Advice on Nanny Placement Agencies?

[Anonymous]

I'm expecting my first child in early 2020, and even though it's way too early to start really looking for a nanny, I'm trying to get a sense of the options and best routes!

I'm planning to go back to work in September 2020. I could do either a full-time or part-time nanny, and am leaning toward part-time because my husband has flexible hours and could easily cover a lot of the care. But I'm having trouble finding good ways to find a part-time permanent nanny. I've looked at agencies like White House Nannies, who seem great, but they don't do part-time permanent placements (only full time or temporary), and it seems most nannies on this forum are looking for full-time placements. Care.com seems like it's not a good place to look?

Anyway, looking for any advice on the best nanny placement agencies that have a more diverse set of placement options (part-time permanent, etc.) or any other suggestions anyone may have of the best route to explore both part-time and full-time options.

Thanks in advance!!

[Anonymous]

Honestly you're looking way too soon. No PT nanny would want to commit to this before the baby is born, before you know your schedule, etc.

I know your post said you are looking for options. What area do you live in and what hours do you need? Hush Hush Little Baby agency has great options for newborns. For PT nannies, have had best luck on DCUM, neighborhood list serves, and Care.com. If you live close to a college, you could also consider a college student but many will prioritize school work over regular hours.

[Anonymous]

How many days a week does your husband want to devote to the caregiving work?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the tips! Its' definitely way too early to find someone, but am just hoping to better understand the lay of the land so we can hit the ground running when the search starts.

Looking through DCUM, there aren't a lot of posting for part-time nanny positions, so that led me to consider an agency. The ones I'm most familiar with (Georgetown Nanny and White House Nannies) don't seem to do part-time permanent placement. I've heard horror stories about Care.com and anticipate the screening process is going to be a heavier lift through that. I was also looking at Nannie Poppinz, who does part-time permanent placement, but don't know anyone that has used them and can't find helpful reviews. I'll take a look at Hush Hush Baby, so thanks for that suggestion!

As far as hours go, we'd be looking for Mon-Fri 11:00am to 5:30pm and then would definitely be adding on babysitting and pre-scheduled ad hoc hours as well.

Thanks for the guidance, and definitely welcome any other ideas/suggestions!

[Anonymous]

OP, can you tell us more about what sort of part-time schedule you are envisioning? My advice would depend on that.

The reason many agencies don't do part-time placements is because they are highly sought after (many families want after school nannies), very difficult to find, and often have high turnover.

If you want part-time, I would consider a couple of options:

1) Finding a part-time person, and accepting that you may have turnover unless you can find that unicorn who wants part-time indefinitely and whose schedule won't be changing

2) Find a share family. Not a traditional share where the nanny would care for two families' children at the same time, but another family who also needs part-time care. That way, the two of you can create a full-time position together. Example, Family A employs the nanny On M, W, F, and Family B employs the nanny on Tues, Thurs.

Also, Care.com can be an excellent source, you just have to do the legwork yourself, know what to look for, know what the red flags are, do a background check, and be good at checking references (it's an art, you can't just ask yes/no questions).

I have heard good things about Metropolitan Nannies, and they do part-time placements.

I personally tried Nanny Poppinz and had a terrible experience. The person who was helping us with our search was clearly a stay-at-home mom with no childcare, and multiple children, so she was extremely difficult to get in touch with. Anything that involved more than spitting out the data from a nanny's application over to our account was like pulling teeth, and I could do that myself on Care.com.

--former placement agency manager

[Anonymous]

Monday to Friday from 11:00-5:30 will be a very hard position to fill. If I am understanding correctly, you want someone for 32.5 hours per week. That is so close to full time, that most nannies would prefer to find a full-time position and have the few extra hours and benefits that come with it. Since it sounds like you'd be adding babysitting anyways, could you add a few extra hours to bump it up to a full time position and then you could use any of the nanny agencies you mentioned? It would also likely be worth it in the long run, because PT positions tend to have higher hourly rates. So financially, you might do better off just adding the extra hours and doing a lower rate for full time hours.