Parents, do you change your hourly nanny rate when older child comes home from school/is home?

[Anonymous]

The good news is that OP is pretty clear about the kind of employer she is so she will end up with the kind of nanny she deserves.

To anyone else who is wondering about how to handle this, know that any experienced nanny will hear that you want to avoid paying the second-child rate and see that as a red flag. We have all worked with the school-aged/too-young-for-school combo and we know how often the school-ages kid actually ends up being home. And we know that, despite your insistence that your older kid will just play quietly alone while you work, it rarely works out to be true.

What this says about you as an employer is that you have unrealistic expectations and are nickel-and-diming us before we even start. We will never feel appreciated or respected.

So a huge swath of experienced, dedicated nannies will pass on your job. You will end up with someone either inexperienced or desperate. This is not a good outcome for you.

If you just up the rate by $1, you can list it as being the rate for two kids, one of whom won’t always be there and hire someone who is happy to pitch in with both childcare and logistics for both kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The good news is that OP is pretty clear about the kind of employer she is so she will end up with the kind of nanny she deserves.

To anyone else who is wondering about how to handle this, know that any experienced nanny will hear that you want to avoid paying the second-child rate and see that as a red flag. We have all worked with the school-aged/too-young-for-school combo and we know how often the school-ages kid actually ends up being home. And we know that, despite your insistence that your older kid will just play quietly alone while you work, it rarely works out to be true.

What this says about you as an employer is that you have unrealistic expectations and are nickel-and-diming us before we even start. We will never feel appreciated or respected.

So a huge swath of experienced, dedicated nannies will pass on your job. You will end up with someone either inexperienced or desperate. This is not a good outcome for you.

If you just up the rate by $1, you can list it as being the rate for two kids, one of whom won’t always be there and hire someone who is happy to pitch in with both childcare and logistics for both kids.

I’m the OP. Did you miss the part where I said I would up the rate by $1-2 after other parents weighed in. Also, I’m not sure why so many nannies are chiming in on a thread specifically for employers. I said I am not looking to undercut someone. I will pay a nanny the most I can afford and what I feel is fair. The reality is there is a range of hourly rates nannies will accept. And at the rate I’ve posted online I have had 50 applicant so despite your feeling that many nannies will pass on my job, there has been a lot of interest which means clearly I am paying market rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The good news is that OP is pretty clear about the kind of employer she is so she will end up with the kind of nanny she deserves.

To anyone else who is wondering about how to handle this, know that any experienced nanny will hear that you want to avoid paying the second-child rate and see that as a red flag. We have all worked with the school-aged/too-young-for-school combo and we know how often the school-ages kid actually ends up being home. And we know that, despite your insistence that your older kid will just play quietly alone while you work, it rarely works out to be true.

What this says about you as an employer is that you have unrealistic expectations and are nickel-and-diming us before we even start. We will never feel appreciated or respected.

So a huge swath of experienced, dedicated nannies will pass on your job. You will end up with someone either inexperienced or desperate. This is not a good outcome for you.

If you just up the rate by $1, you can list it as being the rate for two kids, one of whom won’t always be there and hire someone who is happy to pitch in with both childcare and logistics for both kids.

To rephrase - maybe OP will avoid prima donna nannies with high expectations. Honestly, in my experience, professional nannies are demanding and not very helpful. When they come in for an interview, it's all about "I will need X much vacation, I can't cook for you, etc." Maybe that works for wealthy families that can afford to have a separate chef, cleaner, etc and pay $$$$ for benefits. But most families cannot afford this. Fortunately for us, there are nannies happy to be paid in cash, no perks, help cook dinner while kids are napping, and are still wonderful with the kids.

I've had 3 nannies (in 3 different cities, as we've moved around). The first two were not professional nannies, and did not make all these demands...and I and my kid both loved them. We currently have a professional nanny with lots of experience and recommendations, we are meeting all her demands, she's making more money than I am, and she is in no way better with my child.

But going back to the question, even my high-expectations nanny did not ask for more $$ for the occasional day or hour when my older one is home. And we were upfront about this. I'm sure she would ask if she wanted more money because she is always very upfront when she wants something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP…..based on your recent replies. Yikes. Good luck to the nanny.

+1. OP went off the deep end.

+2. And turned it into a nanny-bashing thread. Tiresome. Try daycare, ladies.

[Anonymous]

OP, are all of your applicants experienced nannies or are they older teens or college grads who can’t find a job because they majored in art history or women’s studies?

If you aren’t seeing experienced nannies, you may wind up with a new nanny every few months because the young inexperienced women are not actually aware of the realities of being a nanny and won’t like working for an employer who looks down on them and will rant at them if they stand up for themselves.

Good luck. I think you are going to need it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, are all of your applicants experienced nannies or are they older teens or college grads who can’t find a job because they majored in art history or women’s studies?

