[hg808]

Hope I am not violating any rules by this thread. I would appreciate hearing from others about their nanny search (i.e., an individual with considerable experience taking care of kids full time, not a high school student occasionally staying with the kids for parents' night out) - how do you find Mary Poppins? I am not sure if it's appropriate to share the salary range here, but I was recently quoted $1,100/wk salary and am still in shock. I am not sure if we will go the nanny route or will do daycare, but am looking for more insight for now.

Many thanks,
Helen

[dlhall]

I have a friend who had a nanny for her little girl when her daughter was 6 months old to 3.5 years old. They went through an agency. I don't know exactly what they paid her, but she told me the going rate (in the Raleigh area) was anywhere from $12-20 hour depending on the level of care, # of children, and amount of experience the nanny had.

There nanny was a grandmother and took care of her daughter full time during the day and became like a member of the family.

Liz

[plum93]

I have been a nanny and I would say paying anywhere from $600-750 a week is acceptable in the Northeast. $1100 seems very high to me.

[DianeS]

My SIL is a nanny, and has been for years. The family she is currently with pays her $850 per week with taxes already taken out.

This is in St Paul/Minneapolis area where my SIL's small two-bedroom apartment costs half of her take-home salary. Remember if you are hiring someone full-time so that the salary you pay them is their only income, then what you pay must give them a living wage. It will need to cover 100% of the nanny's cost for her housing, car, gas, clothing, insurance, taxes, food... everything. So it will be several times higher than the cost of daycare, where those costs are shared among several families instead of just you.

As far as finding one, my SIL has always been hired by word-of-mouth. Every time she has been ready to leave one family, there has always been a friend of that family eager to hire her. She does quite a few interviews during her last 6 months with a family, and is able to pick her next situation from among them. So talking (a LOT) with everyone you know about your desire to hire a nanny might be best. You may know someone, or find a friend of a friend, who is letting their nanny go.

Nannies also know each other, too. So if your friend search turns up a couple nannies who aren't leaving their situations, they may know others you can call.

If you're not able to find one that way, there are always advertisements. Read them to see if an out of work nanny has placed one, and place your own in case a nanny is looking around for her next situation. Some cities also have employment agencies that handle nannies. Sometimes they're dedicated to nannies the way some are dedicated to secretarial work or housecleaning help. The yellow pages would be a good place to start for that.

Good luck!