OP, I haven't heard you mention finding a different person for the morning and afternoon shifts, but this seems like the obvious solution to me. There are some FT nannies out there whose workday starts late enough that they'd have the time for a morning school drop-off. And plenty of other people who are not FT nannies as well. If it is only one hour of work, I think you might have to pay more than just $25 for the one hour of work. Maybe $15 x (hours worked + commute time). I actually think the afternoon shift is harder to fill. I know there are a lot of PT nannies out there who work afternoons only, but they tend to be nannies who used to be FT for the same family and agreed to downsize their hours. I was looking for afternoon care and could not find anyone willing to work all 5 days so I had to split the days between two sitters. It was not workable (maybe for you, it will, though) and I ended up hiring someone for almost FT hours.

Is there a church or community center in your neighborhood with a job board? Someone who lives really close to your house might be willing to do this.

Anonymous wrote:I think you would find someone for the afternoon slot, so why not do before care and find someone for the afternoon.

I don't know, I don't think this really solves it. Money-wise, before-care only is almost as expensive as just doing both before/after-care. And I'd still have to get the kids up and out in the morning, which is honestly the biggest issue without in-home care. And then I'd have to manage both the before/after-care program AND a nanny. Sorry for not clarifying - I'm looking for a 100% perfect solution

I think you would find someone for the afternoon slot, so why not do before care and find someone for the afternoon.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks, everyone. OP here again. Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to pay full-time rates when I only need a couple of hours a day, and I'm a pretty good housekeeper and cook, so I don't need that help either. I guess maybe we'll just stick with before/after care.

Yeah if that's an option agree it's the way to go. There just aren't a lot of good options for full time childcare.

Also about a third of the cost of an au pair and half the cost of a part-time nanny, so I guess that's a good thing.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks, everyone. OP here again. Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to pay full-time rates when I only need a couple of hours a day, and I'm a pretty good housekeeper and cook, so I don't need that help either. I guess maybe we'll just stick with before/after care.

Yeah if that's an option agree it's the way to go. There just aren't a lot of good options for full time childcare.

Thanks, everyone. OP here again. Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to pay full-time rates when I only need a couple of hours a day, and I'm a pretty good housekeeper and cook, so I don't need that help either. I guess maybe we'll just stick with before/after care.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College students were my hope and I hired one, of the three who didn't work out. But when push came to shove no one wanted to come in for the early hour and in each case they quit. I assume found a better schedule with less annoying hours. So, au pair seemed like the only way to get the coverage we needed without paying for a 12 hour day.

There's no need to pay for a 12 hour day, but 6-8 hours is more likely to guarantee stability. I was actually addressing the PP who needs 1 hour in the morning and 3-4 in the afternoon. It would be reasonable for them to pay for 8 hours work per day, the nanny would then be available for all sick days and when school was closed, housekeeping dealing with the child would be done while the child was otherwise occupied, and they would be more likely to keep the nanny. I specifically stated professional nannies for a reason: college students aren't going to prioritize a job which might have to be discontinued the following semester due to school schedule and they frequently don't have much (or any) experience nannying (rather than occasional babysitting).

Oh, I mean, I was that PP. We didn't try paying less money for more "hours" even though we only needed 4-5, and we didn't want any housekeeping, and of course weren't going to pay effectively $50/hour... anyway. It apparently isn't an attractive schedule.

Anonymous wrote:College students were my hope and I hired one, of the three who didn't work out. But when push came to shove no one wanted to come in for the early hour and in each case they quit. I assume found a better schedule with less annoying hours. So, au pair seemed like the only way to get the coverage we needed without paying for a 12 hour day.

There's no need to pay for a 12 hour day, but 6-8 hours is more likely to guarantee stability. I was actually addressing the PP who needs 1 hour in the morning and 3-4 in the afternoon. It would be reasonable for them to pay for 8 hours work per day, the nanny would then be available for all sick days and when school was closed, housekeeping dealing with the child would be done while the child was otherwise occupied, and they would be more likely to keep the nanny. I specifically stated professional nannies for a reason: college students aren't going to prioritize a job which might have to be discontinued the following semester due to school schedule and they frequently don't have much (or any) experience nannying (rather than occasional babysitting).

I might be looking for a job like this for the fall depending on what my school schedule looks like.
Where are you advertising your position?

