The switch from daycare to part-time nanny: worth it? Scenarios.

[Anonymous]

With the DC public pre-k lottery looming, I'm (against my more fatalistic instincts!) envisioning a blissful future in which our 3-year-old actually gets into our very good, walkable IB school. That leaves her little sister in a daycare that we adore but that is really, really hard to get to (I've switched jobs since we started there and now work from home.)
I had a truly nightmarish experience with a nanny before the 3-year-old started daycare but I know that other people have wonderful experiences. My new job is much more flexible and we would really only need somebody from 8/9 am to 2 pm or so. We also have a nice basement apartment on Capitol Hill (rents for 1600 a month) that we could throw into the deal.
What I would want is a part-time very well-qualified nanny (as in someone who might ultimately qualify as a high-end nanny, but is still studying for a master's, etc.) Such people are frequently employed by my daycare on a full-time basis, but is it possible to hire somebody like this on your own? And what would you have to pay such a nanny, if the apartment was built in as part of the compensation? Do people do that? And would we have to pay health care?
More generally, is this a really dumb idea? The unnecessary daycare commute is maddening, but our first nanny experience was almost catastrophic (ended in an awful trip to the emergency room) and I'm a little skittish. Thanks for your help.

[Anonymous]

Your dream nanny could appear, but you have to start looking for her first. You never know. You just need to right match.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your dream nanny could appear, but you have to start looking for her first. You never know. You just need to right match.

*the right match.

[Anonymous]

a nanny studying for her master's? are you joking? why would a graduate student want to be a live-in nanny?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:a nanny studying for her master's? are you joking? why would a graduate student want to be a live-in nanny?

Why the attitude? I'm not OP but it makes sense to me. They are looking for someone part-time and a student would be perfect if they can find one whose class schedule fits with the hours they need the nanny. Plus a student who doesn't have much money might be interested in the basement apartment as part of the deal. Why would OP be joking?

[Anonymous]

This should be fine as long as you do not deduct the full value of the apartment $1600 from her compensation. I cannot imagine a student would be willing to deduct such a large amount from their paychecks when they could easily find a much cheaper living situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This should be fine as long as you do not deduct the full value of the apartment $1600 from her compensation. I cannot imagine a student would be willing to deduct such a large amount from their paychecks when they could easily find a much cheaper living situation.

Not only that but they can find a higher paying position with benefits and perks. Will OP be willing to provide tution reimbursement or health insurance like most quaility daycares do?

[Anonymous]

Actually, I know at least three graduate students who are live in nannies, all on a part time work schedule. Their rent is deducted, but they get to bank the rest of the salary because all utilities and food are included. None of the three get health insurance, but that isn't necessary as most colleges require and offer coverage at low rates.

So, OP, you could easily find this arrangement and no, you definitely do not need to offer health insurance and it would be silly to offer tuition reimbursement to a short term employee.

I think PTO is a great idea, although the grad student nannies I know generally don't get that because they are part time, and the flexibility of their schedules, necessary for their school schedule, is apparently a trade off.

[Anonymous]

Grad student here. I would never consider a live-in position. I love living with roommates and keeping my life separate. How many hours do you need? I cannot imagine a grad student available more than 15-20/hours week. You should definitely include health insurance and benefits. This is why I stopped nannying. I got a TA and I now have benefits/health insurance.

[Anonymous]

We are in Canada and have this arrangement with a university student. We don't have a separate apartment so just offered $300 a week net for 30 hours, which is a bit more than we would have had to pay for a European au pair with similar hours or a full-time live-in nanny from overseas. We pay on the books and give two weeks paid holidays, plus sick days, and full room and board. She does the morning routine and school drop off, and then after school pick up, homework etc and help with dinner. Only child-related tasks, i.e. make lunch to eat at school, help keep their rooms organised, put away laundry, that kind of thing. It can be hard having another person in the house, and I work from home, which I think is a strain on her sometimes, especially if the kids are acting up and trying to get my attention, but she does often go away for the weekend, which gives us all a little break from each other. I wish we had a separate apartment for her but our place just isn't big enough.

[Anonymous]

I would also consider a part time college student who is great with kids, but who doesn't want the apartment. Rent that to someone who can afford the rent! Just remember that any part time student (whether college or grad student) will have their schedule change every semester based on when the classes he/she needs are offered. As a director of a childcare center who hired some part time college students, it can be hard to match up what I need with what they can offer, and sometimes, therefore, I don't use one very much one semester because I don't need what they can do. So expect that they might not always be able to do those hours.

I'd just advertise for a part-day nanny - 'must work 8-2pm M-F' and see what you get. And advertise to "nanny share" with a family who has school-age children so is only needed in the afternoons - between your morning/early afternoon and their after school hours, it would be a full time job! Just figure out what would work on the days when their elem. school kids are home - would nanny take your younger child to their house? would elem kids come to your house? this will happen on snow days and all those school days off, of which there are quite a few. And the nanny would also have your older 3 yr old on snow days, school vacation days, teacher conf. days - these days multiply in public school!

[Anonymous]

We have a part-time nanny who attends school (not for a Masters) and she is amazing. I found her right here on DCUM so, OP, if you're willing to put in the time and effort to interview, it doesn't have to be a crazy or expensive search. Not having to do daycare drop off, and having reliable care for all the many days my older child's school is closed, has been a major life-changer. We started off paying her $17/hour for 2 kids, 25-30 hours per week, which for us was less than what we would have paid for daycare at that point. I now suspect daycare would be cheaper (after 2 years of raises, etc) but I love our situation and would not go back.

I think it depends largely on, 1, what you're willing to pay, and, 2, what you define as a "high-end" nanny. Does this mean she invests a lot of time in teaching, or in outings, or does a lot around the house for you? Our nanny is fantastic, but she isn't busting out flash cards to do with our kids or teaching them Swahili--she's reliable and consistent, caring, has impeccable judgement, etc--but I don't know if I would call her "high-end."

The caveat I can offer about making this arrangement work is, find someone who's already been doing it. Our first nanny seemed like a great fit, interviewed really well, and was starting grad school for a Masters in Education with all evening classes. It was a disaster--she was a total flake, called in sick repeatedly, showed up late, and quit after less than 2 months. I honestly think she was not prepared for the reality of grad school and could not deal with the workload of working 25 hours a week and a full course load. Our current nanny had already been in an identical arrangement--attended school 2 days a week, worked for another family 3 days a week--so she knew what it would be like.

As for the PP who mentioned a sort of "nanny share," we thought about this, too--but it was pointed out to me that there are a lot of problems with that scenario--i.e. the nanny could easily wind up working more than 40 hours/week with no overtime, and/or there might be weeks each family needs a different schedule--it would be really hard to sort through all of that, I think, so we felt like it was best to go with someone who specifically wanted PT.

[Anonymous]

Honestly? No, not worth it. If you have a daycare that you love, then I wouldn't leave it if I were you.