New to hiring a nanny- is this reasonable?
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Anonymous
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Hello DCUM and Nannies,
I have been a SAHM for quite some time, but I am going back to school full-time in the fall. We'd like to hire a nanny, but I'd like honest feedback from nannies or parents who've BTDT about this schedule / compensation. The schedule & responsibilites would be roughly as follows: M- 7:30 AM - 4:00 PM. One baby (9.5 months when Nanny starts in August) home all day. 3.5 year old in preschool from 9-12, otherwise home. 5.5 & 8 year olds in school 8-2:30 and home in the afternoon. Driving (or walking 2 miles round trip) required for preschool run; elementary school is 3 doors down from our house. Tu- 7:30 AM - 3:00 PM. Baby & 3.5 home all day, 5.5 & 8 y.o. in school 8-2:30. We- 7:30 AM - 5:30 PM. Same as Monday, except Nanny would take drive older kids to gymnastics & ballet from 4-5PM. Th- 7:30 AM -3:00 PM. Same as Tuesday. There would be no regularly scheduled Fr/Sa/Su hours. Exceptions to this schedule would be: One week in Sept & one week in Feb- older kids would have fall/winter break & would be home all week. AND One month (paid) time off while I am on semester break (mid-December to mid-Jan), and probably shorter hours but paid for a normal week while I am on Spring Break. The only household responsibilities we'd ask would be normal meal prep (lunch & snacks for kids) & clean up (like, if a kid spills juice or something), plus folding some kid laundry. Any driving would be in our minivan, so no personal car use required. Compensation: (NOTE- we do not live in the DC area- we are in the Atlanta area) Starting pay would be $18.00 / hour. In addition to the paid semester breaks, we'd give 8 flex paid days off, to cover sick days or other vacations. Does this sound doable and adequately compensated? Should we offer to pay more during older kids' breaks? Or should we just put the older ones in camp so Nanny doesn't have to deal with four at once for too long? Am I overlooking anything else? I'd really appreciate any and all feedback, since we're new to the world of nannies. Thanks! |
Anonymous
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The schedule certainly sounds doable and most nannies will be happy to have a car provided for the family for transporting the children.
Most of us in the D.C. area have no idea about Atlanta area nanny rates, though. |
Anonymous
| Atlanta nanny here. I would be happy with this set-up. I might suggest that you pay a bit more when the nanny has all 4 children. Out of curiosity, where are you? |
Anonymous
| Atlanta nanny again. I misread your hourly rate. That is well above market (depending on where you are). I would be happy with that rate even with the addition of the older children during breaks and summers. |
Anonymous
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I'm in Atlanta, and I can give you my experience. Our nanny started at $15/hr for one infant and ended at $16/hr when we went to preschool. My sisters nanny stated at $12/hr (no nanny experience) and earns about $18/hr now four years later.
We were inundated with applicants for our job, and felt we had our pick of good candidates. We also pay legally and offer 2 weeks vacation, sick days, and guaranteed hours. |
Anonymous
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OP here- thanks for the feedback. I'm new to ATL (lived in DC before, hence turning to DCUM for advice!), so between that and being a SAHM, I don't have a good sense of the market. FWIW, I am in Decatur.
A few more questions-- we are trying to get our ducks in a row to start advertising / interviewing-- would this be too early for a mid-August start date? Also, how does the nanny typically "train"? Does she shadow me for a couple of days to get to know the kids and our routines? Also, how does one figure out if a nanny is a good match in terms of parenting style, discipline, etc.? And is it normal to plan for the nanny to eat here (ie, I buy whatever she normally eats for lunch) or does she usually bring her own food / snacks? Thanks again! |
Anonymous
| Provide food. If she is cooking for 4 kids, it isn't costing you much more. |
Anonymous
| I'm moving to the Columbus, GA area from DC soon and have three kids. Any idea what a good starting rate for 40 hrs/wk would be? We're paying our current nanny $18/hr (no prior experience). |
Anonymous
| Start advertising asap |
Anonymous
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Honestly for 4 kids I go $20 + per hour especially if you want experience $18 is good if you are offering some benefits like some cost towards health insurance.
