Hellobee Boards

I use a mothers helper (my neighbor across the street who is 14!) maybe every other week if my DH is going to be home late. I basically have her take charge of my 3 year old so I can get the baby to sleep... Otherwise my 3yo is left alone (usually with a movie or the iPad) while I get the baby down which usually takes 30 minutes.... So it's nice because LO loves her and they play the whole time, I'll also have her help with making sure LO has dinner.

I've only started using her since baby brother came along but it's a big help and keeps me sane and I like that LO has fun playing with her... It works out because it's after school and just a couple hours here & there and she can walk across the yard - so if you could find someone super local that would be ideal! My sister has done the same and it's just for a couple hours every few days and it's been awesome.

@Foodnerd81: haha, it is very 'burb-ish.... thats one perk not being in the city anymore! lots of babysitters.

@Foodnerd81: care.com. Seriously. That's where I found my new (amazing!) nanny. I first posted asking for recommendations in my local mommy group, which is super active with nanny recommendations. I only interviewed 3 ladies and hired one, and she was a disaster. SO we let her go after a month and I tried care.com. I got literally 200 responses, I narrowed it down to maybe 8 that seemed viable and emailed some questions. Based on answers, I called a few and eliminated a couple just based on the phone conversations.

We interviewed 4 in person, and 2 were just above-and-beyond amazing, so we did (paid) trial days with me there. And then I picked one, and she's been amazing.

There are a lot of people on care.com that are looking for just a few hours a week to supplement another part time job.

As far as duties: What's great about our new nanny is that she will just take over, in a really engaging way so the girls aren't looking for mommy. The second I walk in the door, she's taking LO1s shoes off, washing her hands to get daycare germs off, asking her if she wants a snack. If her "time" isn't up yet, she'll go ahead and feed LO2 a bottle if it's time, even though I'm home, so I get a chance to change my clothes and eat a snack myself. She does all the girls' laundry every Friday and puts it away, she organizes their drawers and their diaper supply bins, she organizes their toys. She's really great.

If I were SAH and getting a mother's helper, I would try to set a specific schedule, 10-15 hours a week, and give them specific duties.

Example: You want someone 12-5pm M, W, F. From 12-2, you will be totally gone by yourself running errands or doing whatever the hell you want--taking a nap in your room if you want, and she'll have both kids. From 2-5, she'll have one kid, and you can take turns having 1 on 1 time with the other kid going out to the park, or you can ask the nanny to take one kid out for a walk while you stay home with the other. And then ask her to empty diaper trash and do baby laundry once a week.

@Foodnerd81: you might be able to find someone on sitter city!

We have a 13 year old who comes over if she's free when my husband travels. She comes right when we are finishing dinner and immediately starts playing with my 2.5 year old so I am able to feed the baby/get the baby to bed. She isn't able to be authoritative enough with my strong-willed girl to get her in bed, so after I finish with the baby, then I take my daughter and the teenager starts tidying up, folding laundry, and/or getting bottles of milk prepped for daycare.

I take T to daycare for 4 hours 2x a week. They staff based on need 1x a mo and I don't have to go the same days. So weeks when DH travels or I have a big projects like taxes I can take her more. When we are traveling or have other plans there's no commitment. It works great for us. I can go to appointments or grocery shopping without my girl which is awesome for both of us- plus she gets to be social and have other caregivers. If we had not found this place I would have hired someone from my 4-H club or a family member.

@Foodnerd81: I have paid her the same rate whether I'm there or not.

@Foodnerd81: she is young so she doesn't charge much - therefore we pay her the same we would for babysitting. Our actual babysitter who is a daycare teacher gets much more.