Ideas on how to find a nanny?

LMA06 · October 2011

DH and I have started talking options for child care. While I would love to have someone come to our home and take care of little one for the first year it seems like it won?t make sense financially if we have to go through one of the ?nanny finder? companies I have found.

They?re minimum is $2100-$2500/mo and it only goes up from there. Any other ideas on how to find a reputable nanny that might be more affordable?

I?m not anti-daycare by any means but a nanny would be our first choice if it was do-able.

AmyDrinkie · October 2011

That sounds about right...if you figure she'll work 8hrs per day M-F and you pay her $12-15/hr which I'm pretty sure is the going rate. Plus, if you are both commuting to/from work and you can't stagger your schedules, she'll work longer days which would add to the cost.

You might consider looking at licensed in-home daycares if you're certain you do not want to use a daycare center.

Meg4583 · October 2011

We found a great sitter on care.com, and I know people wanting nanny jobs advertise there as well.. you can browse without paying but if you wanted to contact one you have to buy a membership ( 35$ for 1 month, but there are always coupon codes!)

We're meeting with an older lady next week that will hopefully work out as our backup sitter

SimarikSmokin · October 2011

bright start is also a great site i have a lot of people recommend me

PSU_Texan · October 2011

It's definitely an expensive option. There are a few ways to reduce the cost:

Nanny share with another family -- this defrays cost but can reduce the convenience of having a nanny.
Hire a nanny who brings her own child b/c usually you pay a little less -- but this can backfire if the nanny's child gets sick more often, etc.
Pay under the table -- I wouldn't recommend it but alot of people do it. We could easily save if we paid "cash" but it wasn't worth a potential audit.
Hire through care.com or sittercity.com -- this way you avoid the costly fees associated with one of the agencies. We hired our first through an agency b/c I was a new mom and more anxious. We went the internet route the second time b/c we'd been through it and had great success.

And just remember that "you get what you pay for". You might have to compromise on nanny qualifications to get someone that would take a lower salary. So in the end you might do better with a center.

CareBear01 · November 2011

Agree with pps. It's pretty hard to weigh the costs of a nanny vs. daycare for just 1 LO. When you start getting a nanny for 2 or more is when you start seeing an equalization and/or savings. Unless you want a nanny part time, but ultimately, we use our daycare for at least 9 hours every weekday between our work hours and communte times to and from work.

We had a teacher friend who offered to watch our LO over the summer, when she was off of work (before we put him in DC), but I basically said it wasn't worth it to her b/c with daycare, i am only paying less than $5/hr if you divide everything out, so I couldn't justify at least doubling that for her to come over. You may be able to find a nanny that will work for your cost, but just be cautious of those giving you a "deal".

Mommabern0910 · November 2011

I like care.com - when you post just put how much you are willing to spend. I pay 140.00 a week for 3 days at my home.

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