Advice needed--- new to idea of having nanny and thinking ahead

[Anonymous]

we found out I am having twins in Nov 2014 and am looking at idea of hiring a nanny vs send 2 more kids to daycare (have a 2 yr old as well). I live in falls church/merrifield and am starting to do research if this will be a good option for us.

any advice on how far in advance you need to start looking? (we would probably be in the mid Jan 2015 timeframe to start ours). any thoughts on typical rates for falls church area? I am thinking we would still keep our son in daycare/preschool since he will be 3 in Jan but open to thoughts on whether its just worth it to put him in a part time program and have nanny do all 3? (preschool will be about $1200 a month and our daycare would be about $2200 a month for the twins).

thank you in advance for any advice and thoughts you all might have, we are freaking out alittle bit at the completely unexpected news of twins (no fertility drugs/doenst run in family lol) so trying to think through logisitics on all ends here

BW

[Anonymous]

In general two months lead time is pretty good. But because you'll need someone mid January nobody is going to leave their current job until after they get their bonus at the end if December so you may wind up scrambling at the start of January.

[Anonymous]

You'll probably want to start looking 2-3 months in advance especially since you're looking to start mid - month.

You'll want to start thinking about what schedule will work best for your family in regard to whether or not your 3 year old continues with preschool. Personally, I think part - time preschool is great for that 3-5 age group as it really gives them a chance to build their social skills and interact with kids their own age. But the logistics can be difficult- will the nanny do drop - offs and pick-ups? If so, you'll need to have car seats installed in her car or provide a car for her to use for work. If it requires her having a car then that's something you'll need to consider when putting together your "needs & wants" list.

Needs & Wants List: This is really important. You'll need to decide what qualities/certifications you feel your nanny must have in order to properly care for your family. Does she/he need to have experience with multiples? Do you need someone with a car who is comfortable transporting the children? Do you need someone who can cook the children meals from scratch? After that move on to the want list- things that are negotiable but would be nice to have (ex a degree in early childhood education).

You also want to consider what type of employment package you'll offer. Pay, guaranteed hours, vacation days, sick days, mileage reimbursement, whether or not you'll contribute a health care stipend. It may be more cost effective to have the nanny care for all 3 children while finding low - cost or free meet up groups to give your 3 year old time to socialize with his peers.

[Anonymous]

OP,

Congratulations on the impending arrival of your twins. I'm a MB whose nanny has been w/ us for 2.5 yrs. We originally needed some part-time baby sitting after DH returned to work and I had to EP and was recovering from a not-so-good c-section. We had planned on enrolling DD in my office's day care, but we ended up clicking so well w/ our baby sitter who was b/n full-time positions, that we hired her full time. We gradually upped her hours before I returned to work. You may want to start doing that if possible to try out some people while you get comfortable with the idea of leaving your infants with someone. Also, i know some families who enroll the oldest one in full time school rather than pay the nanny for watching 3 kids. We are expecting our 2nd soon and our DD will be attending part-time preschool (5 to 6 hrs a week) and we'll be paying the nanny for all her time. But once our DD needs to attend pre-school for more hours it starts to become quite cost prohibitive.

best of luck.

[Anonymous]

OP I started looking for a nanny after my twins were born - knowing that I would want someone to start when they were around 2 -3 months old.

I found that a month or 6 weeks out was a great time to find people who would be coming available, but also that getting the word out among your friends, neighborhood listservs, other moms etc... is the best resource for great nannies.

Also, go find your local parents of multiples club and join - they are a MAJOR resource for gear, night nurses, preemie support and clothes if necessary, nannies, etc...

Congratulations!

(Twins are a major undertaking but they are manageable - especially for already experienced parents. You'll do great.)

[Anonymous]

Daycare for the twins will be cheaper than a nanny.
For full time (40-50 hours per week) for the twins, you should expect to pay $17-19/hr. Keep in mind that any hours past 40 would need to be paid at time and a half.

Even if you only needed someone for 40 hours and you paid on the low end, $16/hr, you'd be paying about $2560 per month. That doesn't take into account taxes.

[Anonymous]

Another twin mom with a nanny here. I agree with the previous poster who said you'd be paying in the ballpark of $16-19/hr, plus time and a half for anything over 40 hours. The taxes are insane. We pay ~$11K in taxes each year in addition to the nanny's take-home pay. In addition to that, we also found out that most experienced nannies expect a week's salary as their annual bonus. This isn't required, but from our experience and some of our friend's experiences with nannies, this seems to be the norm.

Having a nanny was invaluable for that first year. Our babies got individual care and attention in the comfort of our own home with their own cribs, etc. We didn't have to worry about packing up babies and driving them around crazy DC traffic. However, now that our twins are 20 months, we're starting to consider daycare mainly due to the financial burden of having a nanny.

[Anonymous]

Nanny here with twin experience. You have received some excellent advice above. One thing I wanted to add with regard to full day or part day program for your older child: a lot of this will depend on the babies you get. By that I mean that if your infants are born healthy and sleep well and eat well, then the logistical challenge of picking up your toddler midday and keeping all three safe and happy for the afternoon should be no problem, but if the twins are born early or with even moderate health problems (reflux is a common one with preemies) then they may require a lot more support to sleep well and eat well in those early months. If at all possible, I would keep the older child in a full day program through spring, by which point the younger siblings should definitely be on a solid nap schedule. Then you can discuss with the nanny what type of program she thinks works best for the summer and the following fall. If I had 12-month-old twins and a young preschooler, I would be happy with a short or only part week program for the older kid, because those ages are really fun to go on outings with.