A good nanny is hard to find
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Anonymous
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We have tried 6 nannies but none of them have been good. Our expectations are not crazy high, we just want someone gentle, warm, polite/respectful, who gets along well with our baby. Maybe we're not paying enough? We live in SS and are paying $15+overtime for about 50 hours a week. One 6 month baby and no responsibilities other than cuddling him, reading/playing/walks, and feeding him. I'm definitely paying more than every other mom I've talked to in the neighborhood but they are pretty much all working off the books. Maybe we have the wrong search strategy? We've looked on care.com and taken recommendations from friends. Plus, our baby is so calm, never fusses and is objectively adorable (really!).
At my wits end. If you have an amazing nanny, how did you find her? Advice welcome 
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Anonymous
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Honestly, you are paying too low. MBs on here will tell you that what you’re paying is good and that you will find someone. You’re in Silver Spring but a nanny can drive a few extra minutes to go into DC and make $20 hr plus overtime for an infant.
Not to mention the DC families I have worked for allow me to go on play dates, outings, etc. While the surburban families only allow walks and are too nervous to allow outings. |
Anonymous
| What exactly are the problems you are experiencing? 6 nannies in what period of time? |
Anonymous
6 nannies es for one 6 month old nanny is too many, regardless of how long! |
Anonymous
$15/hr? OMG, are you for real? Start paying a decent salary and you might get a good nanny who will meet your requirements. |
Anonymous
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$15/hr is a joke. The bare minimum you should be offering is $17/hr, but if you want a really good nanny who won't just leave when she finds something better then you should be in the $18-20/hr range.
You made no mention of other benefits in your post. The industry standard is guaranteed hours, 2 weeks of paid vacation, federal holidays off with pay, and at least 3 paid sick days per year. If you're not offering that then you are not offering a competitive package. |
Anonymous
| Maybe you are an overprotective mom. That scares away any nanny. If you work from home and shows up ruining your baby's day and nanny. Also if you dont let her take your baby outside or playdate. I've met moms who doesnt want thier child go on playdate. She says when he/she gies yo preschool ge can then interact more. Lol. |
Anonymous
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I think you are overestimating the value of it being an “easy” job. The reality is that $15 an hour, for 50 hours a week on the books works out to a take-home of roughly $2300 per month. In the DC area, renting just one room costs at least $700 per month, another $400 for health insurance, $100 for phone, leaves $1100 for all other expenses for the month—a car alone will eat up a lot of that, but if we assume nanny uses public transportation it’s still not free. Even if she’s very frugal, I am sure she needs food and toilet paper and shampoo, and god forbid she have an unexpected bill!
What that means is that you are not really paying a liveable wage. That means your nanny pool will either be women who are too young to be financially responsible or are still living at home, or older, married women who rely primarily on a spouse’s income, or women who are not qualified to work another job. At best you find someone in one of these categories who is capable of doing the job, but they are all by nature people who are less likely to be long-term, particularly if the job is not as easy as you imagine for some reason. Either they find something better or they find something on the side (leaving them burnt out). This is why I always advise those who can only barely afford a nanny to look into nanny shares. Your child will get much better care splitting the attention of an experienced and well-paid professional than getting undivided attention from someone whose wages leave them stressed and scrambling for a side hustle. |
Anonymous
| This is just my opinion, but I agree with the pps suggesting that your rate is the problem. I think with $15/hr you’re not attracting anyone serious. I really don’t even wanna know what these other moms in your neighborhood are paying. |
Anonymous
| I agree with all above. Hourly wage is too long. If you can’t afford to pay more, consider a nanny share or daycare. After 6 nannies, YOURE the problem. |
Anonymous
**low not long |
Anonymous
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1. $15 off the books is more like $18 on the books (20%-ish more, assuming your nanny falls into a low tax bracket). So you would need to pay $18 per hour on the books to find a nanny comparable to your neighbor's nannies. This may still be a bit low, as if your neighbor's nannies are not able to work legally, they may be willing to accept a lower than reasonable rate than someone that can work legally.
2. Do you like your neighbors nannies? Do you think that you would be happy with those nannies? Or is the nanny that you want a more experience nanny, or one with an "it" quality that is in higher demand? |
Anonymous
Can you talk w some friends about their search questions and reference questions? Go over your basic job spec Be sure you are hiring people w the energy and organizational skills for 50 hours a week. That is on the high end and at $15/ hr for one baby is just fine and leaves room for performance raises and a potential child 2 raise.. You may see nannies leap at the hours and totally weekly pay but are used to kids being in school or not a full 10 hour day. Vet this out. Once nanny is hired do a shadow day and show her the ropes- how to use things, where stuff is. Write things out and the weekly or daily schedule. Each month jot down some stuff for her to work on w child (tummy time, sofa, etc) once kid is 6 mos maybe sign up for some mygym obsessions for hem both and write down where library is and parks, etc. Nannies can be fickle and what’s jumping around but most are not. Oh and get for commute we had a nanny dtat ch after two days since she didn’t like the drive home. Find out where they live and use your judgement if this would make for a happy emily moue or not. Good luck. |
Anonymous
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You are paying too low to find a good nanny, OP.
Try daycare. |
Anonymous
| I am a nanny and I charge $24/h Would charge $15 if I brought my own 6 months old baby to work. Yes OP, you are paying too low and nannies who took the job leaves as soon as they find better paid job. |