Nanny for 3 kids under 4?

[Anonymous]

I'm hoping you all will think this is a silly question. Assuming all goes well, I will have 3 kids this winter - newborn, 1.5 year old and 3 year old. Are their nannies willing to take on this craziness? Obviously, we'll need to pay a good rate. But even with nice money, is this something people would sign up for?

[Anonymous]

I would take maternity leave so nanny wouldn't actually start until baby is 3 months.

[Anonymous]

Sure! Lots of nannies prefer multiple charges. I am an older nanny but I thrive on activity and the more kids the better for me (within reason obviously - I'm not talking about caring for twenty kids at a time).

[Anonymous]

There are always people who will take the job to earn a living.

I would nanny cam the house to make sure the nanny is keeping it together (not yelling at the kids) when you are not around.

Yeah, people will sign up for it. It's not as bad as you think and the nannies have years of experience dealing with children. It is a hard job and remember they are not vested in the children long term (unless you get blessed with an angel).

[Anonymous]

I'm a nanny, and I would! Of course, I've been a nanny to a 3 year old with ASD + a newborn at the same time. Nothing scares me now!

[Anonymous]

I have four, and at one time had three at the same ages your will be. We had wonderful candidates and a great nanny for them! It's daunting to you because, well, you've never done it before. But it's actually a lot of fun, especially after the first six months when the youngest can sit up and play.

I would drastically scale back any expectations outside of childcare, however.

[Anonymous]

Nanny here who does not ever work with singletons anymore, and who has worked with multiple sets of twins, three kids under three, and five kids under nine. This is totally doable, and you will definitely find lots of candidates who can juggle all of it and who are passionate and excited about that challenge.

One thing to consider is that it takes a little time for a caregiver to get to know your kids and to build a relationship with them, and it also take some time for a caregiver and the family as a whole to adjust to a new baby. If you could, having the nanny start 4 to 8 weeks before the baby is born and work through your maternity leave with the older two will give her time to get some systems and routines in place that will enable her to successfully juggle the three of them by herself. For example, right now I work with three under four and having certain games, nursery rhymes, active songs, etc. that I can talk the older two through while I handled the baby is really Key to keeping everyone happy and on track. If I were jumping in with a three-month-old and two toddlers, I would not have time to teach the toddlers most of those songs well enough for them to be able to sing them independently while I change baby's diaper. This will mean more active supervision for me and If I were jumping in with a three-month-old and two toddlers, I would not have time to teach the toddlers most of those songs well enough for them to be able to sing them independently while I change baby's diaper. This will mean more active supervision for me and. less freedom and more limitations for them. I also adjust the nap and mealtime routine for the older kids to make it easier to multitask. I made thise changes BEFORE baby, so they wouldn't fight me on them as much and so they didn't feel like the change was a result of the baby's presence.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, PPs. You've made me feel better. Immediate PP, I hope I can find a nanny like you! You sound great!

[Anonymous]

It depends on the hours as well.

If the pay was right + the kids (the older ones) didn't have many behavioral issues, I would consider doing it.

However it would be tough to do so at more than 40+ hours per week and I would hope there wasn't any household duties required aside from the common sense stuff like cleaning up any messes made and washing up any dishes used.

Even doing laundry for three kids along w/caring for them may be a lot.

This is just my opinion OP, there very well may be other nannies who wouldn't mind a position such as you described.

Good luck to you however, I hope you find that special person!!

[Anonymous]

Defnitely! I've had 3 charges almost exactly the same ages as yours. I've also had several sets of twins and 2 sets of triplets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm hoping you all will think this is a silly question. Assuming all goes well, I will have 3 kids this winter - newborn, 1.5 year old and 3 year old. Are their nannies willing to take on this craziness? Obviously, we'll need to pay a good rate. But even with nice money, is this something people would sign up for?

You should ask your OB about modern birth control methods.

[Anonymous]

PP, you should ask your psychiatrist to increase your meds. And for a referral to an astounding inpatient treatment program.