Anonymous wrote:

1. As far as hours go, is a 55 hour work week too much? Most nannies work 50 hours a week (to cover the workday and commute of the parents). 55 is a lot but not unheard of.

2. A good nanny will do anything and everything child-related but no general housecleaning. The size of your home is not relevant. She shouldn't be asked to wash your breakfast dishes or make your bed whether you live in a studio apartment or mansion.

3. Yes, it is both unrealistic to expect your nanny and child to remain indoors. And it is bad for your child.

4. I don't know the answer to this one. I have always brought my own lunch and snacks.

5. Nannies are, by law, hourly employees. You cannot pay a nanny a fixed salary. Your are also legally required to pay time and a half over forty hours a week.

As for compensation, it all depends on what you want. I am a nanny for a 19 month old boy - I have a college degree with additional graduate school credits in Early Childhood Development and years of experience as both a nanny and a preschool teacher. I started two years ago at $19 and hour and am now earning $21 an hour.

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for your response! As far as #3 goes, what are some activities she should be taking my son to outside my home?

Anonymous wrote:I have never hired a nanny before and will be needing one in a few months, so I am just trying to understand what is realistic to expect. My son will be 18 months old when I return to work full time. I would really welcome opinions on the following:

1. As far as hours go, is a 55 hour work week too much? I am thinking from 9am to 8pm. Most days, my husband will arrive home by 6pm, but he sometimes has after work obligations, so I would want a nanny who is prepared to work potentially until 8pm. Are those hours too long?
If you guarantee 9am to 6pm and add a proviso that there may be times that the nanny could need to stay til 8, you might have better luck. So you're guaranteeing 45 hours, maximum of 55.

2. We live in a one bedroom apartment. We will expect the nanny to clean up after our son (wash his dishes after feeding him, put his toys back in his box, clean up messes he makes, do his laundry etc). We have a washer/dryer in our apartment. Is it realistic or fair to expect her to do additional chores? We would not want to risk losing her by overburdening her. At the same time, we do not plan to nickel and dime her, so we want our money's worth too.
Expecting the nanny to clean up after the toddler is one thing, and any professional nanny won't have an issue with putting child's dishes in the dishwasher, picking up after him or doing his laundry. Having the nanny vacuum, do your laundry or anything else depends on the nanny, salary and whether you are willing to pay for additional housekeeping during naps.

3. I am nervous about a nanny taking my son around town. We live near a body of water and I just don't want my son out and about with someone I don't know well. I imagine I might be more comfortable after a few months of demonstrated responsibility on her part, but for now, I don't envision having her leave the apartment with him. Is it unrealistic or unkind to expect her to take care of him in the apartment without going outside? We don't have any friends who are parents (we are the first in our group to have kids), so I don't envision play dates for a long time.
Taking your child outside is a requirement, there are too many issues that a toddler would develop by being kept inside a one bedroom apartment for 45-55 hours each week with no socialization. At the least, the nanny needs to be able to take the child to a park or playground; because he is an only child, he also needs to socialize with other children, learn to share and take turns. It's also unreasonable to require an adult to stay in a tiny apartment all day.

4. Food and errands. I have heard of nannies bringing their own food and I have heard of families letting the nanny eat whatever she wants. I am leaning towards letting her raid our pantry because I am inclined to be generous towards someone taking care of the most precious human being in the world to me. Should I adjust her compensation downward if I am letting her eat our food or what is most common?
Talk to the nanny candidates. Some prefer to bring their own food, some require that the nanny and child eat the same things once the child is eating anything other than formula/breastmilk and purees. Be aware that most nannies would not be amenable to a decreased rate simply due to food, so if that is your intention, I would suggest asking during the interview which the nanny would prefer, then giving a salary based on that answer, and leaving out how you arrived at the number.

5. As far as compensation goes, we are thinking of paying a salary, rather than per hour. Of course, we will write it out as a salary in the contract (normal hours + overtime), but the per hour will be structured in such a way as to guarantee her a salary. Is this a good idea and if so, what is a fair salary for the caretaker of an 18 month old?

If you can get someone find someone you like at $15/hr, these are your numbers: 40*15+15*1.5*15=$937.50 pre-tax (55 hours); 40*15+5*1.5*15=712.50 (45 hours)
For the high end (college, lots of expereince, etc.), I ran $20/hr. to start, but you also need to consider whether you will be able to keep up with yearly raises and a raise if you have another child.
40*20+15*1.5*20=$1250 (55 hours); 40*20+5*1.5*20=$950 (45 hours)

I wouldn't go beneath $15/hr and over $20/hr to start could be very hard to keep up with raises.

Thank you all in advance. I am so anxious about this!

