Hello. We are working through our post-arrival nanny care plan.

We both work but my partner is planning on taking +/- 6 months off after the arrival of our children and then possibly return to work part time.

We will travel to India when they are born and likely be away from home for 4-5 weeks so I will have limited additional time off when we return. (I wish I didn't have to work but since I don't play the lotto, we have not yet won!)

We have a dear friend's mom who will stay with us for 2-3 weeks when we arrive home to help with the overnight shift of getting settled. She's a retired nurse. God bless her! Likewise, while we are in India we will have help from hired nurses and relatives who plan to travel with us.

So, basically we think we have plenty of help until the kids are about 6-7 weeks old.

My partner's cousin is also going to move in with us, but not until January. She actually was a caretaker for my partner when he was a child so she's an excellent resource....but since she's now older, we'd like to make sure she doesn't become overwhelmed by 3!

For the long term, we are thinking we'd like to find a part time nanny to help out at first and reevaluate our needs when the babies are 6 months old, depending upon how we all settle into a routine.

We have a few leads for nannies but haven't yet moved forward with anyone. We are in Northern New Jersey.

Here are my questions:
1) What is the best resource for finding a nanny?
2) How far ahead of their 'start date' should we secure someone?
3) What is the best way/guide to negotiate salary?
4) Are there things we are not thinking of that we should?

Thanks for any thoughts.

We've done both the looking for someone ourselves and the agency route.

If I had to choose I'd go the agency route. It was helpful to us to have prescreened people that we could meet with plus the agency helped with all of the logistics including salary, tax witholding etc. The trick is finding a good agency - I'm in Denver and there are 2 well known ones here - one is far better than the others as far as screening, professionalism and support - but you pay to some extent for that service as their fees are also a bit higher.

I started looking while I was still pregnant (about 28 weeks or so) with the intent that we were going to bring someone in part time to help with the boys until my mom moved out here when they were 6 mos old. The agency was great since we didn't know when we would deliver and when the boys would be home. Plus it was also an issue to find someone who was looking for a "temporary" contract.


We are contemplating adding help now that the boys are much more active - and we will use the same agency.

Marisa

I worked for several years as a nanny before I was married, and I need to warn you to be careful to check out the agencies you use! I got my first nanny job through an agency. The family paid the agency a lot of money to make sure that they found the right person. After the job ended, I was interviewing with a family not associated with the agency. They asked about doing a background investigation, so I contacted the agency to see if they could provide me with the background information they had gathered on me, and I was told that they never did an investigation because they "just knew I was good"...this was more than 20 years ago, but the idea still haunts me! I could have been a child molester or worse, but I looked "good"
PLEASE be careful, and good luck to you!

Tanya
Erica, David, Halley 4/7/02

What is the gap when you will not have help between 7 weeks and January? Because the first three months are critical in terms of sleep and setting the tone of the routine for kids so you may want to get someone to help out even if its just a night nanny.

1. Call two to three local agencies who will do the background check for you and check references. To me the biggest plus of an agency is that if things do not work out with the first nanny, most agencies will get you a replacement nanny with no cost to you.

2. I started calling around 3 months before I needed a nanny. So that you can interview agencies before you commit to one, and also they have plenty of time to look for someone who meets your requirement.

3. Usually agencies tell you the going rate so between you and the nanny there is very little direct haggling. I also asked around my friends who had nannies what the rate was so I knew whether the agency was giving me a good rate or not.

Grace

B 06/03/03
BBB 05/24/08

We found that it cost only a little bit more to get a post partum doula to help when the babies were infants, and it was worth it to us.

A doula usually has some experience and knowledge about caring for peremature and medically fragile/complex babies, where a nanny might not. Also, in out area, we found that quite a few doulas had experience in dealing with triplets whereas the nannies usually only had experience dealing with twins ( a big difference).

Something to think about.

Sheila
GGB 10/29/06 (33 weeks)

1) What is the best resource for finding a nanny?
I would NOT use an agency. They have high enrollment fees and their background checks are not any more reliable than what you can do yourelf ... for much chearper.
Here is a list of sites many of the families use to find their nannies in our area:
craigslist (believe it or not, this is how we found our fabulous nanny of three years -- she won International Nanny of the Year this year)
care.com
greataupair.com
sittercity.com

2) How far ahead of their 'start date' should we secure someone?
We had our Nanny start three months before I went back to work full time. It took us about 6 weeks and 12-15 applicants (6 parent only interveiews and 3 family interaction interviews) to find our nanny.

3) What is the best way/guide to negotiate salary?
You set the salary, vacation, holidays, sick days, bonus, etc. She'llhave her ideas, too, and you work it out. I found that how the nanny negotiations really shows her true colors. If you are looking at part-time, maybe a nanny share would be the way to go?

4) Are there things we are not thinking of that we should?
Maybe -- taxes, unemployment tax, workers comp, etc are all extra expenses for having a nanny. Make sure you factor all that in when you work out your budget.
Also, will the nanny be driving your kiddos anywhere -- in her car or your car? Mileage, insurance, car seats will all need to be worked out.

Here are some websites that may help you:

Taxes and Paying Legally --
http://www.breedlove-online.com/faqs
http://www.enannysource.com/article-employer-tax-faq.html
https://secure.gtmassociates.com/calculator.aspx
http://www.4nannytaxes.com/faq/
http://www.enannysource.com/nanny-safety-legal/nanny-salary-taxes.aspx

Salary Surveys --
http://www.nannynetwork.com/Library/faq/nanny-annual-raise.cfm
http://www.nanny.org/pdf/2009%20INA%20SURVEY.pdf

If you want a copy of our nanny contract, emergency medical treatment authorization form, emergency contact list, SMART Goals bonus document, etc, you can email me at moochie932@yahoo.com

Good Luck!

Jessica
http://lilypie.com>