Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're on our 2nd live - in and have had great experiences with both. We have a basement "apartment" for our live - in nanny with a bedroom, full bath, furnished living room, and a fridge, microwave oven, coffee maker set up so that she has her own space. Our kitchen is considered shared space and it works well.

Our first nanny was with us full - time (40 hours per week) when the children were little. We had guaranteed hours and always gave at least 2 weeks notice if we would need additional hours which she could always decline as we kept back - up sitters for date nights and weekends. She unfortunately moved on when the children started school and our scheduling needs changed.

Our current nanny works a split schedule with our school - age children and goes to school part time herself (we live right next to UMBC). Her schedule is guaranteed 7AM - 9AM, then 3 PM - 6 PM, and the 2nd Wednesday of every month she works 3PM - 9 PM so my husband and I can have a date night. She has the basement to herself and we all share the kitchen.

I've found that ensuring everyone is on the same page as far as being adults living in the same space works for us. Since our only common area is the kitchen we all do the dishes as soon as their used and whoever happens to be there will run the dishwasher when it's full or unload it when it's finished. We also remind our children that the basement is 100% off limits unless *Nanny* specifically invites them downstairs.

Hope this helped!

This is OP and this is *exactly* what we want. How did you find your nannies if you don't mind my asking?

PP here

We found her through a job board on UMBC's campus. We interviewed several other candidates who we found through friends of friends who knew college age students - they were all great but we really clicked with the nanny we hired. So, if you're near a school find out about job boards and let your social group, coworkers, etc know that you're looking for a part - time live - in nanny.

Anonymous wrote:We're on our 2nd live - in and have had great experiences with both. We have a basement "apartment" for our live - in nanny with a bedroom, full bath, furnished living room, and a fridge, microwave oven, coffee maker set up so that she has her own space. Our kitchen is considered shared space and it works well.

Our first nanny was with us full - time (40 hours per week) when the children were little. We had guaranteed hours and always gave at least 2 weeks notice if we would need additional hours which she could always decline as we kept back - up sitters for date nights and weekends. She unfortunately moved on when the children started school and our scheduling needs changed.

Our current nanny works a split schedule with our school - age children and goes to school part time herself (we live right next to UMBC). Her schedule is guaranteed 7AM - 9AM, then 3 PM - 6 PM, and the 2nd Wednesday of every month she works 3PM - 9 PM so my husband and I can have a date night. She has the basement to herself and we all share the kitchen.

I've found that ensuring everyone is on the same page as far as being adults living in the same space works for us. Since our only common area is the kitchen we all do the dishes as soon as their used and whoever happens to be there will run the dishwasher when it's full or unload it when it's finished. We also remind our children that the basement is 100% off limits unless *Nanny* specifically invites them downstairs.

Hope this helped!

This is OP and this is *exactly* what we want. How did you find your nannies if you don't mind my asking?

Anonymous wrote:We are now on our fourth live in nanny and our child is two years old.. Also a split schedule situation. We have just become so disillusioned with the nannies we have hired- it has literally been one thing after the other with these women. Our current one has literally just stopped doing parts of her job (child's laundry and keeping playroom clean)- and we pay her extra for these, she just stopped doing them! No clue why at all. When I ask her pointedly to do them, she might start and then stop, never finishing. What the heck?? She also basically sits on her phone the whole time with my daughter. I am counting down the days until she is gone.

We had one live out nanny who was a student and wonderful but she graduated. I am starting to think that live in is just not in the cards for us. I think that the ones we have had, at least, are doing it solely for the financial benefits and have absolutely no interest in the job itself. Now granted, we all work for money and I get that, but I generally enjoy my own job and I certainly have a great attitude there every day.

Have you been hiring career live in nannies ? American born and educated in early childhood education? Have they come with great references? A lot of young ladies have a passion for this field of work and don't just do the bare minimum but you have to find them.

We're on our 2nd live - in and have had great experiences with both. We have a basement "apartment" for our live - in nanny with a bedroom, full bath, furnished living room, and a fridge, microwave oven, coffee maker set up so that she has her own space. Our kitchen is considered shared space and it works well.

