I am going to be interviewing at least one nanny candidate who has a child close to my daughter's age, which she intends to bring to my home and care for along with my daughter. Obviously I will discuss this with the candidate, but can I expect to pay this person the going rate for single children (approx $15-20 hr in our area), or less because it is essentially a nanny share and my child will not be getting the nanny's full attention? Plus, the nanny has the added benefit of being able to be with her child all day every day. Somehow when I type this it sounds quite stingy--I don't mean to be--but I would be interested to hear from folks who have had similar experiences and whether I should expect to pay the same as I would for a nanny who comes to my home without a child.
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hmm that's a unique situation and the points you raise are all very valid. if you hired a nanny that didn't bring her child, your baby would have 100% of the nanny's attention. but the benefit of her bringing her child would be that your child would have a playmate.
if it were me, i would not pay more than the lowest end of that rate ($15/hour) because of the reasons you outlined.
i guess what it would ultimately come down to for me is how much i like her compared to the other candidates. a great nanny is worth her weight in gold, and if she's great, i would be fine with paying her $15/hour.
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Our nanny sometimes brings her daughter but she is not close to our baby's age. We feel that it's worth it to have the nanny happy and not missing work due to her own childcare issues. Also, it's good for our baby to have someone else to interact with. This did not affect our price negotiations but I think what you say makes sense. Maybe you won't pay less than standard but like what @Mrs. Bee says, you can aim for the lower end of the spectrum.
Aside from pay I would make sure you agree on things like what toys her child can or can't play with, what food of yours the child can or can't eat, when the child should not come (fever, sniffles?) and whether she has an alternative for child care when her child is sick, etc.
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Thanks, Mrs. Bee and Sloanandpuffy. I agree-a good nanny is worth her weight in gold! The one nanny candidate with a child 6 weeks younger than mine has come highly recommended by a neighbor who used her for a year, up until the nanny gave birth. The timing is right, the recommendation is glowing, and we had been hoping for a share mainly because of the socialization aspect. I think this could be great--but I don't want to foul it up by suggesting she's not worth the money!
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I think you should definitley consider the convenience into the nanny's pay as well as the fact that her attention will not be 100% on your child. It is like you said essentially a nanny share since the second child isn't yours.
Another thing I would consider if not into the pay then into the 'rules' would be that during the hours she is watching your baby she has to adhere to your parenting style regardless of how she chooses to parent her daughter. So for example, if she's fine with her daughter watching TV all day she will have to follow your 'house rules' of no TV, etc.
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4 comments