Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I had 3 older kids and a newborn, I had a full time nanny and a part time nanny-housekeeper.

I think it will be hard to find someone willing to work for 2.5 hours a day, but you can try -- maybe a student would take this job? If you can bump it up to 4-5 hours a day, you will probably find someone. Maybe you can make it a housekeeper/babysitting position rather than purely babysitting to come up with the hours.

Also, it will likely be easier to find someone who can do mornings, especially if you decide to only do 2.5-3 hours a day. Would your nanny be willing to shift to 9:30-6:30?

Also, I just prorated the benefits for our part time person. So, she still gets the same number of days off a year, only her "day" is 5 hours, and our full time nanny's "day" is 8.5 hours.

I think you misunderstood the OP. Nanny A would be at the house from 7am-4pm, Nanny B would be at the house from 1pm-6:30pm (current schedule). Nannies would overlap from 1pm-4pm.

One thought--1-3 is often naptime for babies and toddlers. So you'd have two nannies in the house at the time that half the kids are sleeping. And at least one of your other kids will be in school, right? So you have the most coverage when you need it the least.

My boys end school at 2:15. So our nanny picks them up and brings them back to the house. Depending on when the twins nap, then it might be possible that they nap between 1-3. Either way, it doesn’t matter because we still need someone to come in at 7 am. I leave at 6:45/7 and DH leaves at 7:30 with boys.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I had 3 older kids and a newborn, I had a full time nanny and a part time nanny-housekeeper.

I think it will be hard to find someone willing to work for 2.5 hours a day, but you can try -- maybe a student would take this job? If you can bump it up to 4-5 hours a day, you will probably find someone. Maybe you can make it a housekeeper/babysitting position rather than purely babysitting to come up with the hours.

Also, it will likely be easier to find someone who can do mornings, especially if you decide to only do 2.5-3 hours a day. Would your nanny be willing to shift to 9:30-6:30?

Also, I just prorated the benefits for our part time person. So, she still gets the same number of days off a year, only her "day" is 5 hours, and our full time nanny's "day" is 8.5 hours.

I think you misunderstood the OP. Nanny A would be at the house from 7am-4pm, Nanny B would be at the house from 1pm-6:30pm (current schedule). Nannies would overlap from 1pm-4pm.

One thought--1-3 is often naptime for babies and toddlers. So you'd have two nannies in the house at the time that half the kids are sleeping. And at least one of your other kids will be in school, right? So you have the most coverage when you need it the least.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I had 3 older kids and a newborn, I had a full time nanny and a part time nanny-housekeeper.

I think it will be hard to find someone willing to work for 2.5 hours a day, but you can try -- maybe a student would take this job? If you can bump it up to 4-5 hours a day, you will probably find someone. Maybe you can make it a housekeeper/babysitting position rather than purely babysitting to come up with the hours.

Also, it will likely be easier to find someone who can do mornings, especially if you decide to only do 2.5-3 hours a day. Would your nanny be willing to shift to 9:30-6:30?

Also, I just prorated the benefits for our part time person. So, she still gets the same number of days off a year, only her "day" is 5 hours, and our full time nanny's "day" is 8.5 hours.

I think you misunderstood the OP. Nanny A would be at the house from 7am-4pm, Nanny B would be at the house from 1pm-6:30pm (current schedule). Nannies would overlap from 1pm-4pm.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think is best just to get one nanny. Its only an extra 2.5. Just pay her overtime and extra for the two oldest children. You would have to do the same if you was to get another nanny for the late afternoon. You would have to pay her for watching all four children. It's always harder for mom to find part time nannies.

Infant twins are exhausting. 7-6:30 5 days a week is a recipe for nanny burnout. If this mom can swing two nannies, at least until both the oldest are in school and the twins are a little older, it is a much better idea.

And, she already has the afternoon nanny. She's looking for the full time, 7-4 nanny. That will be easy to find.

Op here, and yes I agree. Our current nanny is not available in the AM anyway

Your current nanny very well might be be interested in four children. Check with her FIRST. You have several choices: keep pt nanny and pt nanny picks up 2.5 hours with infants (raise hourly pay) [b]and find ft nanny for 7-4, find 7-6.30 infant nanny and make sure there are zero household tasks while or nanny keeps same schedule and pay, or find two nannies who can split the shifts (perhaps morning nanny stays just until afternoon nanny gets there with older kids, then afternoon is on with all four?).

What do you mean by that? I only plan on having one full time nanny and a part time nanny

Sorry, I meant to say that she may not be interested or able to keep up with all four at once.

We have asked her multiple times and she is interested. I mentioned today that we would give her a hourly raise

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think is best just to get one nanny. Its only an extra 2.5. Just pay her overtime and extra for the two oldest children. You would have to do the same if you was to get another nanny for the late afternoon. You would have to pay her for watching all four children. It's always harder for mom to find part time nannies.

Infant twins are exhausting. 7-6:30 5 days a week is a recipe for nanny burnout. If this mom can swing two nannies, at least until both the oldest are in school and the twins are a little older, it is a much better idea.

