Nope, still going strong, been there 6 years.

You have not only gone through an unusually high amount of Nannies OP, but your expectations are really through the roof.

Caring for young twins can be quite the challenge & it seems your Nannies are expected to do many other things besides childcare.

If a Nanny does not remove balls from under the couch, then that is truly okay.
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It appears that it will be difficult for you to keep an in-home childcare provider.

Your best bet would be a daycare for your children.

Good luck!

You have had far too many nannies in 18 months for anyone to believe that the problem lies with the nannies, OP.

I also have twins, now two-years-old, and they have had the same nanny since they were a month old. She has never "slacked off". She makes homemade meals for the children, does their laundry and keeps the kitchen, playroom and their rooms neat and clean. She takes the kids to play-dates and classes. She is a lovely person.

We treat her well, pay her well and respect her enormously.

I think you should consider daycare, OP. You are not the kind of person who should or could employ a nanny.

Aside from cleaning the trays you sound like a micro manager.

Why buy a stroller that you find to heavy to lift into the car? Sell it and buy another lightweight one if you need 2.

If she brushes their teeth after dinner and you do them at breakfast it would make sense the brushes have dried. If you are going behind her checking, then you are a micro manager.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
half a dozen caregivers...hmmm alarm bells are ringing here.

Have you considered that you may be the issue. What is your hiring process? Do you do trial days? Are you clear on the nanny's role and expectations of the job? Do you trust the nanny to do her job or is there lots of micromanaging involved?

And to respond to your question - no all nannies do not slack off after being hired. The possibility exist yes but hiring well and routine check-ins should help to alleviate this problem.

This!
My kid is 21 months and we have the same nanny that started when she was 4 months. No slacking noted. Yes things have changed as the kid grew and naps shifted but the house is spotless everyday. Baby clean and happy with new words and skills and a homemade lunch and something for her dinner made daily. Older nanny (50s) like another grandma. They do a two hour outside time most days and not just in the stroller. Climbing on play ground, walking in the park etc.

+2 Same - We have had our wonderful nanny for two years. Does all of the above and takes DD to classes and even facilitates a playgroup at our house for DD's little friends that always includes nanny teaching a craft or a new sensory activity as well as a story time. No, our nanny has never slacked off. She is also older and has much more energy than I do.

Our one and only nanny has never "slacked off" one minute in four years - not one.

The fact that you have had so many nannies tells me that there is something wrong with you, OP. You really need to look at your behavior, expectations and demeanor - as well as your compensation package. And with your history - the sheer amount of women who have quit or been fired - it might be hard to find a good nanny now. You should look into daycare.

Following. I'm looking to hire a part time care giver and I really want to know about this, based on my experience with babysitters. I feel there is something so demoralizing about coming home and finding a dirty living room and dirty dishes + babysitter watching Netflix and sleeping kid. Really? I know I didn't specifically say pick up after the kids, but come on, PICK UP! That's how I was raised and how I do my job. Every little thing should not have to be spelled out in a contract.

BTW my kid is in day care and they ABSOLUTELY brush his teeth and wipe up after 16 kids! They don't just leave food sitting there.

PP: will NOT leave my kid alone with someone who lies... terrible typo!

MB here. In-home care can be high-quality and meet the expectations you're laying out. In particular, dishonesty is grounds for dismissal with no notice in my nanny contract. I will give the benefit of the doubt on things that may reasonably be misinterpretations or memory lapses, but I absolutely will leave my kid alone with someone I think is lying to me.

It does take careful screening, interviewing and trial periods to ensure you are hiring the right person, but if you feel like you are running a rigorous process there and still getting people who turn out to be duds after a while, it could be your compensation. If the nanny is full-time, the right benchmark is whether what you are paying her is a good living wage in your area and what is appropriate for her experience, not how much daycare would cost you or her previous salary (after all, there must be some reason why she was looking to leave!). People get demotivated very quickly if they realize they are being underpaid. And daycare is a perfectly acceptable solution if your budget can get you better quality daycare than nanny care.

As for this specific nanny: a Montessori teacher's job description probably does not involve brushing teeth, stroller folder or high chair cleaning, and if she nannied older children before, those may not be part of the job either, so it is possible she doesn't realize those are integral parts of the job when providing in-home care to 18-month olds. Not trying to justify that behavior -- only to say it is a poor match of expectations. You may want to take a second look at your job description to make sure it's detailed enough, and then give specific examples or a daily routine during the interview/trial day. You could try to address this with the current nanny in a serious talk and another "shadow" day (where you show her all the things you believe are important for her to do) -- but if not, at least do this with the next nanny candidate you hire.