Anonymous wrote:I have never hired a nanny before and will be needing one in a few months, so I am just trying to understand what is realistic to expect. My son will be 18 months old when I return to work full time. I would really welcome opinions on the following:

1. As far as hours go, is a 55 hour work week too much? I am thinking from 9am to 8pm. Most days, my husband will arrive home by 6pm, but he sometimes has after work obligations, so I would want a nanny who is prepared to work potentially until 8pm. Are those hours too long?

Many nannies work 55 hours, so as long as you make sure you follow the law regarding overtime pay after 40 hours, you should be fine. I would suggest having your Dh let nanny go early if possible, since an 8 pm end time makes it harder to work out and so forth after work.

2. We live in a one bedroom apartment. We will expect the nanny to clean up after our son (wash his dishes after feeding him, put his toys back in his box, clean up messes he makes, do his laundry etc). We have a washer/dryer in our apartment. Is it realistic or fair to expect her to do additional chores? We would not want to risk losing her by overburdening her. At the same time, we do not plan to nickel and dime her, so we want our money's worth too.

I would not request household chores/housekeeping outside of things specifically related to your DS. IMO, that means adults take care of their dishes and clean up their messes, and are mindful that nanny and child must play all day in a small space, so keeping unsafe items stored is necessary. However, asking nanny to sweep/vacuum/mop living areas as needed would not be a deal breaker for me, personally, in such a small home.

3. I am nervous about a nanny taking my son around town. We live near a body of water and I just don't want my son out and about with someone I don't know well. I imagine I might be more comfortable after a few months of demonstrated responsibility on her part, but for now, I don't envision having her leave the apartment with him. Is it unrealistic or unkind to expect her to take care of him in the apartment without going outside? We don't have any friends who are parents (we are the first in our group to have kids), so I don't envision play dates for a long time.

Completely unrealistic, and completely unkind. If you feel this is actually feasible, I suggest you take 2 weeks to stay in your apartment from 9a - 8p with your son, as you would want nanny to do. You would also need to limit your phone calls and other adult interactions as you would have nanny do. I would guess your son will be fretful and restless, without any way to get fresh air/sunshine/exercise, and that you would be fairly fretful as well.

You may find that the nanny you hire already has a circle of nanny friends, and that she comes with built-in buddies for your DS. You can also request that she Stay away from the water, and concentrate on activities (music, gym, library, zoo, playgrounds) where you feel your DS would be safer.

4. Food and errands. I have heard of nannies bringing their own food and I have heard of families letting the nanny eat whatever she wants. I am leaning towards letting her raid our pantry because I am inclined to be generous towards someone taking care of the most precious human being in the world to me. Should I adjust her compensation downward if I am letting her eat our food or what is most common?

It's a great benefit to allow nanny reasonable access to your pantry/fridge, but I am not sure how you would lower her pay to compensate. Would you assume she will eat $50/week of food, and then pay her 80 cents less per hour? I don't see a question about errands, but if you are wondering about letting nanny run errands while working, I would personally limit that to things she cannot do during work hours, like bank runs, post office, etc. Doctor visits would be use of PTO, again, IMO.

5. As far as compensation goes, we are thinking of paying a salary, rather than per hour. Of course, we will write it out as a salary in the contract (normal hours + overtime), but the per hour will be structured in such a way as to guarantee her a salary. Is this a good idea and if so, what is a fair salary for the caretaker of an 18 month old?

Salary is illegal. However, Guaranteed Hours are the legal way of paying nanny the same amount each week, which is a benefit most nannies need, since their bills remain the same or increase independent of the hours they work. So, yes, if you wanted to pay nanny 16/hour and $24 for OT, you would phrase it as, "Nanny is guaranteed $1000 a week for 55 hours of work. Nanny will earn $16 for the first 40 hours of work and $24 for the 15 hours of overtime each week. If nanny is available to work, and employers choose not to use her services, nanny will still receive her full $1000/week gross pay.

Thank you all in advance. I am so anxious about this!

Anonymous wrote:

1. As far as hours go, is a 55 hour work week too much? Most nannies work 50 hours a week (to cover the workday and commute of the parents). 55 is a lot but not unheard of.

2. A good nanny will do anything and everything child-related but no general housecleaning. The size of your home is not relevant. She shouldn't be asked to wash your breakfast dishes or make your bed whether you live in a studio apartment or mansion.

3. Yes, it is both unrealistic to expect your nanny and child to remain indoors. And it is bad for your child.

4. I don't know the answer to this one. I have always brought my own lunch and snacks.

5. Nannies are, by law, hourly employees. You cannot pay a nanny a fixed salary. Your are also legally required to pay time and a half over forty hours a week.

As for compensation, it all depends on what you want. I am a nanny for a 19 month old boy - I have a college degree with additional graduate school credits in Early Childhood Development and years of experience as both a nanny and a preschool teacher. I started two years ago at $19 and hour and am now earning $21 an hour.