A nanny with her own little one!Any advice for me?

[MamitaM]

Hi mamas! I used to work as a nanny but now have my own little man and am a single mama. Money is tight as I'm sure you know in this situation. In a few months I'd like to find a nanny job that I can bring my son to. He;s only 5 weeks now so I think to young for me to bring to work and also I'm still recovering from a c-section.

How do you go about finding a nanny job while you have a babe you want to take with you? Do you also charge less per hour then you normally would since you bring your child with you? Do you consider it a type of nanny share?

Any advice would be appreciated! thanks!

[ferra]

I too am single and bring my 4 year old to nanny. Yes, i charge a little less $8 per hour instead of $10-12 but I have had familys that have paid me $12 when I bring ds. It can work. Some families have no interest in someone who brings a child. I was lucky enough to find someone who almost prefers it. My 4 year old keeps the baby pretty entertained and happy.

[MamitaM]

Do you think 6 months is ok to start bringing my son to a nanny job? What age child should I hope to nanny for? I breastfeed on demand so want to be able to still do that at any nanny job I had and have the one I care for entertain themselves a little while I nurse.

[ferra]

I started watching children when ds was 5 1/2 months so 6 months seems good. I watched a 13 month old at first. It went fine, although the little one I watched was pretty 'well behaved' and took a good long nap during the day. I ended up wearing ds a lot in order to chase around the other child. It can work. I have to say I went a little crazy though. Definately try to take some time for yourself when you are caring for other's children a lot. It was so worth it to be with ds though

[Ruby2]

Hi Mamita - when we were interviewing nannies, it made no difference to us whether they had a child or not. We saw plusses and minuses either way and were ready to work with either situation to find the right person for the job. And we did talk to a lot of people who wanted to bring their child with them.

Have you looked at care.com? I think you can post your resume there for free and apply for jobs. That's where were hired our nanny.

[Sfcmama]

I can totally see how someone would prefer it. If I were the hiring parent, I'd feel better knowing that you'd be making decisions to keep your child safe that would also keep mine safe (i.e., not taking smoke breaks or whatever). Maybe you can use this as a way to market yourself...?
I have an 8mo old and occasionally take care of a 13 mo old and it is tough but doable. If I were to create the perfect situation, the second child would be walking well but still napping ;0)
Best of luck and congrats on the little one!

[ihugtrees]

I started nannying when S was about 6 weeks old. My nanny charge was a little over 2 years old...my newborn spent a lot of time in the baby carrier, and it was never super stressful. I charged about $2 less per hour since if I were watching additional children, my rates went up $2 per hour, per child. I do NOT treat it like a nanny share, because no matter what other job I may have, I would never be employing a nanny (even a nanny share) because I could not afford it. If I were working at another job, I'd be paying a much lower rate at a daycare (and probably getting government assistance with it, to be honest), which would also probably come out to around $2 or less an hour. Honestly, a parent that doesn't want to pay a living wage for a nanny is not one I want to work for any way.

Now, S is 16 months, and I nanny a 12 month old. I accepted $5 less per hour than my normal rate just because I LOVE LOVE LOVE my nanny family. In some ways, this job is a lot harder than the one I had when she was tiny, but in other ways, it is really fun to have another so close in age.

In between these two jobs, I attempted two other nanny jobs that didn't work out, and both were with high needs babies...my baby is low needs, but even still, it was just too stressful for me to try to rock one baby to sleep while the other needed me, etc. So I think it also depends on the family/child you are working with, too! After those experiences, I realize that high needs babies really need more one-on-one attention than I could provide while still caring for my own child. I guess mothers who have more than one child get more practice at it than I have as a 2 or 3 day a week nanny

[lisalu100]

I've worked for the same family for nearly two years. I was pregnant when I got the job, the family was happy their DD would get a playmate. "A" was nine months, is now 2.5 years, "K" is 8 years. My DD is now 15 mo, and the little girls fight like siblings, it's exhausting! But they love each other too. I went back to work when DD was 3 weeks old, and I work 45 hours a week, although we nap at my house these days. DD spent a lot of time in a carrier. Honestly, I think I would be better off with a child younger than my DD, but DD is walking and talking pretty early, and plays like an older child, and I think this is in part due to having an older "sibling". Today, A has pushed DD off a stool twice, and the sofa once. Very normal toddler behaviour, but it's hard to rein the mama bear in when another child hurts your baby. You have to know you can though... It's also hard not to favour your own child...

[Ellien C]

Originally Posted by Ruby2

Have you looked at care.com? I think you can post your resume there for free and apply for jobs. That's where were hired our nanny.

TLC Nanny Service is another agency that could place you. Here is a rough idea of rates.

https://www.tlcforkids.com/tlcdev/temppol.php

[Drummer's Wife]

I was a (part-time) nanny after my first baby was born. I started when she was 4 mos. It worked well, and the kids I watched were 2 and 3 years old. My DD started to crawl, and then walk while I was babysitting - so we did have to put up gates and I used a playyard of theirs a few times for safety reasons. I stopped watching them and went back to work (briefly) when my DD was a year old. But I would say it was a good thing for us. It got me out of the house a few days a week, and brought in a little bit of money. I'm not sure I would have wanted to do it full-time, b/c I enjoyed being a SAHM at my own home, at least a few days a week.

I didn't go looking for the position (I was asked by a friend of a friend), but I agree with trying care.com. I have been looking through the site myself now for a nanny and like how it's organized and how background checks are done, qualifications and certifications like CPR are listed, etc. You could sell yourself pretty well if you filled out all the info, I think. I'm sure similar organiztions are the same; I just find that there are a lot of caregivers in my area from care.com, and it's a million times better than say, craigslist for that type of thing.

Good luck!

[MamitaM]

I tend not to like agencies. An agency I was with promised to help and they never ever did and another just took my money. I've had pretty good luck with craigslist actually. I posted an ad last night,more for fun really then anything else and a family has all ready replied. I said I'm looking to start in January or February but can babysit on occasion now. I'm going to call her later tonight.