Anonymous wrote:
half a dozen caregivers...hmmm alarm bells are ringing here.

Have you considered that you may be the issue. What is your hiring process? Do you do trial days? Are you clear on the nanny's role and expectations of the job? Do you trust the nanny to do her job or is there lots of micromanaging involved?

And to respond to your question - no all nannies do not slack off after being hired. The possibility exist yes but hiring well and routine check-ins should help to alleviate this problem.

This!
My kid is 21 months and we have the same nanny that started when she was 4 months. No slacking noted. Yes things have changed as the kid grew and naps shifted but the house is spotless everyday. Baby clean and happy with new words and skills and a homemade lunch and something for her dinner made daily. Older nanny (50s) like another grandma. They do a two hour outside time most days and not just in the stroller. Climbing on play ground, walking in the park etc.

I've never slacked off, even on my last day.

half a dozen caregivers...hmmm alarm bells are ringing here.

Have you considered that you may be the issue. What is your hiring process? Do you do trial days? Are you clear on the nanny's role and expectations of the job? Do you trust the nanny to do her job or is there lots of micromanaging involved?

And to respond to your question - no all nannies do not slack off after being hired. The possibility exist yes but hiring well and routine check-ins should help to alleviate this problem.

Anonymous wrote:Not all strollers are the same and if she doesn't use it regularly you are being unreasonable. Same with expecting her to lift it without you asking her when you somehow manage it every day.

OP here-- I DON'T manage it every day. If they go anywhere in a stroller, she is usually taking them somewhere in the other, lighter stroller. I didn't expect her to know how to do it, but I DO expect someone who I am paying a lot of money to for childcare to say, "Can you please show me how to fold the stroller?" and not "I don't know how, you do it." then walking away. If I said and did something like that to MY boss, I would be in trouble.

Not all strollers are the same and if she doesn't use it regularly you are being unreasonable. Same with expecting her to lift it without you asking her when you somehow manage it every day.

I've been through half a dozen au pairs and nannies for my 18-month-old twins (they lasted anywhere from 2 days to 3 months). Each time (except for the ones we fired after a day or two because they were completely irresponsible), they have started strong, then progressively slacked off, started lying, and generally did a poor job. I thought my latest nanny was great (has been with us for 2 months, former Montessori teacher and 2 years nanny experience), but there have been some bad signs lately. I'm not sure if I can trust her anymore.

I asked her to brush their teeth after she feeds them dinner, and she said she was doing that-- but then when I mentioned that one twin has molars already and the other one doesn't, she was surprised and didn't seem to know that! And the toothbrushes were never wet, except when I brushed their teeth. So she clearly isn't brushing their teeth, and she's lying to me about it.

She helped me take them to a doctor's appointment the other day, and as we were loading them into the car after the appointment, she looked at the (very heavy) double stroller and said, "I don't know how to fold that stroller, you can do it." AND THEN GOT IN THE CAR, while I folded and lifted the heavy stroller myself. She is in her 20s and apparently healthy. I am in my 40s with a couple of minor disabilities, and one of the reasons I hired her is so she could lift the damn stroller! She usually uses a lighter umbrella stroller and not the heavy one that stays in my car, but I think she should be able to handle any stroller we use.

She has never once cleaned their high chair trays. If I don't clean them, she will put food directly on a dirty tray and let them eat it. She is generally careless with my possessions (e.g., left the babies' humidifier running with the cap off, causing condensation and water damage to an expensive piece of furniture, because she was too lazy to retrieve the cap of the humidifier from under the couch). Is this just how it's going to be with any in-home childcare? Is it too much to expect that she will learn to fold all the strollers and dig toys and other things out from under the couch? Should I just live with the fact that she lets my kids eat off a dirty tray because she's too lazy to clean them? I feel like those are all basic nanny tasks-- and yet, it seems really difficult to find anyone who can sustain the effort they initially put into the job for the first week or two.

For the nanny trolls who will tell me to pay more if I want better childcare: she is making more than she did as a full-time Montessori teacher, and I pay her the same amount it would cost to put both of my kids in the Kindercare down the street. So paying more is not an option, when I could do daycare for the same price. And she certainly isn't complaining about the salary (though she has repeatedly asked to be paid early, which is annoying when she's slacking off).