Anonymous wrote:OP - we actually DID find an after-school babysitter who worked for 20 hours a week. She was in school getting a degree, but couldn't afford school fulltime, so she was looking for a part-time job. It worked out great for us for the years that she was in school. We only needed pm help...so it was like 2pm-7pm 4 days a week. We had a little laundry, and then get kids from school + dinner. AM and PM help is very hard to find if part time, but if you are only looking for one end of the day it is possible.
True, this meant we had to cover sick days...but...she was still coming at 2 pm, so I or my husband was still able to put in 5 hours of work once she came. It worked for us. Good luck.

+1, this is what I have right now as well (and found her relatively easily on a neighborhood nanny "phonebook" FB group). She's a part time student as well and it works out perfectly for us. We are not in DC, tho, so YMMV.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - we actually DID find an after-school babysitter who worked for 20 hours a week. She was in school getting a degree, but couldn't afford school fulltime, so she was looking for a part-time job. It worked out great for us for the years that she was in school. We only needed pm help...so it was like 2pm-7pm 4 days a week. We had a little laundry, and then get kids from school + dinner. AM and PM help is very hard to find if part time, but if you are only looking for one end of the day it is possible.
True, this meant we had to cover sick days...but...she was still coming at 2 pm, so I or my husband was still able to put in 5 hours of work once she came. It worked for us. Good luck.

You found a unicorn.

+1. We went thru 3 in one year. No chores required. Just pick up one sweet kindergartener from school and be on time for $25 an hour. All three were constantly late picking him up and called in sick several Fridays in a row. I had no coverage for sick days or holidays.

I had a second baby and got a full time nanny to handle both kids.

Anonymous wrote:OP - we actually DID find an after-school babysitter who worked for 20 hours a week. She was in school getting a degree, but couldn't afford school fulltime, so she was looking for a part-time job. It worked out great for us for the years that she was in school. We only needed pm help...so it was like 2pm-7pm 4 days a week. We had a little laundry, and then get kids from school + dinner. AM and PM help is very hard to find if part time, but if you are only looking for one end of the day it is possible.
True, this meant we had to cover sick days...but...she was still coming at 2 pm, so I or my husband was still able to put in 5 hours of work once she came. It worked for us. Good luck.

You found a unicorn.

OP - we actually DID find an after-school babysitter who worked for 20 hours a week. She was in school getting a degree, but couldn't afford school fulltime, so she was looking for a part-time job. It worked out great for us for the years that she was in school. We only needed pm help...so it was like 2pm-7pm 4 days a week. We had a little laundry, and then get kids from school + dinner. AM and PM help is very hard to find if part time, but if you are only looking for one end of the day it is possible.
True, this meant we had to cover sick days...but...she was still coming at 2 pm, so I or my husband was still able to put in 5 hours of work once she came. It worked for us. Good luck.

Anonymous wrote:Our nanny switched to working from 8:30 to 4:30 (40 hours) to noon to 6PM plus a date night (35 hours). She took on home management, all grocery shopping and all laundry as well as errands before the kids came home. She was also available for sudden sick-days and the countless school holidays.

We could get the kids to school so I have no clue how or if a split schedule would work. Part-time sitters are notoriously irresponsible and unreliable.

Keeping nanny has been one of the best decisions we ever made. The kids can do afterschool activities and sports that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. She handles everything for us except general cleaning. We’re never running out to get the birthday party gift (she even wraps them!) or school supply. And having a trusted person who loves our kids is invaluable.

+1. We’ve done the same with our nanny. It works so well for both me and the kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is 25 hrs at her current rate enough for her to live on? Most would quit to find a full time job. Split shift is the hardest to get. Everyone wants it and only wants to pay for hours "used"

So what is fair in this situation? Going from full-time to part time care should come with a cost savings, shouldn’t it? I understand split shift is difficult to hire for and that it will likely come with a higher hourly rate than full time care, but I find it odd to suggest that one should pay for more hours than are worked.

