We found our nanny (and several other excellent possibilities) through neighborhood listservs, and also through another parenting group.

The candidates who came as referrals from families for whom they were currently working were FAR superior to those that answered my ads.

I didn't use any agencies, but I have used agencies for fill-in, emergency care. The people that have come to us were all competent, but it was definitely more expensive to use an agency and it didn't have the personal reference value of those that came through the listserv networks.

Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:Im a nanny but my experience has been great without the neee for an agency. I've always used care.com. Sittercity is full of families looking to pay the bare minimum for childcare. I think agencies are a waste for families with the amount of money they charge when they all use care, sittercity, and craigslist to find nannies for their agencies.

Except you're a nanny... and maybe the people who hired you would disagree? Or maybe the people who hired you think you're great but went through two or three terrible nannies before they landed on you.

I agree that some agencies are terrible. I have seen them posting on CL and care.com looking for nannies to add to their books without any consideration of their abilities or qualifications. However, a great agency really provides a valuable service and "product" that is worth the money for busy parents. Just don't go into the search thinking every agency is the same or any agency can find you the perfect nanny; be smart, ask serious questions, and you'll soon find an agency and a placement coordinator who really knows what she's doing.

Care.com

Need*

Im a nanny but my experience has been great without the neee for an agency. I've always used care.com. Sittercity is full of families looking to pay the bare minimum for childcare. I think agencies are a waste for families with the amount of money they charge when they all use care, sittercity, and craigslist to find nannies for their agencies.

I'd go to whatever sources you most trust. It's all about trusting your source.

First of all, stop calling me a hoe. Secondly, no I did not find my nanny yet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We used Sittercity.com for our first nanny and an agency for the second. Nanny #1 and Nanny #2 were wonderful, but we also had a Nanny 1.5 who came from Sittercity. She was a disaster and scared us into paying the agency fee as we were too worn down from our search for her to look on our own again.

May I ask which agency you used?

We used Mothers' Aides.

Anonymous wrote:We used Sittercity.com for our first nanny and an agency for the second. Nanny #1 and Nanny #2 were wonderful, but we also had a Nanny 1.5 who came from Sittercity. She was a disaster and scared us into paying the agency fee as we were too worn down from our search for her to look on our own again.

May I ask which agency you used?

We used Sittercity.com for our first nanny and an agency for the second. Nanny #1 and Nanny #2 were wonderful, but we also had a Nanny 1.5 who came from Sittercity. She was a disaster and scared us into paying the agency fee as we were too worn down from our search for her to look on our own again.

I actually found my nanny on care.com.. I know there are a lot of low-balling families and some horror stories from care.com, but it works very well for us. We found a wonderful, very qualified full time nanny whom my kids love. We offer a pretty competitive wage for our area ($19 an hour for 2 kids) plus PTO, etc. I know some haven't had great luck, but we had great success. Good luck on your nanny search!!! I know it can be really stressful!

I'm in the market for a nanny and was wondering how most people found their nannies --- friends/family/neighbors, online forums (if so which), agencies?? Many thanks!