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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We pay our nanny $650/week to watch our one little girl - just turned 2 years old.  She does her laundry and light housekeeping (empties the dishwasher, cleans up after her), and has every other Friday either off or a half day.  She is given 2 weeks of vacation (one of her choosing), but in reality ends up getting over 4 weeks off per year, since we go on vacation or I take time off.  I get a lot of time off, and when I do I spend it with my daughter and rarely have her come in.  She is paid the same amount 52 weeks/year, whether she or we are on vacation, or she is sick - unless I am late (rare), and then she gets overtime.  We reimburse her mileage at the SSI rate as well.

Everything I read on this forum suggests that we should be paying our nanny 15-20/hour, but she is in her early 20s, does not have a college degree, and makes more than I made when I first got out of college.  She is amazing and we are so thankful for her, but I think the salary fits the job.  I am not downplaying her job at ALL - I am exhausted after a full day with my daughter - but it is one low-key toddler who often plays by herself for 20 - 30 minute spurts and naps 2-3 hours/day.  She is very good to us and our family, and I think we are very good to her in return.  We gave her a generous x-mas bonus and I try to get her little treats/gift cards throughout the year to show our appreciation.

Every nanny I interviewed agreed to accept what we were offering for salary.

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Would you mind sharing where are you located and how many applicants you had?  (And maybe how many you interviewed?)

We're about to start a search (in lower Montgomery County, MD) and trying to figure out an appropriate pay range so I really appreciate hearing your situation.  Glad you found someone you like![/quote]

We are in Kensington, MD.  We interviewed 6 or 7 people, but I think I knew we had found her the moment I met our nanny, who was the second person we interviewed.  The way I did it was when someone responded to my ad (posted it here and on Care.com) and I thought it sounded like I would like to interview them, I wrote back a longer description of our situation - a little bit more about my daughter, the flexibility, benefits and pay, also letting her know that we had pets.  I let her know that if she was OK with that, we would love to meet with her.  This way, the person knew up front what they were walking into.  Only one person even tried to negotiate the salary, and it was within 50 dollars/week.  We actually started last year at $600/week and gave her a raise at the end of the year to $650.  It's a little hard to say how many applicants we had - a lot.  When you post on Care.com you get a LOT of people just spamming their resume to you.  I only replied to people who had taken the time to write a personal message to me.  For the most part the women I interviewed seemed like decent, trustworthy people.

I have to say, I think our (my) flexibility was a big draw.  I am almost never more than 10 minutes late, and more than half the time I am home 15 or 20 minutes early.  I can work with our nanny re: every other Friday.  If she needs one Friday off, I can move my day to accommodate her.  She has had a doctor's appointment in the morning once or twice, and it is no big deal for me to go in a few hours late.  When we interviewed, we told the applicants that we want to find someone who we can have a no hassle relationship with.  She does not complain or expect extra pay if I get stuck in traffic and am 10 minutes late, but I always text her to let her know.  I trust her and take her at her word (don't ask for documentation) if she needs the morning off once in a blue moon.  There is mutual trust and respect and it has worked really well for us.  I consider her a friend, and trust her implicitly with my child.   I know not everyone is as lucky as I am with my job flexibility, and I do think that adds value, but I also think that people chronically overstate what nanny's make on this forum.

Last, I see a lot of people on here with a Masters in education or something.  Clearly, those people would need to be paid more based on their education/experience.  In our case, our nanny has her associates degree, is taking a few years off, and going back in a few years to finish her degree.  She has been amazing with our daughter though and taught her more than we ever expected.  She has taught my daughter all of her letters and numbers in English and Spanish, and we credit her with so much of her development.  I think some people are innately good at teaching and she is one of them.  We got lucky.  Good luck with your search!

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