Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you manage finding care for a split schedule- that is early morning care from 6:30am-8:30am including getting kids ready and drop off at school and then again in late afternoon school pickup 3:30pm? Do you pay for the whole day and just have the nanny do kid related chores or cook dinner? What are your tips? We have a 2 year old that goes to preschool for half the day and school age 5 year old.

Another option may be for you and your significant other to stagger schedules so that one of you can do the morning hours.

+1 This is what we did when our child was in pre-school one of us did the morning routine and had afternoon nanny pick up from school. You can more easily find college student or young person with a part-time job vs trying to get nanny to cover split schedule.

Anonymous wrote:How do you manage finding care for a split schedule- that is early morning care from 6:30am-8:30am including getting kids ready and drop off at school and then again in late afternoon school pickup 3:30pm? Do you pay for the whole day and just have the nanny do kid related chores or cook dinner? What are your tips? We have a 2 year old that goes to preschool for half the day and school age 5 year old.

Another option may be for you and your significant other to stagger schedules so that one of you can do the morning hours.

In the dmv it is near impossible to find any nanny or college/hs kids to work a split schedule.UNLESS you pay some sick amount for 50 hours a week.

We ended up with an Au pair and have been very happy. Especially for snow days when a nanny would not be able to make it to our house anyway.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most families either pay a nanny to be available all day or they struggle to keep part-time workers.

If you elect to have a nanny full time 6.30-5, remember that OT only applies to worked hours. As long as the kids are in school (and you aren’t having the nanny actually work over 40 hours), you don’t have to pay OT. That could save you a bundle. Nannies would also be very interested in the job, especially with 52.5 hours guaranteed, and overtime when they actually work over 40.

No nanny who knows her stuff is going to be excited about losing OT pay. The OP needs to hire a nanny/family assistant, pay them well (including all applicable OT every week), and accept that some weeks she will not be constantly busy, but other weeks she will be working non-stop. Kids get sick, schools go fully virtual, holidays breaks and summers happen.

I know a few nannies who take online classes or do other things while kids are at school. They’re paid to drop everything if the kids are home, but they only get OT when they work over 40 hours.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most families either pay a nanny to be available all day or they struggle to keep part-time workers.

If you elect to have a nanny full time 6.30-5, remember that OT only applies to worked hours. As long as the kids are in school (and you aren’t having the nanny actually work over 40 hours), you don’t have to pay OT. That could save you a bundle. Nannies would also be very interested in the job, especially with 52.5 hours guaranteed, and overtime when they actually work over 40.

If a nanny has to be available 52.5 hours, you pay OT,!

No they don’t, unless the nanny is actually working 52.5 hours.

Anonymous wrote:Most families either pay a nanny to be available all day or they struggle to keep part-time workers.

If you elect to have a nanny full time 6.30-5, remember that OT only applies to worked hours. As long as the kids are in school (and you aren’t having the nanny actually work over 40 hours), you don’t have to pay OT. That could save you a bundle. Nannies would also be very interested in the job, especially with 52.5 hours guaranteed, and overtime when they actually work over 40.

No nanny who knows her stuff is going to be excited about losing OT pay. The OP needs to hire a nanny/family assistant, pay them well (including all applicable OT every week), and accept that some weeks she will not be constantly busy, but other weeks she will be working non-stop. Kids get sick, schools go fully virtual, holidays breaks and summers happen.

Anonymous wrote:Most families either pay a nanny to be available all day or they struggle to keep part-time workers.

If you elect to have a nanny full time 6.30-5, remember that OT only applies to worked hours. As long as the kids are in school (and you aren’t having the nanny actually work over 40 hours), you don’t have to pay OT. That could save you a bundle. Nannies would also be very interested in the job, especially with 52.5 hours guaranteed, and overtime when they actually work over 40.

If a nanny has to be available 52.5 hours, you pay OT,!

Most families either pay a nanny to be available all day or they struggle to keep part-time workers.

If you elect to have a nanny full time 6.30-5, remember that OT only applies to worked hours. As long as the kids are in school (and you aren’t having the nanny actually work over 40 hours), you don’t have to pay OT. That could save you a bundle. Nannies would also be very interested in the job, especially with 52.5 hours guaranteed, and overtime when they actually work over 40.

Anonymous wrote:How do you manage finding care for a split schedule- that is early morning care from 6:30am-8:30am including getting kids ready and drop off at school and then again in late afternoon school pickup 3:30pm? Do you pay for the whole day and just have the nanny do kid related chores or cook dinner? What are your tips? We have a 2 year old that goes to preschool for half the day and school age 5 year old.

You will either pay for entire day or nanny has another job in the off hours, so if you need her during that time, tough. That is paying for OT.

We made the decision to keep paying our nanny full time when our youngest went to full day elementary school. We changed our contract to say that on days when both kids are in school all day we can ask the nanny to do two non-kid related errands/tasks per day. No cleaning, because we have cleaning people twice a week. But we may ask them to take the dog to the groomers, or fold a basked of clean towels, or pick up an order we placed at a store.

Our nanny decided to start going to college part time and takes two classes a semester (I think). It was nice that when we had to start doing online school for the kids, nothing with the nanny really had to change.

The question you have to answer for yourself is:

Who will take care of my kids when they are not at school if my nanny is not available between 8:30 and 3:30?

If you or your partner are available for sick days, teacher work days, holidays, and summer breaks, then a split shift with 1 or 2 caregivers will work for your family.

If you do not have that availability, then you need to hire a nanny to be available 6:30-5:30/6/6:30. You’ll need to pay her for her full 11 or so hours on duty and on call. You can pay nanny rates and ask for nanny related chores during school hours or pay nanny/family assistant rates and ask for more chores during school hours.

Anonymous wrote:This is why people that can afford au pairs do the au pair program. You can split the schedule any way you want and its ok. Most Nannies won't do that. If you are set on a Nanny my suggestion is you do preschool in the mornings only for the 2 year old, 2 or 3 days a week and find a FT Nanny who doesnt mind doing other stuff during those hours. Then you will have coverage for snow days, sick days etc as well. Or given current situation, coverage if school closes for Covid.

is the Au pair program still an option? I thought I read that between covid and visa issues it’s basically closed? I’m not sure if we have space for another person (my mom already lives in the MIL suite on our property but she doesn’t drive & I don’t think she’d be able to watch the kids more than occasionally).

This is why people that can afford au pairs do the au pair program. You can split the schedule any way you want and its ok. Most Nannies won't do that. If you are set on a Nanny my suggestion is you do preschool in the mornings only for the 2 year old, 2 or 3 days a week and find a FT Nanny who doesnt mind doing other stuff during those hours. Then you will have coverage for snow days, sick days etc as well. Or given current situation, coverage if school closes for Covid.

You'd probably have to hire two different people or pay all day. You'd have a difficult time finding someone who will come in at 3:30 except maybe a high school or college student. And, not everyone will be ok with your kids going in person and taking the risk of a family who is working out of the home as well. Many use the schools before/after school program.

How do you manage finding care for a split schedule- that is early morning care from 6:30am-8:30am including getting kids ready and drop off at school and then again in late afternoon school pickup 3:30pm? Do you pay for the whole day and just have the nanny do kid related chores or cook dinner? What are your tips? We have a 2 year old that goes to preschool for half the day and school age 5 year old.