If you aren’t seeing experienced nannies, you may wind up with a new nanny every few months because the young inexperienced women are not actually aware of the realities of being a nanny and won’t like working for an employer who looks down on them and will rant at them if they stand up for themselves.

Good luck. I think you are going to need it.

Okay, this is a stupid post. Why try to insult people for their college majors when you clearly never even went to college?

You have no clue who OP interviewing but you still can’t stop yourself from bashing other nannies.

I’m total

[Anonymous]

There's always a weird thread in these discussions that says "if you don't do as I say or agree with me completely, bad things are going to happen to you!"

[Anonymous]

Just pay one consistent rate that recognizes she often has two children. It will create confusion and ill will to slice it so finely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There's always a weird thread in these discussions that says "if you don't do as I say or agree with me completely, bad things are going to happen to you!"

It’s the famous know-it-all nanny. She haunts pretty much all nanny threads looking for a fight.

And this OP is pretty defensive.

[Anonymous]

OP sounds awful! Trying to limit the discussion to employers and keep the nanny's perspective out? Missing out on valuable input.
OP I can see how you're going to be as an employer from your posts and I wish your nanny well. They're going to need it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just pay one consistent rate that recognizes she often has two children. It will create confusion and ill will to slice it so finely.

This is what we do for our nanny. Our oldest one is going into first grade, and he’s around an awful lot. We expect coverage for his school closures, holidays, summer etc. We figure out a rate that works for the job and don’t try to nickel and dime.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have 2 choices here:

1) Pay the nanny’s 2 child rate for every hour/day/week she works. Then the nanny will be responsible for the older child in all the ways she’s responsible for the younger child.

2) Pay the nanny’s one child rate and don’t ever expect her to do anything for your older child. You’ll need to take time off work if your older child is ill, doesn’t have school, or is out for the summer. No older kid laundry, no help with older kid’s messes, no nothing.

You are likely looking at $2-$4 more per hour to get nanny care for your older kid. If your nanny works 50 hours a week, that’s around $220 a week. $12,000 a year with your share of taxes.

If I were your nanny and you chose to pay me for only one child, I’d add a clause to my contract that any day I was expected to provide care for your older child you’d have to pay me an additional $300. Yes. $300 a day. Or pay my 2 child rate and avoid having to shell out an additional $1500 when your older child is home sick for a full week.

LoL you can't just "add a clause to [your] contract," your employer has to agree to it. I would absolutely not hire someone who requested this because I advertise my job as being for two kids (twins) with occasional care for our older child on days off. I pay an agreed upon rate that encompasses the possibility of having to watch all three kids but would not agree to pay $300 a day for you to watch one extra kid (and I would honestly not hire you if this is what you asked for).

More power to you if you can get someone to agree to this and maybe this works for your employer, which is good if you found someone who works with your demands.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You have 2 choices here:

1) Pay the nanny’s 2 child rate for every hour/day/week she works. Then the nanny will be responsible for the older child in all the ways she’s responsible for the younger child.

2) Pay the nanny’s one child rate and don’t ever expect her to do anything for your older child. You’ll need to take time off work if your older child is ill, doesn’t have school, or is out for the summer. No older kid laundry, no help with older kid’s messes, no nothing.

You are likely looking at $2-$4 more per hour to get nanny care for your older kid. If your nanny works 50 hours a week, that’s around $220 a week. $12,000 a year with your share of taxes.

If I were your nanny and you chose to pay me for only one child, I’d add a clause to my contract that any day I was expected to provide care for your older child you’d have to pay me an additional $300. Yes. $300 a day. Or pay my 2 child rate and avoid having to shell out an additional $1500 when your older child is home sick for a full week.

LoL you can't just "add a clause to [your] contract," your employer has to agree to it. I would absolutely not hire someone who requested this because I advertise my job as being for two kids (twins) with occasional care for our older child on days off. I pay an agreed upon rate that encompasses the possibility of having to watch all three kids but would not agree to pay $300 a day for you to watch one extra kid (and I would honestly not hire you if this is what you asked for).

More power to you if you can get someone to agree to this and maybe this works for your employer, which is good if you found someone who works with your demands.

Since I have the contract and would give two copies, one with the extra fee for the day and the other with a higher hourly rate, they would be able to choose either one or to discontinue negotiating.

[Anonymous]

I think it's fine to keep it at one-child rate if you are confident that the nanny will have to do zero work covering your older child.

It worked for us. We had a nanny to take care of our youngest (from birth till three) while our two older kids (4 and 8) were in full time preschool/daycare/school. We always covered their sick days, vacations etc. so that the nanny didn't have to worry about splitting her attention. Their interaction was limited to hellos and chit chat at dinner. If you can do that, then there's no question of a higher rate.

[Anonymous]

I’m an employer of a nanny and this OP will need to be more flexible and accommodating to keep a good nanny.