Nanny Opinions

kefttsc · August 2014

Hi ladies,

DH is dead set on getting a nanny, and while I see huge benefits to it, I'm not quite comfortable with it yet. I think he is mostly panicked about there being SO much to do because of twice the babies. I have a ton of questions!

1. Do you have a nanny?

2. If so, when did the nanny start coming on to help? Immediately after birth? Later?

3. Where did you find the nanny? Online? Friend referral?

4. Does your nanny come part time or full time? Approximately how many hours and what hours of the day?

5. What does your nanny do besides the care of the children? I'm sure this varies a LOT.

My biggest thing is that I work from home 100% of the time. I'm worried about sharing my home with someone else that I am paying to care for the babies. I'd pick a nanny over daycare ANY day, but I'm even uncomfortable with a housekeeper because I tend to want to HELP when she is here.

I look forward to any thoughts or suggestions!

zazu13 · August 2014

I dont have a nanny. I could have used one in the beginning, but I did have friends and family help out most days. I assume you will be off from work for a bit. You will want some support when they are newborn. I would vote a night nanny over a day one, though. Maybe 10-6ish so you and DH can sleep. Even if you pump/nurse, extra hands are so nice when they are eating round the clock. Once they are a little bigger and you start working, a daytime nanny sounds like an ideal solution. I am staying at home for now, but I occasionally pay a teen in the neighborhood to help me out. I cant imagine trying to work while caring for my girls though. They do nap several hours, but not always together or at the same times each day. Feeding still consumes several hours in a day. Can you work in a separate room with the door closed so you can avoid the compulsion to help? I think its reasonable for a nanny to tidy up when not caring for the babies. Good luck

courtlandmatthew · August 2014

I work full time and honestly don't know what I would do without my nanny- I felt the same way about not wanting someone in my house ( I also used to work from home part time) but I found someone that would be a good fit and feel like part of the family and not just an employee. I could not be happier with who we chose.

Brummy14 · August 2014

1. Do you have a nanny? Yup! Two days a week - my parents watch the girls the other three days a week.

2. If so, when did the nanny start coming on to help? Immediately after birth? Later? Just when I went back to work. She came in for a couple "get a hang of the routine" days, but that's it. My parents helped A TON after the girls were born.

3. Where did you find the nanny? Online? Friend referral? Friend referral. We also went through an agency -- and our second choice we found there. It was a CLOSE one - they both were great options.

4. Does your nanny come part time or full time? Approximately how many hours and what hours of the day? From 7AM to 6PM on the days she's here.

5. What does your nanny do besides the care of the children? I'm sure this varies a LOT. She does a TON for us. We don't ask her to do any of it, but she does it anyway. I've repeatedly told her she *doesn't* need to do all of these things -- I feel bad that she does, sometimes! She does our laundry, organizes the kiddos toys, cleans the kitchen & first floor bath -- counters, surfaces, scrubs out the bottles. Hell, she scrubs out my pump parts. She's amazing.

All this said -- I don't like being home when she's "on duty," so to speak. Like you, I find it hard not to help --if I hear someone crying, I'm wired to want to run down to help. It's just easier for all parties that I don't work from home when she's there.

LittleLady77 · August 2014

I found the most amazing nanny on care.com. It's basically the same cost as sending both kiddos to a care center. She started the week before I had them, just helping around the house and getting to know how we liked stuff. Once the kids were born she came 3X a week for 4 hours to help me. When I went back to work she went full time, about 40 hours a week but it's different every week. She does all of our laundry, cloth diaper laundry, dishes, organizes the entire nursery, keeps the kitchen clean it's so helpful!!

kefttsc · August 2014

You guys absolutely rock for all this information. THANK YOU!!!!

I think I will maybe take it upon myself to start looking for a nanny NOW so that I feel a little bit in control of it. Horrible, huh

Care.com sounds like a good place to start, along with asking mommy friends in town. Thanks ladies!!

mommaoftrips · August 2014

I work from home and have a nanny.