Our first nanny was with us full - time (40 hours per week) when the children were little. We had guaranteed hours and always gave at least 2 weeks notice if we would need additional hours which she could always decline as we kept back - up sitters for date nights and weekends. She unfortunately moved on when the children started school and our scheduling needs changed.

Our current nanny works a split schedule with our school - age children and goes to school part time herself (we live right next to UMBC). Her schedule is guaranteed 7AM - 9AM, then 3 PM - 6 PM, and the 2nd Wednesday of every month she works 3PM - 9 PM so my husband and I can have a date night. She has the basement to herself and we all share the kitchen.

I've found that ensuring everyone is on the same page as far as being adults living in the same space works for us. Since our only common area is the kitchen we all do the dishes as soon as their used and whoever happens to be there will run the dishwasher when it's full or unload it when it's finished. We also remind our children that the basement is 100% off limits unless *Nanny* specifically invites them downstairs.

Hope this helped!

We are now on our fourth live in nanny and our child is two years old.. Also a split schedule situation. We have just become so disillusioned with the nannies we have hired- it has literally been one thing after the other with these women. Our current one has literally just stopped doing parts of her job (child's laundry and keeping playroom clean)- and we pay her extra for these, she just stopped doing them! No clue why at all. When I ask her pointedly to do them, she might start and then stop, never finishing. What the heck?? She also basically sits on her phone the whole time with my daughter. I am counting down the days until she is gone.

We had one live out nanny who was a student and wonderful but she graduated. I am starting to think that live in is just not in the cards for us. I think that the ones we have had, at least, are doing it solely for the financial benefits and have absolutely no interest in the job itself. Now granted, we all work for money and I get that, but I generally enjoy my own job and I certainly have a great attitude there every day.

Anonymous wrote:I've had horrible live-in nanny experiences. I'm so much happier as a live-out nanny. It's nice to not live at your job....

Are you willing to be specific about what didn't work for you? That would be really helpful.

I've had horrible live-in nanny experiences. I'm so much happier as a live-out nanny. It's nice to not live at your job....

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious about this too. We have always had live-out part-time nannies. We just had our third child though and I just went back to work and could use some extra help. We have a bedroom with separate bathroom away from where the rest of our bedrooms are as well as a finished basement with sofa, tv etc that we almost never use that the nanny could use to hangout if she didn't want to be with us or just in her room.

Like OP, I'm curious if live-in nannies would be ok with a split schedule sometimes. I don't mean spur of the moment. She would have set (guaranteed) hours and I would never expect extra just because she is living there. There are days though where I'd love to have a nanny 8am-2pm and then again from 5pm-8pm. Is this something a nanny would be willing to do?

Yes, this is something that some people would be interested in.

Re the bit I have put in bold - you should certainly not expect extra just because the nanny is living there, but if you don't have a regular cleaner/housekeeper you need to set out clearly what the nanny's responsibilities are as an adult member of the household in terms of keeping it clean and tidy.

I'm curious about this too. We have always had live-out part-time nannies. We just had our third child though and I just went back to work and could use some extra help. We have a bedroom with separate bathroom away from where the rest of our bedrooms are as well as a finished basement with sofa, tv etc that we almost never use that the nanny could use to hangout if she didn't want to be with us or just in her room.

Like OP, I'm curious if live-in nannies would be ok with a split schedule sometimes. I don't mean spur of the moment. She would have set (guaranteed) hours and I would never expect extra just because she is living there. There are days though where I'd love to have a nanny 8am-2pm and then again from 5pm-8pm. Is this something a nanny would be willing to do?

As a career live in nanny. I have had some great jobs and some not so great jobs. Typically my schedule has been 7-5 or 8-6 mon- fri. The nanny jobs that haven't worked out so well for me are the ones where parents think you can work around the clock and they don't have to pay for it. Like saying Friday night we are going out to dinner so we need you work late that day we will be home around 10 pm. I would work the extra time and some would refuse to pay. Or the jobs where the families think you are a live in maid and do no dishes or sweeping all weekend because they expect me to do it either over the weekend or on Monday morning.

I truly love my career and thankfully have had wonderful employers which makes up for the not so great ones.

