your child forever if you don't pay over your child's college savings and then throw in employer-provided meals, three hour lunch breaks, nine weeks PTO, and quarterly spa days. And don't you dare ask her to start dinner for the adults or wash a towel along with the half-empty load of baby laundry. That would make her feel like the hired help. She might do those things, but only if she feels like you've earned a favor that day.

Here's the thing, OP: As a first-time parent, you want to do right by your kid. You might still be sleep deprived and hormonal and you probably have no experience with the nanny market. This gives nannies a huge information advantage in the hiring process and some of them don't hesitate to take advantage of that to negotiate an above-market deal for themselves. Those nannies tend to congregate on this board in gross disproportion to their presence in the marketplace. And they hate when parents write in to share information that you might otherwise learn several months or years into your relationship with your nanny.

I'm not saying that a good nanny is not hugely important and worthy of a livable income. They are, and most nannies in real life are far more flexible, pleasant, and hard-working than the loudest of those on this board. I am simply saying that nanny compensation is full of quirks, market rates are more affordable than some of the nannies on here want to admit, and there are plenty of nannies who excel with the kids yet are willing to help out around the house during their naps without expecting additional compensation as long as the regular rate is within market norms. New parents deserve to know that.

Mont. Cty MB here - totally agree with every word of this last paragraph.