And, she already has the afternoon nanny. She's looking for the full time, 7-4 nanny. That will be easy to find.

Op here, and yes I agree. Our current nanny is not available in the AM anyway

Your current nanny very well might be be interested in four children. Check with her FIRST. You have several choices: keep pt nanny and pt nanny picks up 2.5 hours with infants (raise hourly pay) [b]and find ft nanny for 7-4, find 7-6.30 infant nanny and make sure there are zero household tasks while or nanny keeps same schedule and pay, or find two nannies who can split the shifts (perhaps morning nanny stays just until afternoon nanny gets there with older kids, then afternoon is on with all four?).

What do you mean by that? I only plan on having one full time nanny and a part time nanny

Sorry, I meant to say that she may not be interested or able to keep up with all four at once.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think is best just to get one nanny. Its only an extra 2.5. Just pay her overtime and extra for the two oldest children. You would have to do the same if you was to get another nanny for the late afternoon. You would have to pay her for watching all four children. It's always harder for mom to find part time nannies.

Infant twins are exhausting. 7-6:30 5 days a week is a recipe for nanny burnout. If this mom can swing two nannies, at least until both the oldest are in school and the twins are a little older, it is a much better idea.

And, she already has the afternoon nanny. She's looking for the full time, 7-4 nanny. That will be easy to find.

Op here, and yes I agree. Our current nanny is not available in the AM anyway

Your current nanny very well might be be interested in four children. Check with her FIRST. You have several choices: keep pt nanny and pt nanny picks up 2.5 hours with infants (raise hourly pay) [b]and find ft nanny for 7-4, find 7-6.30 infant nanny and make sure there are zero household tasks while or nanny keeps same schedule and pay, or find two nannies who can split the shifts (perhaps morning nanny stays just until afternoon nanny gets there with older kids, then afternoon is on with all four?).

What do you mean by that? I only plan on having one full time nanny and a part time nanny

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Do you actually need childcare from 7 AM until 6:30 PM? At what age are you planning to start this set up? The reason I ask is that the feasibility of even 2 1/2 hours of all four of those kids in the late afternoon is going to look very different depending on how long your maternity leave is. If you are planning to have the afternoon nanny deal with four to 6:30 PM with four kids two of whom are newborn twins, that is going to be really hard on her and very poor care for all of the kids. And I say this as someone who is handled twins and older siblings on my own multiple times. If she is not very experienced with twins and especially newborn twins, then having four all at the same time will be tough enough, but the timeframe that you are talking about is called the witching hour for a reason. The twins are likely to be very fussy and demanding between four and 6:30 PM, and if one or God for bid both of them have colic, it would be challenging for a caregiver even to provide quality care to the two of them. Add in the older siblings and a nanny who presumably mostly works with older kids and it could be very very tough on her. If you could get away with maintaining the overlap until you got home or waiting until the twins are at least six months old to overlap and making sleep training high-priority, you will be much better off IMO.

I will have 4 months maternity leave. My husband leaves at 7:30 with the older kids to drop off at school and I would leave around 6:45/7. So yes we need care from 7 Am forward so my husband can get ready before leaving. And I see your concern about handling 4 kids, I know it might be tough, but our nanny has experience with multiples. She’s worked with twins, however thentwins didn’t have any siblings. Our nanny said she’s willing to do it but like you said I’m a little concerned it might be too much. I am off work around 4:30/5 but she’s always stayed until 6:30 to help for dinner so most of the time she will not have all four kids until 6:30, but I work late on occasion so it’s a possibility

This could work quite well then. I will add that getting twin in general on a schedule is pretty vital and doubly so for twins with older sibs, so you should plan to make that a top priority and if you are struggling an experienced newborn nanny or sleep consultant can be a lifesaver.

Since you are typically home earlier the concerns about witching hour are not such an issue. She will probably struggle a bit on nights you work late, but if it is less than once a week she can tough those out, rely a little on screen timw for big kids and swings for the babies, etc. If that was needed every single noght then it would be an issue but it sounds like most of the time if both babies want to be held, one of you can hold or wear a baby and one of you can handle the other and play a game or read a book with the big kids.

Also, general word to the wise: Babywearing. If you didn’t do it with the first two, now is the time to learn!

thank you for your suggestions! I do plan on hiring a sleep consultant because I could not sleep train my older boys, but this time this will be a priority. our nanny doesn't do screen time for our boys mainly because she's so proactive with them, but this might change. thank you again.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Do you actually need childcare from 7 AM until 6:30 PM? At what age are you planning to start this set up? The reason I ask is that the feasibility of even 2 1/2 hours of all four of those kids in the late afternoon is going to look very different depending on how long your maternity leave is. If you are planning to have the afternoon nanny deal with four to 6:30 PM with four kids two of whom are newborn twins, that is going to be really hard on her and very poor care for all of the kids. And I say this as someone who is handled twins and older siblings on my own multiple times. If she is not very experienced with twins and especially newborn twins, then having four all at the same time will be tough enough, but the timeframe that you are talking about is called the witching hour for a reason. The twins are likely to be very fussy and demanding between four and 6:30 PM, and if one or God for bid both of them have colic, it would be challenging for a caregiver even to provide quality care to the two of them. Add in the older siblings and a nanny who presumably mostly works with older kids and it could be very very tough on her. If you could get away with maintaining the overlap until you got home or waiting until the twins are at least six months old to overlap and making sleep training high-priority, you will be much better off IMO.