The fair thing is that you put together a job with part time hours, and pay what the market will pay for those part time hours, and your current nanny moves on to a full time position with an excellent reference from you. It’s no different from any other job. You might find someone in school who wants those hours, or a mom who wants to bring her own baby, but more likely you will find that you need to pay significantly more, and maybe even as much as you have been paying, in which case you can choose to hire someone new, or have your nanny stay on for guaranteed hours, or use before/aftercare at the elementary school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our nanny is currently full time. We need her full time thru the summer, but would like to transition to part time in the fall. Our kids will both be in elementary school so we don’t need care during the day. We’d need roughly 25 hrs/week - several hours in the AM and several after school. Our jobs are such that we won’t be able to get the kids ready and then to school ourselves.

Would be interested in hearing from you if you’ve made this transition. Did your full time nanny stay on in a part time capacity? If not, how hard was it to find help in the morning and help after school? How long did the search to find someone take, and did you hire one person or one AM person and one PM person? How much notice did you give your full time nanny before you transitioned to part time?

Appreciate any input. Thanks!

Why can't your kids get to school themselves?

Our school allowed first graders and up to walk to school. Bus would be even easier. You say you have both kids in elementary so I'm assuming that the oldest is already at school while the youngest is starting K. Your second or third grader can walk your K-er to school very easily or ride the bus with them.

Many schools require kids to be in third grade before they’re allowed to walk without an adult or responsible babysitter (another elementary student doesn’t count).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our nanny is currently full time. We need her full time thru the summer, but would like to transition to part time in the fall. Our kids will both be in elementary school so we don’t need care during the day. We’d need roughly 25 hrs/week - several hours in the AM and several after school. Our jobs are such that we won’t be able to get the kids ready and then to school ourselves.

Would be interested in hearing from you if you’ve made this transition. Did your full time nanny stay on in a part time capacity? If not, how hard was it to find help in the morning and help after school? How long did the search to find someone take, and did you hire one person or one AM person and one PM person? How much notice did you give your full time nanny before you transitioned to part time?

Appreciate any input. Thanks!

Why can't your kids get to school themselves?

Our school allowed first graders and up to walk to school. Bus would be even easier. You say you have both kids in elementary so I'm assuming that the oldest is already at school while the youngest is starting K. Your second or third grader can walk your K-er to school very easily or ride the bus with them.

Honestly it sounds like you just need before and after care. Does your school offer such programming?

Anonymous wrote:Our nanny is currently full time. We need her full time thru the summer, but would like to transition to part time in the fall. Our kids will both be in elementary school so we don’t need care during the day. We’d need roughly 25 hrs/week - several hours in the AM and several after school. Our jobs are such that we won’t be able to get the kids ready and then to school ourselves.

Would be interested in hearing from you if you’ve made this transition. Did your full time nanny stay on in a part time capacity? If not, how hard was it to find help in the morning and help after school? How long did the search to find someone take, and did you hire one person or one AM person and one PM person? How much notice did you give your full time nanny before you transitioned to part time?

Appreciate any input. Thanks!

Why can't your kids get to school themselves?

Our school allowed first graders and up to walk to school. Bus would be even easier. You say you have both kids in elementary so I'm assuming that the oldest is already at school while the youngest is starting K. Your second or third grader can walk your K-er to school very easily or ride the bus with them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is 25 hrs at her current rate enough for her to live on? Most would quit to find a full time job. Split shift is the hardest to get. Everyone wants it and only wants to pay for hours "used"

So what is fair in this situation? Going from full-time to part time care should come with a cost savings, shouldn’t it? I understand split shift is difficult to hire for and that it will likely come with a higher hourly rate than full time care, but I find it odd to suggest that one should pay for more hours than are worked.

If I counted all the hours we paid our nanny that she didn't work I'd probably blow a gasket. But you know when I couldn't care how much it is? When a kid is sick and needs to be picked up in the middle of the day. When there's a snow day. When I know without a doubt that my nanny will be there and won't flake out on us because we're only a part-time gig. So, pretty much all the time. You get what you pay for, OP.