4 kids is doable for an experienced nanny so make sure you look for someone who has worked with multiple children ad children close to your kids ages before. Get references. The kids might like camp so you can sign them up. But, keep in mind during work hours your nanny will be responsible for all kids. like if a kid gets sick or has an emergency she will be the one to pick up. I would add something like 2 weeks paid vacation and 5 to 10 personal days I also suggest keeping the same rate no matter the number of kids she has or the hours. It's what we do with our nanny and it's less complicated. Otherwise sounds very reasonable. |
Anonymous
would this be too early for a mid-August start date I think it's early. I don't know anything about the ATL market but here it typically takes about 8 weeks to find a nanny. Also, how does the nanny typically "train"? Does she shadow me for a couple of days to get to know the kids and our routines? I don't think there is a right or wrong way to do this. What I did is write out everything I can think of for the nanny. Then on her first day I went over it all with her. I had her come with me to drop DC#1 off at school and then drove her around to show her some of the common places she had to take the children. Then I left her on her own and let her know she could call or text me about anything, no matter how small. I did this because for my children it was better for them if I wasn't around. If I was there they would want me to do everything and then the nanny would just be standing there watching me all day and that would be weird and awkward. Also, how does one figure out if a nanny is a good match in terms of parenting style, discipline, etc. You ask pertinent questions during an interview and see how she interacts with the children. And is it normal to plan for the nanny to eat here (ie, I buy whatever she normally eats for lunch) or does she usually bring her own food / snacks? You can do whatever you want but what I usually do is tell the nanny to help herself to whatever she wants but I don't buy foods especially for her. We have a wide variety of things for her to eat but if she doesn't like anything we have then she can bring her own food. |
nannydebsays
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Since you only need 33.5 hours of care, as a nanny familiar with Atlanta I'd say your rate is actually slightly on the low side. The person you hire might be able to find a Friday only job to supplement her wages from you, but otherwise she'll be trying to live on a gross wage of $603/week ($31, 356/year), which is difficult to do in Atlanta unless you have a SO who is the main income earner. If you can afford to either offer slightly more per hour or make this into a 40 hour week ($720/week), I think you'd have better luck attracting more experienced and enthusiastic nannies. The time off is very attractive, and will help you out, especially if you happen to hire a fellow student who attends classes at night. I don't think you need to pay more for the weeks she has all 4, but you might consider offering a small "bonus" and sincere thanks after those weeks. It's likely too early to start looking right now. If you are willing to consider a college student who takes night classes, you might ask about putting your job info up now at local colleges in education, nursing, psychology, social work, etc. class areas in preparation for the fall semester. if you want a more traditional nanny, I think starting to look in June is fine. If you are going to do the search yourself, give yourself enough time to weed through applicants, phone interview, in-person interview, check references, and have a "working interview" before doing a background check and making offers to your top 2 or 3 candidates. I would put together a "Family Manual" with info on each child, directions/addresses to schools, activities, local parks, etc. and any and all other info the nanny would need to know, like how baby likes to be put down for nap, what each child's favorite toys/loveys are, family rules, and so on. Once you choose a nanny and she accepts your offer and you sign a work agreement, have her "shadow" you for 2 or 3 days, with her mainly watching and learning on day one, doing 50%+ of the work day 2, and in charge day 3 while you are in and out of the house. Before starting your search, you and your SO need to define the "perfect" nanny for your family, and you need to define your parenting style, the forms of discipline you use, and so forth. A nanny needs to feel comfortable with your style, even if she modifies it a bit. |
Anonymous
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OP again- thanks for the feedback. I really appreciate all of the helpful advice and especially love the idea of a "family manual."
I'll keep doing some more research on the going rate around here. Thanks for all who've responded! |