u/Own_Mind_5481

Hi experienced parents and nannies, can you please share how to best conduct the trial as the parents? I am currently in Maternity leave and need a nanny starting at 4 months (end of September).

1. The baby doesn't have a routine yet and may have a rountine close to 4 months when the nanny should officially start. How should I conduct the trial without a rountine?

2. I am currently breastfeeding and planning to continue breastfeeding + maybe pumping (I work from home). Any concerns or suggestions? Is it too complicated to ask the nanny pass the baby to me when it is time to feed and then take over the burping and Napping? Or should I switch to pumping at work hours? We haven't introduced bottles yet.

3. Length of trial days. Is 4 hours sufficient? The position will be work days 8 am to 5 pm. Part of me is concerned that a full day would be too long if she is not a good fit.

4. Do you have the pay and benefit talk before the trial day or after?

5. Do you stay in the same room as the nanny but hands off? Or do you use the camera to observe? I know a lot of nannies don't like cameras and dont like the parents around but I want to see the quality of care.

We all know that the hourly rate is highly dependent on the location. It is commonly said that the nanny needs to be paid enough to make a living. So I thought maybe it would be better to benchmark using the daycare cost. I just read a post saying that a good nanny is 10x better than daycare at 2x cost. I would be very happy to pay 2x for a good nanny. But this is not my experience.

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We had a nanny for a year for my first. The cost is 3.4x of daycare.

Nanny: $25 hourly rate x 8 hours x 5 days/week x 52 weeks + $25 hourly rate x 1.5 overtime x 5 days/week x 52 weeks= $53950. This number should x 1.1 to acount for tax, which will be $59345.

Daycare: $340 x 52 weeks = $17680.

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To me, daycare is less stressful, more flexible with hours, and more coverage (not available only on federal holidays and Christmas break). Nanny is not available on federal holidays + 15 PTO/sick days but still needs to be paid. The downside of daycare is potentially more sickness and white noise all day long for infants.

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I am in search for a nanny for my second baby. I have already met a few nanny asking for $30, so the ratio could be higher. I also came across a few asking for $18-$22, but they seem to be more like sitter. I wonder if I can find a good nanny at $25 or should I go with the easy route of daycare directly.

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Thanks in advance for contributing data.