I will have 4 months maternity leave. My husband leaves at 7:30 with the older kids to drop off at school and I would leave around 6:45/7. So yes we need care from 7 Am forward so my husband can get ready before leaving. And I see your concern about handling 4 kids, I know it might be tough, but our nanny has experience with multiples. She’s worked with twins, however thentwins didn’t have any siblings. Our nanny said she’s willing to do it but like you said I’m a little concerned it might be too much. I am off work around 4:30/5 but she’s always stayed until 6:30 to help for dinner so most of the time she will not have all four kids until 6:30, but I work late on occasion so it’s a possibility

This could work quite well then. I will add that getting twin in general on a schedule is pretty vital and doubly so for twins with older sibs, so you should plan to make that a top priority and if you are struggling an experienced newborn nanny or sleep consultant can be a lifesaver.

Since you are typically home earlier the concerns about witching hour are not such an issue. She will probably struggle a bit on nights you work late, but if it is less than once a week she can tough those out, rely a little on screen timw for big kids and swings for the babies, etc. If that was needed every single noght then it would be an issue but it sounds like most of the time if both babies want to be held, one of you can hold or wear a baby and one of you can handle the other and play a game or read a book with the big kids.

Also, general word to the wise: Babywearing. If you didn’t do it with the first two, now is the time to learn!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Do you actually need childcare from 7 AM until 6:30 PM? At what age are you planning to start this set up? The reason I ask is that the feasibility of even 2 1/2 hours of all four of those kids in the late afternoon is going to look very different depending on how long your maternity leave is. If you are planning to have the afternoon nanny deal with four to 6:30 PM with four kids two of whom are newborn twins, that is going to be really hard on her and very poor care for all of the kids. And I say this as someone who is handled twins and older siblings on my own multiple times. If she is not very experienced with twins and especially newborn twins, then having four all at the same time will be tough enough, but the timeframe that you are talking about is called the witching hour for a reason. The twins are likely to be very fussy and demanding between four and 6:30 PM, and if one or God for bid both of them have colic, it would be challenging for a caregiver even to provide quality care to the two of them. Add in the older siblings and a nanny who presumably mostly works with older kids and it could be very very tough on her. If you could get away with maintaining the overlap until you got home or waiting until the twins are at least six months old to overlap and making sleep training high-priority, you will be much better off IMO.

I will have 4 months maternity leave. My husband leaves at 7:30 with the older kids to drop off at school and I would leave around 6:45/7. So yes we need care from 7 Am forward so my husband can get ready before leaving. And I see your concern about handling 4 kids, I know it might be tough, but our nanny has experience with multiples. She’s worked with twins, however thentwins didn’t have any siblings. Our nanny said she’s willing to do it but like you said I’m a little concerned it might be too much. I am off work around 4:30/5 but she’s always stayed until 6:30 to help for dinner so most of the time she will not have all four kids until 6:30, but I work late on occasion so it’s a possibility

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think is best just to get one nanny. Its only an extra 2.5. Just pay her overtime and extra for the two oldest children. You would have to do the same if you was to get another nanny for the late afternoon. You would have to pay her for watching all four children. It's always harder for mom to find part time nannies.

Infant twins are exhausting. 7-6:30 5 days a week is a recipe for nanny burnout. If this mom can swing two nannies, at least until both the oldest are in school and the twins are a little older, it is a much better idea.

And, she already has the afternoon nanny. She's looking for the full time, 7-4 nanny. That will be easy to find.

Op here, and yes I agree. Our current nanny is not available in the AM anyway

Your current nanny very well might be be interested in four children. Check with her FIRST. You have several choices: keep pt nanny and pt nanny picks up 2.5 hours with infants (raise hourly pay) [b]and find ft nanny for 7-4, find 7-6.30 infant nanny and make sure there are zero household tasks while or nanny keeps same schedule and pay, or find two nannies who can split the shifts (perhaps morning nanny stays just until afternoon nanny gets there with older kids, then afternoon is on with all four?).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your older kids have after school activities, is current nanny ok dragging all four kids?

They do not have activities outside the home. Boys have piano once a week at home.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think is best just to get one nanny. Its only an extra 2.5. Just pay her overtime and extra for the two oldest children. You would have to do the same if you was to get another nanny for the late afternoon. You would have to pay her for watching all four children. It's always harder for mom to find part time nannies.

Infant twins are exhausting. 7-6:30 5 days a week is a recipe for nanny burnout. If this mom can swing two nannies, at least until both the oldest are in school and the twins are a little older, it is a much better idea.

And, she already has the afternoon nanny. She's looking for the full time, 7-4 nanny. That will be easy to find.

Op here, and yes I agree. Our current nanny is not available in the AM anyway

Anonymous wrote:If your older kids have after school activities, is current nanny ok dragging all four kids?