Anonymous wrote:I am a SAHM and meet a ton of nannies and the oldest I see with very few exceptions are in their mid-50s. I am guessing your mom is at least in her late 50s/early 60s? I appreciate older nannies because they tend to have the irreplaceable experience of raising their own kids (but who are usually old enough not to require any care) and a grandmother's love. Having said that, I would not hire someone older than, say, 55 and that is really my outer limit. Once we had our first child, we expected to have a nanny for at least 5 years, longer if we have more kids, and with older nannies, you have to think about how healthy and energetic they will be not just when you hire them, but for the duration they are with your family. My mom is a healthy 60-something who takes great care of herself and told me that starting at age 60, she felt her ability to care for babies/toddlers (i.e., the grandkids) really drop. Of course, everyone is different, but that number, 60, has stuck in my head. We had to let go of a nanny in her mid-50s because her back just couldn't take picking up and putting down the increasing weight of DC. Even if your mom is very healthy and fit, these are issues that will be running through potential employers' heads. There are parents out there who are willing to hire a 60 year old nanny, just not many, so it's understandable that it is taking your mom a long time to find her next family.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a 1 yr old and 3 yr old and specifically wanted a young nanny who can dash into the street if needed, and who can run around all afternoon. I also didn't want someone who has tons of experience and would think their experience trumps what I want done. So I looked for someone with enough experience to know this is what they want to do, but not decades of experience.

Also, why do you say your mother wants $18 an hour but that's negotiable, but then won't negotiate down to $15? Just say then that she wants to be paid $16-18 or whatever.

So parents are now looking for Nannies that are young and naive?? That listen without having a conversation about concerning topics?

We do state $18/hr and when the parent has issues about pay thats when it is negotiable to $16 depending on the vibe my mom feels with the family. I put $18 for negotiable for everyone reading to understand.

A lot of parents are looking for nannies who will implement the parenting practices they want in place.


Other parents want a nanny who will come in and do things her way, based on her experience. I think this latter group is smaller, though.

There's a bias throughout our society for young and enthusiastic vs. older and experienced. When you add children to the equation, that bias becomes more pronounced.

Anonymous wrote:I am a SAHM and meet a ton of nannies and the oldest I see with very few exceptions are in their mid-50s. I am guessing your mom is at least in her late 50s/early 60s? I appreciate older nannies because they tend to have the irreplaceable experience of raising their own kids (but who are usually old enough not to require any care) and a grandmother's love. Having said that, I would not hire someone older than, say, 55 and that is really my outer limit. Once we had our first child, we expected to have a nanny for at least 5 years, longer if we have more kids, and with older nannies, you have to think about how healthy and energetic they will be not just when you hire them, but for the duration they are with your family. My mom is a healthy 60-something who takes great care of herself and told me that starting at age 60, she felt her ability to care for babies/toddlers (i.e., the grandkids) really drop. Of course, everyone is different, but that number, 60, has stuck in my head. We had to let go of a nanny in her mid-50s because her back just couldn't take picking up and putting down the increasing weight of DC. Even if your mom is very healthy and fit, these are issues that will be running through potential employers' heads. There are parents out there who are willing to hire a 60 year old nanny, just not many, so it's understandable that it is taking your mom a long time to find her next family.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a 1 yr old and 3 yr old and specifically wanted a young nanny who can dash into the street if needed, and who can run around all afternoon. I also didn't want someone who has tons of experience and would think their experience trumps what I want done. So I looked for someone with enough experience to know this is what they want to do, but not decades of experience.

Also, why do you say your mother wants $18 an hour but that's negotiable, but then won't negotiate down to $15? Just say then that she wants to be paid $16-18 or whatever.

So parents are now looking for Nannies that are young and naive?? That listen without having a conversation about concerning topics?

We do state $18/hr and when the parent has issues about pay thats when it is negotiable to $16 depending on the vibe my mom feels with the family. I put $18 for negotiable for everyone reading to understand.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There is also the fact that you seem to be acting as a go-between for her, which suggests either that her language skills aren't great, or she's not able to use technology well.

We hired an older nanny for our 3 kids because we thought that she'd be more likely to have patience and would be more responsible. Having said that, I strongly doubt that I would have considered any nanny who had her daughter acting as a go-between. The candidate would have to be over-the-top amazing in every other way to make up for my concerns over that situation.

Ma'am/Sir I replied to this statement in the previous posts I am not her "in betweener". But thanks

But you're the one trying to troubleshoot her job search. You're the one on DCUM asking about why.

If the families are seeing your involvement in her job search in any way, it is going to be a problem. If all you are doing is sending out her resume, from an email address with her name on it, no problem. But if you are actually writing responses, responding to inquiries, asking questions, and the people on the other end know it's you and not her ... that is not a situation I would be willing to be involved with.

This is probably why she's been more successful finding jobs through prior employers in the past. Their friends and contacts know them, and so aren't worried about having two people to negotiate with, or the potential that her daughter is going to show up to help her complain about something (or decide to complain about something on behalf of her mother), or that they will always have to communicate through you. I have the same feeling about this situation that I would have if a 20-year-old applicant was using her mother's email to contact me, or her mother wanted to meet me, or somesuch. The applicant might be wonderful, but that's an additional layer of people I don't want to deal with.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There is also the fact that you seem to be acting as a go-between for her, which suggests either that her language skills aren't great, or she's not able to use technology well.

We hired an older nanny for our 3 kids because we thought that she'd be more likely to have patience and would be more responsible. Having said that, I strongly doubt that I would have considered any nanny who had her daughter acting as a go-between. The candidate would have to be over-the-top amazing in every other way to make up for my concerns over that situation.

Ma'am/Sir I replied to this statement in the previous posts I am not her "in betweener". But thanks

Anonymous wrote:We hir d an older nanny for our 5 month old for $18 and similar benefits to what your mom is asking for. She has decent English but for us it was more important that she spoke our native language wth the baby. She's one of those young grandma types and loves our dd and talks and sings to her all day. However I would not have hired her if I could not communicate with her in our language. I interviewed lots of nannies (fluent English speakers and not) as there was a lot of interest in the position. Our nanny is very very active, lots of walks and I have no concern that she'll be able to chase dd ws she grows (at least for the next 2 years).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:With her experience and age, she would be a wonderful companion for seniors. I assume she can drive and is in good shape physically.

Yes, she is looking into that now with the Home Health Aide cert. But she absolutely loves babies, our house is sometimes full with God children, cousins and grand kids. Just imagine the running, food and mess.lol. She adores them, so its hard for her to pull away from being a Nanny.

I understand but she may be able to command a higher rate and work longer. There is such a great need for people like your mom who are intelligent, patient and have a caregiver's heart. I happen to have a special needs young adult daughter and pay $25 plus exceptional benefits to keep her current caregiver. I also have elderly parents in another state who are paying $20/hr for someone to make simple meals and drive them to doctor's appointments.