Nanny cost in NOVA and preschool question

Sweetbay505

Hi ladies,

I normally hang out on working moms board but I'm popping over with a local question.  We're trying to get our financial ducks in a row before TTC#2.  Can you give me a realistic cost range for an in-home nanny to 2?  One would be an infant and one a toddler.  I live in Reston.

Also, if you had an in-home nanny did you put LO in a preschool before kindergarten?

I am thinking waaay ahead here, so I appreciate any general guidance you can give.  Thanks!

BirdGirl01

We paid $18/hour for our first year and just raised our nanny's rates to $19/hour for the second year.  We're in Alexandria, where the rates are probably a bit higher than Reston.  I would expect to pay at least $15/hour.  Anything over 40 hrs/week has to be paid at time and a half, but you can back into your hourly rate so that you effectively pay $15/hour.  This isn't uncommon, and I think you'll find a nanny that will agree to it if you're guaranteeing overtime each week. 

DD is only 16 months, but we're also looking at preschool for next year.  

Sofka

I can't help you on the Nanny question but we pay $1140/mo for pre-school in Loudoun Co.

 

BirdGirl01

Sofka:

I can't help you on the Nanny question but we pay $1140/mo for pre-school in Loudoun Co.

 

I assume that's full time, right?  Part-time preschools are a LOT less.  The preschool we're looking at for DD next year is $250/month.  Since we're already paying for a full time nanny, we wouldn't also send DD to full time preschool.  

Useonfire

I'm interested in this topic.  We'll need a nanny for our DD beginning some time this summer.  Our DS will probably be around a fair amount this summer and also other than the 15-18hrs a week he'll be in pre-school during the year, he's home.  I'd love to know what to budget. I'd probably be looking for at least 4 days a week for 7-8hrs a day (so about 30hrs a week/two kids at least for half that time). 

BirdGirl01

Useonfire:

I'm interested in this topic.  We'll need a nanny for our DD beginning some time this summer.  Our DS will probably be around a fair amount this summer and also other than the 15-18hrs a week he'll be in pre-school during the year, he's home.  I'd love to know what to budget. I'd probably be looking for at least 4 days a week for 7-8hrs a day (so about 30hrs a week/two kids at least for half that time). 

At least 15/hour.  I would just come up with a regular hourly rate that covers all scenarios rather than break it down by hours when your DS is there and isn't.  The one problem you might run into is that most nannies want 40/hours per week guaranteed.  Every nanny I interviewed did.  Not all will though.  For budgeting purposes don't forget to add in employer taxes.  At this point I'm not even sure what we pay, but there are calculators out there that will tell you. 

We guarantee hours for our nanny every week (45) and pay for anything outside of her set hours even if we don't use her for all of her regular hours (e.g., late start) - which we almost always do.  You can work out a different arrangement, of course, but I think our nanny is happy in part because she has a predictable schedule and a salary she can count on.  We have a fantastic relationship with our nanny.  I could not be happier.

ETA:  Make sure you negotiate any additional things up front.  It is completely reasonable to have the nanny make food, do the kids' laundry, do the dishes (not heavy dinner dishes, but emptying/loading the dishwasher from the day).  It is so much easier to have that conversation up front. 

gidget967

Thanks for asking this - I am pregnant with my first and starting to do all the research on childcare to see what our best options are.

 BirdGirl01, what resources did you use to find your nanny?  The search seems overwhelming.  Thanks!

BirdGirl01

gidget967:

Thanks for asking this - I am pregnant with my first and starting to do all the research on childcare to see what our best options are.

 BirdGirl01, what resources did you use to find your nanny?  The search seems overwhelming.  Thanks!

We have a nanny share.  We found our share family on the DC Urban Mom message boards (there are specific nanny/nanny share boards) and our nanny through our share family (who found her on the same boards).  The process was terrible.  I didn't think it was going to work out.  We started out w/day care because I had to go back to work and we struggled to find a nanny share family.  But then we did, and it's been great.

We also interviewed a bunch of nannies who were personal recommendation on our neighborhood listserve.  They were all more experience than the nanny we hired, and most weren't open to shares (because when they're bad, they are really bad).  Our nanny is younger and was open to it.  Our share is awesome so she's gotten the best of both worlds - easy families and more $ b/c she's watching 2 kid instead of 1. 

gidget967

Thank you!  I'm going to have to check out DC Urban Mom.  The process seems so intimidating, and I found out today I'll need to be back at work way earlier than planned so I'm trying not to panic.  A nanny share was something I hadn't even thought of, what a great plan!

BirdGirl01

We struck gold with our nanny share, in part because we ended up with a family who has a pretty similar style to our style.  The biggest (and hardest) thing for us was finding a family who needed the same hours.  I didn't think 8 to 5 would be that hard, but it was.  Our share family only uses 40 hrs/week.  We cover the last 5 at the full rate, but it was still a significant savings for us. We negotiated a separate agreement with our share family, in addition to the agreement we have with our nanny.  Doing so made sure we were on the same page in terms of a lot of issues up front.  I can't think of anything major that has come up w/the families since we started. 

Amy&Steve0421

Just wanted to chime in since I have a part-time nanny.  We were able to find her through a service - https://www.nannypoppinz.com/ - it was expensive - but you only pay the referral fee if they are successful in finding a nanny for you - and if you end up having problems w/that nanny - they find you a replacement at no charge.  The fee also covers backup service in case your nanny is sick or unable to come.

The nanny we have watches older kids for another family.  So after they are on the bus for school - she comes to our house.  It works out great - we don't have to worry about her leaving us since we only offer part-time hours - since between the two jobs she is getting full time hours.