Anonymous wrote:Finding someone reliable to do split shift is practically impossible, unless you have room for an AP.

If you need help both morning and afternoon, take to your nanny. See how she’d feel about taking on errands, grocery shopping and meal prep. Do NOT ask for household laundry, full cooking or full housekeeping, but she may offer some or all.

However, you need to be prepared for her to tell you that she’s already planning on moving on. Many, many nannies only work full time, and once the youngest child is in school, they start over with a single infant.

You can ask, she can say no.

Anonymous wrote:Our nanny is currently full time. We need her full time thru the summer, but would like to transition to part time in the fall. Our kids will both be in elementary school so we don’t need care during the day. We’d need roughly 25 hrs/week - several hours in the AM and several after school. Our jobs are such that we won’t be able to get the kids ready and then to school ourselves.

Would be interested in hearing from you if you’ve made this transition. Did your full time nanny stay on in a part time capacity? If not, how hard was it to find help in the morning and help after school? How long did the search to find someone take, and did you hire one person or one AM person and one PM person? How much notice did you give your full time nanny before you transitioned to part time?

Appreciate any input. Thanks!

It will be nearly impossible to find someone to work mornings AND afternoons but you only pay them for 25 hours a week. I mean, who would want that gig?

We have kept our nanny full-time since our kids started full-day school because it was the only reasonable thing to do. She couldn't afford to go from full-time to part-time, and it was going to be too hard to find a part-time, middle of the day job to fill the extra hours. Also, for school holidays, sick days, snow days, etc., it was easier to have her. Plus, if you need her full-time in summer, what would you do then?

Honestly, think about what you would think if your boss said they were cutting your hours and pay in half and you'd have to work two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon every day?

213


If you add up Christmas break, spring break, all the other little three day weekends and minor holidays and the summer months there are well over four months a year when your kids will not be in school during the day. And that’s assuming that you can find coverage for all the days when one of your kids comes home sick or needs to go to the orthodontist or there’s a snow day...the list goes on.

You will have to pay a higher hourly rate for someone who is only working $25 an hour and even then it will be difficult to find someone willing to take on the hours you want who will be reliable. You may have to go with a college student and then find a new one every semester or two for the next five years.

You will also need to either find a babysitter willing to work over Christmas break and spring break and hire a summer nanny or you will need to enroll all of your kids in camps for all of those weeks. Sit down and run the numbers. What does the math look like when you compare the cost of however many kids in camps for 10 to 14 weeks a year Plus the 25 hour a week nanny at a higher hourly rate? Make sure to factor in that having a part-time nanny only works if you have either local family who can provide back up care Or one of you has a flexible job. Will you need to sacrifice career advancement for flexibility? Factor in that you will need to do all laundry and errands And cooking on the weekends. How much of that does your current nanny do? Will you end up outsourcing housekeeping? Add that to the budget too.

It can easily work out that by trying to go to part time you end up paying as much or more for less coverage.

E.g.:
$22 ph nanny, 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year (plus taxes, a it’ll be around $47,000)
plus say 4 weeks of summer camp to break up the summer at $350 per week per kid for 3 kids ($4,200):

Total childcare cost $51,200 annually

$25 part-time nanny 25 hours a week ($32,500)
10 weeks of summer camp (assuming a 2-week family vacation) ($10,500)
3 weeks of winter break/spring break camp ($3,150)
$200 per day for backup childcare during all the random school holidays (I counted 8 in our school calendar for this year) $1,600
Assuming you have plenty of flexibility to manage the household and never need to hire care for sick days, you are already pushing $49,000. And that’s assuming you can find someone and they don’t quit after 3 months when they find a better job.



As for your complaint that it’s not “fair” that you have to pay for unused hours on some weeks, that’s the free market, baby! Would you take a job that kept you from having a life between 8:30am-6pm but only paid 25 of those hours or would you pass and take one of the many jobs that use those hours and pay for all of them plus time-and-a-half overtime?