Care.com... input from anyone who has used it??

fallbride57 · July 2015

I am looking for input from anyone who has used care.com for a nanny. My husband and I both work full time, and plan to continue to once the baby is born. I work a regular 40 hour/ week schedule, but with my commute time, it would be closer to about 50 hours/ week. We are considering hiring a nanny to come to our home to watch our little one during the day (this is our first child, so no siblings). I did a free trial that allowed me to browse the care.com website for a nanny, and noticed that the lowest rate anyone had listed was $10/hour. While this seems reasonable for the occasional night out, this would be about $500/week, or $2,000 a month for regular child care. So, then I wondered if maybe anyone has had experience hiring a care.com nanny that had listed $10/hr + as their rate, but actually charges less for full time positions. The reason I am asking on here, instead of asking the actual nannies, is because if I want to contact the actual nannies I would have to pay for a care.com membership. So, I am just trying to get a feel for what others have experienced before paying for the membership. Thanks!

NLewis1 · July 2015

I think the $10 an hour is the lowest range on the website - a gal I used to work with hired all of her nannies through care.com and she paid 5 an hour I think. However, having had two nannies over the course of the 10 month period of my sons life, I will tell you, I personally don't think they are worth the hassle. They are your employee so you have to cut payroll checks and pay taxes and take their taxes out of the checks, and then you have the ones that text you at 5 am saying they are sick, all. The. Time. And then you get to scramble in the 2 hours you have before you have to go to work to figure out childcare.

I just had our newest nanny start on Monday, she quit last night. I finally threw my hands in the air and luckily, by the sheer grace of God, found a spot at our preferred day care. I think this was a huge blessing in disguise because I was not liking how she was doing things. So, that's my opinion/advice - though I do realize you didn't ask for advice on having a nanny, merely using the website. I've had an ugly week, and I need a drink!

KDR1979 · July 2015

We found our nanny on care.com almost 2 years ago. She has a college degree and tons of experience. She wanted $15-20/hour. She also wanted to be paid legally. So, we use Nannychex as the payroll service. They directly deposit her checks, debit our checking account, take care of tax withholdings, mail her a W-2 in January and send us the tax forms that our CPA needs. Good nannies are $$, but they are worth it.

They come to you, so you don't have to pack up stuff for the day or worry about drop off/pick up.

They take care of sick kids, so you don't miss work.

Our nanny works until 7pm and no daycare is open that late!

She also helps with the kid's laundry.

We pay Nannychex ~$770/year in fees. We pay the state about $300/year for Worker's comp. Our nanny did agree to start at $14/hour when she realized that we would be paying these fees and that we also pay a tax on her salary (our twins were 18 months old when she started). At her one year anniversary, we gave her a 75 cent raise because she is wonderful.

I think you could find a nanny for $10/hour for one child if the nanny is young, less experience. Where I live, a good, professional nanny costs $13-20/hour!!

We do have a nanny agency in town that will help you find a nanny and do the background check. If you get a nanny match, the agency charges you a whole month of Nanny salary for the placement!

Good luck!!

Also, I found a promotional code for care.com and only paid ~$30 for a 1 month membership. I placed an ad and got emails from care providers that liked the schedule. Then, I set up interviews.

angiekdz · July 2015

I used care.com to find a part-time nanny, but I did pay her in the range requested. She requested 10-15/hr, and I am paying $11/hr. She has worked out great so far. I have two part-time nannies that cover my work week.

LizaKate1213 · July 2015

We have had horrible luck with care.com or with finding a nanny at all. Just can't find anyone reliable enough, they are in and out the door like the wind. I would say to troll your mommy friends and find out if anybody knows anybody. Also, home daycares might be a more cost effective, flexible alternative, which is what we used the first 4 years.

hpatalano · August 2015

I hired two nannies off Care.com. The first one was wonderful with my son but continuously wanted higher pay (She was paid $15/hr). The second one is our Mary Poppins! She is wonderful. We pay her $15/hour and she is amazing with our son, sends pictures and texts throughout the day, takes him to his activities and leaves our house spotless including the laundry.

She has 2 weeks paid vacation, overtime pay when necessary and knows and is OK with cameras in our home. My advice to you would be to interview as many possible candidates until one feels just right, pay for the highest background check, call all of their references, create a nanny contract, use the tax services online and install and inform them of cameras.

I know it's a lot of work and more importantly, it's terrifying trusting a stranger with your baby but in my experience it has been worth while. I can pop into the cameras anytime I want and see my baby. I get pictures and updates through out the day. He is happy and healthy and that is worth the money!

mryner · August 2015

We have had mixed success with care.com, but did find an excellent full-time nanny there.

We did a nanny-share from when our daughter was 8 months to 2 years (get on those daycare waitlists now if you want to eventually do that!) with another family. Sharing a nanny means nanny gets paid more (you can find a more experienced person), and you pay less. We managed to find a family only a few miles away with a kid the same age, and alternated houses each week. She was paid $15, then $15.50 per hour, plus the taxes mentioned above, and given some paid vacation/sick time.

For our location (Seattle), nanny-share ended up being cheaper than any infant daycare, which can be around $2000/month.

jessieR358 · September 2015

hpatalano said:
I hired two nannies off Care.com. The first one was wonderful with my son but continuously wanted higher pay (She was paid $15/hr). The second one is our Mary Poppins! She is wonderful. We pay her $15/hour and she is amazing with our son, sends pictures and texts throughout the day, takes him to his activities and leaves our house spotless including the laundry.

She has 2 weeks paid vacation, overtime pay when necessary and knows and is OK with cameras in our home. My advice to you would be to interview as many possible candidates until one feels just right, pay for the highest background check, call all of their references, create a nanny contract, use the tax services online and install and inform them of cameras.

I know it's a lot of work and more importantly, it's terrifying trusting a stranger with your baby but in my experience it has been worth while. I can pop into the cameras anytime I want and see my baby. I get pictures and updates through out the day. He is happy and healthy and that is worth the money!

What did you include in a nanny contract? I haven't heard of this. Like two weeks notice or something?

Care.com... input from anyone who has used it??

Re: Care.com... input from anyone who has used it??

Mrs. H

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