Now to answer your questions. My mom helped for the first 2.5 months. I than hired a mothers helper who cam during the day 7-12 (so I could sleep a little). This was way cheaper than a nanny.
When I went back to work I hired a full-time nanny, who I found by advertising on kijiji. She has a diploma in early childhood education, had DC experience in the infant room (so 3 to 1 ratio) and had worked privately for a mother with twins, so multiples experience. She has worked out wonderfully.

I have a home office so I secluded myself in there and let her do her thing.

She works 8:30-4:30 M-F with a little flexibility for when I travel for work.

Her chores: we agreed in a contract that she would fold the LOs laundry from the night before (I do it daily), wash bottle/parts which now that they are older means sippys/parts, put dishes in the dishwasher/empty if she runs it due to it being full and vacuums daily (since with triplets my open concept area looks like a daycare) and with eating, snacks and going outside and in from the park (ie lots of sand) - my house gets super dirty fast. These tasks bundled together amounts to an maybe 20 minutes if it was all done at once (tops!), so it's not a big deal IMO and with them napping 2 hours a day - she gets loads of break time.

kefttsc · August 2014

Thanks @mommaoftrips‌ !
My home office is becoming the nursery so that is a whole other topic

DH works partially from home too, so even in this giant house (4200 SQ ft) we are running out of doors to close LOL.
I seriously appreciate the advice and answers to my questions.
What is mother's helper? How is that different than a nanny/babysitter?

ballygirl · August 2014

We had a nanny in the beginning and it was totally worth it. I LOOOOOVED my nanny. She started coming when they were about 5 weeks old (I wish I had had her even earlier). She would stay with me during the day because I was a hot mess for the first 4 months. I found her on care.com. She had a ton of nanny experience and had nannied for twins before. We interviewed about 6 different candidates. She started off coming to help for about 6-7 hours during the day while I was home alone with the babies. This was beneficial for me and also let me get comfortable with her so that when I went back to work at 3 months, I was very comfortable leaving them alone with her.

She was more than capable of taking care of both babies at once. In the early days, she'd come just to give me a break. I'd catch up on sleep usually or take a shower or walk the dog - things that I never got to do otherwise. Once I went back to work, she'd come for 9 hours a day. She would take care of the dog a bit - let her outside or whatever, and when she had time, she'd do baby laundry or vacuum. She offered to cook for us but I never had my act together enough to have any ingredients for her.

Our babies were born in October, so she nannied for us all through the winter. This was awesome once I went back to work because it meant I didn't have to worry about getting the girls ready for day care and pack them all up and drive them around in the snow (New Englander here). Also, I liked the individual care and attention they got from her, especially in those early days. She quit a couple months ago because she is starting graduate school, so now my girls are in daycare. I'm ok with it because they are older now and starting to socialize more, but they definitely don't get as much attention in daycare as they did with the nanny. I really liked that they had her undivided attention for those first 8 months while I was at work.

kefttsc · August 2014

You ladies have me convinced. I can't wait to tell DH he is RIGHT. Won't he love that! LOL!

When should I start interviewing? I'm only 14 weeks now, with babies expected early January.

KDR1979 · August 2014

1. Do you have a nanny?

Yes, I work part time (two 10 hour days), so she watches the kids 22 hrs/week (two 11 hour days).

2. If so, when did the nanny start coming on to help? Immediately after birth? Later?

We hired her when the twins were 18 months old. I took 6.5 months off after they were born, then my mom watched them for ~7 months and we had another nanny that only last 16 weeks. We LOVE our current nanny! If I knew then what I know now, I would have hired her while I was pregnant! You can't have enough help with newborn twins!

3. Where did you find the nanny? Online? Friend referral?

care.com. There is a local nanny agency that we almost used, but b/c it was so expensive, we decided to try ONE month of care.com. Our nanny was listed there and with the agency, so I'm sure we would have been matched up by the agency as well.

