Frequent nanny turnover for after school care?

[Anonymous]

This is our first year of having after school nanny care, and we've had 2 after school nannies so far this year (plus a diff nanny last summer) and we're in the process of interviewing yet again. We've hired wonderful young women with ambitions beyond nannying, which is part of what drew us to them. Our kids have had educated and ambitious young women helping them with their homework and inspiring them in their extracurricular pursuits. We've felt at times like we've had "grown" daughters whom we've helped guide in their life/career decisions. Now we're wondering if we're going about this all wrong for our kids. Should we look for an older woman who may not share our views of academic rigor etc. but will stay with us for a year or more? Our kids are in the middle of elementary school, so we have along road ahead. We'd welcome perspectives from other parents who've navigated this. Do we keep playing the short game or do we play a longer game? Is it even realistic that we can play a longer game if we're only offering 20 hours per week? Do you keep your PT nanny in the summer? I'd like to do so for after-camp pick-up, but I don't want to pay for the several weeks in August when we do not need care. Tonight's?

[Anonymous]

Not "Tonight's?" Meant to say " Thoughts?"

[Anonymous]

In six months you have had two women who you've felt are like your grown daughters?

Your kids are in elementary school. So they're between 6-11. They're either too young to realistically be being pushed towards academic rigor, or old enough to not need much more than redirection and "well, what do YOU think?" types of questions when they're stuck.

You seem very intense, to be honest, and the fact that within 3-4 months you feel comfortable giving grown women advice on their lives and careers yet they've left the job, makes me think your advice is not necessarily wanted by them.

So I don't think the issue is finding an older woman, but more that you need to back off a bit. You should know less turnover is better for your kids.

I no longer need an after school nanny (I used to have someone from 2-7), but when we had someone, we felt as you did about paying for time during the summer when we didn't need them. If we didn't need them for four weeks, we paid them for two of them, kind of as a retention bonus of sorts.

[Anonymous]

We pay a great deal more than for a babysitter but we have essentially a tutor to pick my girls up from school and help them with homework, enrichment and projects. It is great for DH and I to come home and have the girls homework done. DDs are 2nd and K. She is reliable, mature, a wonderful teacher and truly loves my kids.

Of course, I do continue to pay her when we go on vacation so I can keep her! I want to keep her for as long as possible.

Only you can decide how you want to proceed with both your childcare giver and your kids' education, OP.

[Anonymous]

A little different perspective I paid my way through college working as a nanny.
How are you going about hiring these women? Have you made it clear that you would like them to stay the year?

You say the nannies you have hire have pursuits beyond being a nanny are they in fields outside of education?

Nannying is a great money maker or space filling job until something in their field opens up. I suspect this might be what you are running into.

Recent grads needing an income until they are offered an entry level job. They are able to make money with you in the afternoons, but still have the mornings to job search and interview.

You could try a college student that is an education major or something similar . Still able to help your children with studies, has goals outside of being a nanny, but not as likely to quit when something in their field opens up.

My other thought is perhaps you feel too much like a parent to the people you hire if you get my drift.

As for payment that's up too you. As a rule of thumb a little money is always nice. Again a college student would be happy to know they have a job to return to in the Fall.

I apologize for the grammatical errors. I have been up all night with a sick 3 year old and a newborn.

[Anonymous]

ambitions beyond nannying = short term (or shorter than you would like).

I think stability is best for kids and that you should look for someone who is capable of helping with homework if they need it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We pay a great deal more than for a babysitter but we have essentially a tutor to pick my girls up from school and help them with homework, enrichment and projects. It is great for DH and I to come home and have the girls homework done. DDs are 2nd and K. She is reliable, mature, a wonderful teacher and truly loves my kids.

Of course, I do continue to pay her when we go on vacation so I can keep her! I want to keep her for as long as possible.

Only you can decide how you want to proceed with both your childcare giver and your kids' education, OP.

+1 This is the best but definitely more expensive way to go.

[Anonymous]

If searching and hiring new people is not a big deal for you, then keep on as you are, and I think it would be fine to say that you won't pay in August.

However, I find the hiring process exhausting, and would not want to keep doing it. My experience has been that yes, college students or recent grads with other career plans are going to be the flakiest bunch. They often still expect college-type vacations and the ability to take time off whenever, and, for obvious reasons, will make finding a job/internship/grad school in their "real" field a priority.

My least reliable nanny was the one I personally connected with the best; we had similar family/college backgrounds, and I liked her academic knowledge and her ambition. When we replaced her, however (she quit for a different job), I prioritized reliability and someone who actually needed and wanted a nanny job.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you all. Truly helpful. I just contacted 2 of the "professional nanny" candidates and I plan to more heavily weigh long term consistency. My kids are resilient, but yes, we all could use a longer period of stability between nanny searches.

[Anonymous]

I worked for about two years of my undergraduate career as an after school nanny. Almost that entire two years was spent with the same family, but now that I have left, that family is having trouble retaining an after school nanny.

I think you should maybe look for someone who is hoping for a set schedule to make some extra money, whether this be an older, retired woman or a college student.

I think my past employer's biggest problem is that she settled for a high schooler who "didn't realize how stressful being a nanny would be," and will be leaving in less than a year for college anyway.