Pricing a Nanny

Are you against daycare centers or daycare in general? I use an in home daycare provider who watches a few kids in addition to her own daughter. She is very reasonable and she really cares for the children she watches. It's much more personable (IMO) than a center. A nanny is going to be much more expensive than in home daycare since they are only watching one child. It's true that she would have more one on one time with your child, but I have found in home care to be a good compromise with the more personalized care and the social interaction daycare provides. If you do want to go for a nanny, ask all of the mothers you know what they are paying and you can come up with a general idea of price for your area. Good luck!

Do a nanny share with another family with an infant. We did this with our first (who is now in preschool/daycare) and now with our second. It not only reduces the cost, but it also allows for wonderful social interactions with their nanny-share buddy. This social aspect is less important for a second child, but is valuable nonetheless.

In the Seattle area, the going rate for a nanny for a nannyshare varies between $15-$20/hour, shared between two families.

Good luck!

Check your local church, check with the familys on your street. We have our son in daycare and has been there since he was 5 months old and we have had a wonderful experience. Our son loves his "school" and friends, one little boy is the same age as my son and they have the typical love hate relationship that brothers do and it is awesome! I too was scared about leaving him in daycare, but it boils down to your gut feelings.( he is now 21 months old) I was fortunate that my maternity leave was 21 weeks ( 8 weeks c-sect, and 13 weeks non paid parental leave). I finished my degree while I was off and I had to find somone to watch him while I went to class. Well My brothers MIL watched him, and she over fed him the first day. She fed him 12 oz in less than 3 hrs at 2 months old. At the time he took in 3-4 oz every 3 hrs. I was horrified but when I put him in daycare, I was scared at first, but when they did the little things that we wanted and his first day home from day care he was all smiles and then I knew we made the right decision for us. I have found that he is doing things earlier than he would if I was home with him, simply because I do not know what they are really capable of and that is one of the benefits to daycare. I am not trying to swade you in any way about day care, just sharing my experience. I felt much more comfortable leaving him with them, than I did a "family" member. Whoever you have watching your little one, it comes from the gut on how well you feel that they will care for your precious one.

My coworker has a nanny and the price was the same for 3 days at home with both the kids/and a few days in daycare.

Check out your local listings in the paper, also the YMCA. These are all great places to try and get referrals.
Do you homework, and get referals from the person you are interviewing. And yes I think you can investigate this now. Even if you are just pricing the different options. Also a lot of nannies don't have an opening now, but might when you have your little one.

Good luck!

I have not used a nanny myself, but I was a nanny for 2 wonderful children for about 3 years. I was at their home 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, and was paid $400 a week. I'm not sure if that's the norm or not.

The price of a nanny varies depending on where you live. I'm from LA, where the going rates for nannies tend to be about $12-15/hour. Sometimes slightly higher, especially if your older daughter will be home for some of the time. Rates usually depend on factors like experience, ability to drive, proficiency in English (or whatever language is your primary language), whether housework is expected as well, and flexibility with hours (meaning, can she stay late if needed, etc).

It's really important that you establish written guidelines in advance for things like vacation and sick time, whether she will be paid for holidays and days that you have off of work, etc. Otherwise, you can come up with problems later when your family wants to take a vacation and she wants to be paid for the week even though you won't be home (many families DO pay the nanny for this time). Anyway, just something to work out in advance so there are no hard feelings later.

Good luck!
K.
http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/karenchao