Anonymous wrote:OP, I think you are going to have a REALLY hard time filling this position. First off, asking for four weekdays and one weekend day every week will put off many candidates. Second, the hours and pay are not enough for a nanny to live on. Third, part time hours and pay can be appealing *IF* you are offering a schedule that will allow the nanny to get another part time job with a different family as well. 12-5 five days a week does NOT offer that option (I have been a nanny for many years and have often done two part time jobs with two different families, but it was always either something like two 10 hour days with one family and three 9 hour days with another, OR it was split daily like 8am to 1pm with one family and 2pm to 6:30pm with another).

I'd actually love something about 30 hours per week at that rate, and with mornings off you can very easily find a morning only position to help fill out your schedule if wanting more hours. I might try as an employer to be flexible about doing 1-6pm instead, or as the PP also mentioned, maybe do mornings if you are able to switch it to AM. To work 5 days a week but have one weekday off would be wonderful for running errands and appointments that can only be done weekdays. I would want Fri/Sat off myself and work Sun-Thu, but you might ask if they want Sunday off for church.

8-2pm weekdays and $20 an hour should give you plenty of candidates.
For my sake as well as the nanny's sake I would also think of scheduling apart time. She takes the kids somewhere while you go o the gy or cook.... or she keeps the baby while you do an activity with the elder....

OP, I think that what you are describing is either a "Mother's Helper" job, or a great job for a novice nanny, who is new to the field and needs experience in order to eventually sign on with agencies.

In your shoes, I would look for candidates at nearby colleges, especially in the psychology, nursing, education, and similar departments, as well as advertising that you would be happy to hire someone with a background in the daycare/preschool field.

If you attend a church that has a mother's morning out program, perhaps one of the teachers would like to try something new, or they might know of a candidate for you.

You might also find a mature high school junior or senior who plans to teach or go into another child focused field and would like to gain experience in childcare.

I would offer $15+ per hour, make the framework of the job clear in your ads and in person, and look for an enthusiastic person who you "click" with personally.

And last, I would change the hours you want to cover the "witching hours", between 3 - 9 pm or so. When I think of what time I would least like to be alone with 2 under 2, the end of the day is my instant choice.

Good luck!

PP from above, and that being said, I was a nanny to a SAH mom for years. We developed a wonderful relationship and she's now one of my closest friends, even though I no longer work for her. I went places with her and the kids, but was also allowed and expected to take them lots of places by myself.

If you hire a nanny, you should really trust her enough not to use her phone while she's driving your children around, especially if you specifically request that of her.

OP here. I guess this would be considered a mother's helper position, but since we're willing to pay $20 per hour or a bit more I figured that's a bit high for just a mother's helper. And I'd like someone who has experience working with infants and toddlers.

I would try to stay out of the nanny/mother's helper's way and work on cleaning and cooking during the time she is taking care of both kids. Morning hours would be fine, we are flexible with the hours.

Neither myself nor my DH feels comfortable with the idea of a nanny driving our kids somewhere. I wouldn't feel comfortable with anyone driving our kids anywhere, because of smart phone use and texting while driving. For those of you who do drive kids around in the car, does your employer ask you to keep the phone put away and turned off for the entire duration of the car ride? I keep my phone turned off and put away while in the car, never to be used while driving, and would expect a nanny to do the same.

A deal breaker for me would be the not being allowed to take one or both children out by myself. I'm sorry OP, I wouldn't want to always have to go with you when you take the children out. That screams you don't trust your nanny and will cancel out a lot of the experienced nannies.

PP here. Instead of a nanny you may want to consider 2-3 mornings of preschool for the toddler, which might also be very enjoyable for him/her.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Some ways you could make this more workable: If you adjusted your hours so nanny came in the mornings only, that would allow her to also take an after school position, which tend to be plentiful. If you increased the rate of pay, that would help tremendously ($22-25/hr; dealing with a toddler when his mother is present AND a newborn has a level of stress that even nannies of triplets don't deal with regularly). You could try to minimize the time you are present with the nanny, and make this clear up front. For example, you could say something like "I'll be cleaning upstairs and then preparing dinner, so please take both kids to the library, or play in the backyard for an hour so I can do that. After nap, I'll plan to accompany you with the children to the park..." Etc.

OP here. This is very helpful, so thank you PP! Can you suggest an hour range that could work for mornings only (I am flexible). We can increase the rate of pay as well. However, I was not planning on allowing the nanny to drive our kids anywhere by herself. And we do not live in a walkable area (i.e. there is nothing to walk to from our neighborhood), as we live in the distant suburbs. Do you see that as an issue? I would like the nanny to accompany us on many activities/outings each week, but we would all be going together.

WAH mom with a nanny here. OP, I see the bolded as a problem. It sounds like you will not give the nanny much if any autonomy, and she will basically be following you around and doing what you ask her to do. This will get old fast for most smart, experienced, caring nannies. If you offer enough you'll get candidates (and I agree with focusing on morning hours). But if I were you I would focus on a college student or someone with very little experience working with kids--they'll be much more likely to follow your lead and do what you ask. We have had several wonderful nannies and all would have balked at this setup unless they were desperate.

Yes, your pay rate sounds more than fair to me.

This sounds more like a "Mother's Helper" position + there are some nannies that wouldn't have an issue helping you out while you remain in the home.

My best advice to you would be that when you do indeed hire someone, try as hard as you can to stay out of her way and let her do her job.

Micromanaging her will only be a recipe for disaster. Also, try to hire someone who you have a good rapport with as well since you will be working alongside each other daily.

Good luck!

I agree with the PP that said that you need to state that there is no driving, but I don't think you need to spell out that there won't be an outings without you.

Another SAHM is a great idea, start time could be right after she drops her kids at school, and end just before she picks them up. But that would leave you high and dry when her kid is sick, and unless you want older kids tagging along, same would go for in-service days and vacations.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for your comments. Ideally how many hours would a nanny want for a part-time position? We are flexible on hours. Ideally we would like one weekend day, and maybe 4 weekday days. I was thinking a total of around 30 hours per week. Would appreciate feedback as to what number of hours might be best for a position like this. I'm not expecting the nanny to do any housework. I love to clean and can do all housework.

30+ hours would get serious candidates, OP, so I think you're good.

If you are going to be there I would offer something closer to $12/hr. And no more than $15. You will be doing half the work. Of course if they are ever alone with the children (i.e. you leave the house) then you could pay $20.