College students were my hope and I hired one, of the three who didn't work out. But when push came to shove no one wanted to come in for the early hour and in each case they quit. I assume found a better schedule with less annoying hours. So, au pair seemed like the only way to get the coverage we needed without paying for a 12 hour day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We ran through 3 nannies who just could not be reliable, offering $25, in Baltimore. Now we have an au pair. It's not ideal but it's the only thing that worked.

I don't believe you, or you don't know how to be a good nanny employer.

In a place like Baltimore, $25/hr. is unheard of.

Yeah, au pair agencies are trolling this forum *big* time.

Also, PP - note that $25/hour is unheard of for a full time position. The trouble with getting someone to show up for two hours, is that if you with a more typical rate, it's too low to make sense. $15/hour for a full day, sure. $30, probably not worth your trouble.

Exactly. Our schedule sucks. It's 1 hour in the morning and 3-4 after preschool. True professional nannies have absolutely no interest, even at $25/hr.

Professional nannies are happy to take your position, if you advertise it correctly. If you list it as time with the child: 1 hour mornings, 3-4 afternoons, then laundry (child's)/cooking (child's)/cleaning child's toys and room: during preschool hours, and are fine with the nanny using those hours any way she wants after she completes those things, you'll be fine. If you want to pay for only 4-5 hours per day, yes it'll be hard to find.

Oh, sorry if that was unclear, no, I wasn't paying for 7 hours a day of downtime.

That is what most families do. The nanny becomes household manager/ assistant/ chef. I think you will be able to find a college student, but a single semester is all they can actually guarantee.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We ran through 3 nannies who just could not be reliable, offering $25, in Baltimore. Now we have an au pair. It's not ideal but it's the only thing that worked.

I don't believe you, or you don't know how to be a good nanny employer.

In a place like Baltimore, $25/hr. is unheard of.

Yeah, au pair agencies are trolling this forum *big* time.

Also, PP - note that $25/hour is unheard of for a full time position. The trouble with getting someone to show up for two hours, is that if you with a more typical rate, it's too low to make sense. $15/hour for a full day, sure. $30, probably not worth your trouble.

Exactly. Our schedule sucks. It's 1 hour in the morning and 3-4 after preschool. True professional nannies have absolutely no interest, even at $25/hr.

Professional nannies are happy to take your position, if you advertise it correctly. If you list it as time with the child: 1 hour mornings, 3-4 afternoons, then laundry (child's)/cooking (child's)/cleaning child's toys and room: during preschool hours, and are fine with the nanny using those hours any way she wants after she completes those things, you'll be fine. If you want to pay for only 4-5 hours per day, yes it'll be hard to find.

Oh, sorry if that was unclear, no, I wasn't paying for 7 hours a day of downtime.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We ran through 3 nannies who just could not be reliable, offering $25, in Baltimore. Now we have an au pair. It's not ideal but it's the only thing that worked.

I don't believe you, or you don't know how to be a good nanny employer.

In a place like Baltimore, $25/hr. is unheard of.

Yeah, au pair agencies are trolling this forum *big* time.

Also, PP - note that $25/hour is unheard of for a full time position. The trouble with getting someone to show up for two hours, is that if you with a more typical rate, it's too low to make sense. $15/hour for a full day, sure. $30, probably not worth your trouble.

Exactly. Our schedule sucks. It's 1 hour in the morning and 3-4 after preschool. True professional nannies have absolutely no interest, even at $25/hr.

Professional nannies are happy to take your position, if you advertise it correctly. If you list it as time with the child: 1 hour mornings, 3-4 afternoons, then laundry (child's)/cooking (child's)/cleaning child's toys and room: during preschool hours, and are fine with the nanny using those hours any way she wants after she completes those things, you'll be fine. If you want to pay for only 4-5 hours per day, yes it'll be hard to find.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We ran through 3 nannies who just could not be reliable, offering $25, in Baltimore. Now we have an au pair. It's not ideal but it's the only thing that worked.

I don't believe you, or you don't know how to be a good nanny employer.

In a place like Baltimore, $25/hr. is unheard of.

Yeah, au pair agencies are trolling this forum *big* time.

Also, PP - note that $25/hour is unheard of for a full time position. The trouble with getting someone to show up for two hours, is that if you with a more typical rate, it's too low to make sense. $15/hour for a full day, sure. $30, probably not worth your trouble.

Exactly. Our schedule sucks. It's 1 hour in the morning and 3-4 after preschool. True professional nannies have absolutely no interest, even at $25/hr.