We had a live-in nanny back when my two oldest were in middle and elementary school and my two youngest were babies/toddlers. He lived in, and similar to you had a bedroom/bathroom away from the other areas of the house.

He got the two oldest off to school, went to school part time himself, came home and took over the babies for me while I hung with the two oldest in the afternoons and he studied/did homework, then he'd step in to help with dinner/bath/bed routines as needed.

He stayed with us for seven years.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks PP! We're in such the early stages of decision-making, that I'm not at the point of talking to candidates. We wouldn't need someone to start until about October/November. Really just curious to hear if there are any parents who are happily employing live-in nannies. Seems like there aren't that many at all who post on here, and the posts about live-ins seem to be generally dissatisfied posters on both sides. Wondering if it's not the solution I think it could be.

You have to remember that positive posts in general are rare. People wouldn't post asking for help if a situation was working perfectly. It's like the relationship forum on the main board. If you judge relationships based on that, everyone in the area is miserable!

I think you have clear expectations for your wants and needs. You'll find a great fit.

Thanks PP! We're in such the early stages of decision-making, that I'm not at the point of talking to candidates. We wouldn't need someone to start until about October/November. Really just curious to hear if there are any parents who are happily employing live-in nannies. Seems like there aren't that many at all who post on here, and the posts about live-ins seem to be generally dissatisfied posters on both sides. Wondering if it's not the solution I think it could be.

If I was job hunting, I'd love to meet you. You seem like a rare gem of a parent. Why don't you post an email here for anyone here who might know of a good possibility for you.

We need about 25 hours a week of care on a split schedule, and have thus far had au pairs with limited success. Although I very much like our current au pair, I'm at the point where I really can't support a program anymore that markets itself so differently (and inappropriately) to both sides and that charges about as much money as you pay the au pair herself (we pay $10,000 in fees to the agency and $12,750 in cash to the au pair herself for the year - lots of other costs and benefits [food, cell phone, a car, room and board, etc] to the au pair aside, I'm just talking straight cash).

It's just become very apparent to me how different the expectations of the families are from what the expectations of the au pairs are, and I'm disillusioned with the program.

Anyway, I'm looking at other options for childcare for this fall when our current au pair's year ends. We need about 8:15-9:15am and then either 1-5pm or alternatively, 3:15 to 5:15pm. We could also do a weekly date night to add hours, which is what we've been doing with our au pair to bring our total weekly hours up to 30 (au pairs can have up to 45 hours a week, and we never come close). The wild card, of course, is summer. We could absolutely sign the kids up for summer camps all summer and keep the nanny's hours about the same, or we could ramp up to more of a full-time schedule in the summer.

I do like the part of having an au pair of having someone live with us, simply because I feel like we get to know her better and she gets to see how we interract with the kids and feel more like part of the family. We do not ever expect our au pair to be flexible beyond her scheduled hours, so we're not looking for someone who is on-call during off hours at all. I would love to find maybe a student who would live with us, take care of the kids for those limited AM and PM hours I discussed above, and takes classes during the day. I'd love to be paying all that money that goes to the agencies directly to our caregiver instead and to perhaps select from a pool of candidates that is actually looking for a job to make money, rather than just a year-long all-expenses-paid travel party with some necessary babysitting on the side, which is what the agencies seem to market to the au pairs.

We have a separate room and bathroom away from our living space, but we would share a kitchen. We would have our car for her to drive the kids in, but (although we've shared with our au pairs), would prefer she have her own car and/or use public transportation (we live in the city right by a Metro stop). We have had four au pairs that would give us excellent reviews, and I would be more than happy to provide their contact info to candidates as a reference.

Anyway, I'm curious if anyone has successfully made the switch from au pair to live-in nanny or if anyone just has a live-in nanny situation that is working for both your family and for the nanny? I'd love to hear your set-up, hours (particularly for school versus summer), what type of committment you've got in place (e.g., year contract or open-ended?), how you found your nanny, what you compensate her with, etc. Am I missing something about whether this would work out or not?

The alternative is the much much cheaper before/after care at the kid's school, but I've really enjoyed letting the kids sleep in and not having to do the whole run-around drop-off, pick-up every day. Everyone, kids included, seems much happier and more well-rested when we have assistance.

Thanks!