4. Does your nanny come part time or full time? Approximately how many hours and what hours of the day?

I mentioned this already, but she comes 2 days/week and works 745am-645pm. She also helps with the kid's laundry!

5. What does your nanny do besides the care of the children? I'm sure this varies a LOT.

She prepares them healthy, creative meals. She washes their bedding about once/week and also does at least 1 load/week of the kid's laundry. She cleans up after herself and the kids. When I get home from work, the house looks like it did when I left.

shanaynerz · August 2014

1. Do you have a nanny? Yes, she's a live-in

2. If so, when did the nanny start coming on to help? Immediately after birth? Later? We got her while I was pregnant. We have a 21 month old and I was so out of commission this pregnancy and really couldn't do anything with her, so I really needed the help.

3. Where did you find the nanny? Online? Friend referral? My cousin used this agency, so we used him, too, and he found us our nanny. I looked online first, but going through an agency is a bit easier since they check the nanny out and everything for you.

4. Does your nanny come part time or full time? Approximately how many hours and what hours of the day? She's a live-in, so she's full time. Right now from 8-5:30. She was 9:30-5:30, but when the twins were born I needed her help with DD1 since I had a C/S and still can't technically lift her and stuff. It's nice though b/c she lets me nap in the morning while she watches the kids. I'm up all night with the twins by myself (DH is an electrician and gets up @ 5am for work, so I don't make him help me weekdays).

5. What does your nanny do besides the care of the children? I'm sure this varies a LOT. She does everything. She's Filipino, and I was told they tend to like to help with everything, even if I don't really need or want her to. So, she cleans the bottles, bathes DD1, vacuums, changes all of our sheets, mops the floors, cleans the kitchen and bathrooms, lets the dogs out to the bathroom and takes out their food, does the dishes, feeds DD1 lunch and breakfast, helps me feed the twins, prepares bottles, waters a few plants, does laundry (if I ask her to; I like doing laundry lol), prepares dinner (I'm starting to do this with her).

She does a LOT in all honesty, and I'd rather her do housework than play with the kids since I'm a SAHM. I struggle with having a live-in a lot since she's always here and I'm a SAHM, so I love the help, but I hate watching her playing with the kids. It kills me. Once I've recovered I will do more with the kids and have her help with the house more. Of course having a break is great; I can go out and run errands or something while she watches the kids. Having 3u2, it seems most people have help of some sort, so if we get rid of her in the future I definitely would still like a sitter a few times a week.

Basically, having a nanny in the beginning is invaluable. It will be a great help to you. If not a live-in or even full time, it will still help. I still struggle with having her, like I said, but it's helpful. Make sure if you get a live-in you're okay sharing your home and personal space with someone. If I wasn't a SAHM I'd like her more I think.

kbeach82 · August 2014

1. Do you have a nanny? Yes. We hired a nanny when I went back to work after DS1 was born (he was 8 months) and have continued to since. We actually have 2 nannies right now (one for the twins, and one for DS1).

2. If so, when did the nanny start coming on to help? Immediately after birth? Later? The twins' nanny started when they were 3 months old (after my maternity leave).

3. Where did you find the nanny? Online? Friend referral? Our first nanny was hired through Care.com, as well as DS1's current nanny. The first nanny we had for the twins was the daughter of a family friend. When she left to go back to school, we hired another nanny through Care.com.

4. Does your nanny come part time or full time? Approximately how many hours and what hours of the day? The twins' nanny is there 3 days a week (I only work Mon, Wed, and Fri), for about 10.5 hours a day. She gets there at 7:00 (DS stays home until she arrives), and stays until either DH or I get home around 5:30.

5. What does your nanny do besides the care of the children? I'm sure this varies a LOT. We have always asked that the main focus of the twins' nanny be on caring for and entertaining them. She cleans up their toys and after their meals, but we don't ask that she do anything outside of that.

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