Wednesday

New Nanny not New to Childcare Needs Advice

opinion 1 I’m a new nanny, but not new to childcare. I worked my way up from infants and toddlers at daycare to fulltime nursery school teacher. I’ve recently switched from being an early childhood educator in a school setting to being a nanny. It’s a better fit for me at this time.

I’ve done temp and part time nanny work and at the time wasn’t fussy about salary because I was still working part time at the school. I plan on only working for families with kids 5 and under as I am a trained and certified for those ages and I also enjoy working with that age range the most. I would like to work live-out, no less than 34 hours a week, and no weekends, for up to 3 children. I am having trouble setting my hourly rate. I don’t want to charge too high even though I have experience, nor do I want to sell my self short. I also insist on being paid on the books. Is $15 to $25 an hour too high for the Massachusetts/Rhode Island area?

Also, what chores if any should be part of my job. I have no problem keeping up after the children, but I do not want to be the family housekeeper or errand girl.

Lastly what are good sites to look for jobs. I am already using Sittercity.com and Care.com. Thank you, and any other tips and advice would be greatly appreciated.

9 comments:

Unknown said...

I used greataupair.com for my first job in France and for my current job in New York.

ums said...

You are for sure not going to get 25 an hour in RI unless you are lucky. As far as mass, it depends on what area. There are some rich areas which may pay you that. What is your degree in? do you have a BA or an associates? How are your references: are they excellent or just good? All these things are relevant to how much you should ask for.

Mandy98824 said...

I would say you should settle for 15-20 you arent going to get anything higher then 25. I am a nanny in NJ for 3 kids with an associates degree in early childhood education and I make 15 an hour.

MAnanny said...

There is no way you are going to get $25 in RI or Southeastern MA. I am a nanny here and I think for 3 kids you might be able to get $20 but that would be pushing it. It definitely depends on the number of children. For 2 children I would say 15 or 16 would be good. Of course the closer you are to boston, the more you will make but also consider traffic if you do live in southeastern mass/RI. Personally, I took a job up 95north and I would never do it again!! Wayyy too much traffic, especially for the cost of gas these days. If you want to be more specific about location I can definitely help you out more.

Hectic Nanny said...

look in MA if you want anything close to that

another nanny said...

Just a question: wasn't something very very similar posted not long ago? Is this the same nanny?

Although you have experience, you don't necessarily have "nanny experience" so you need to factor that in (since sometimes part-times are not considered as experience). I think you're aiming a bit high, especially considering your list of conditions, including no weekends and minimal chores. I would say $15-18 as a pp said. As far as chores, that's something only you can answer (based on what chores you're okay with, and how much time you think you'll have given the number of chldren, etc), but basic child-related chores (e.g. washing bottles, loading dishwasher, picking up toys) are an expectation for many families. Of course, taking on more housekeeping tasks is one way to command higher rates.

NannyPoppins said...

I agree with the above poster, I do agree that your nanny experience needs to be factored it. And I also agree that agreeing to do some household work that doesn't strictly pertain to the child will help you earn a higher rate. 15-18 seems more reasonable.

Wow said...

Mandy98824...

Where do you work in NJ that you're making $15/hour for 3 children? I live in southern NJ and I've been charging $15 for 2 and $16 for 3, but am getting ready to go up to $15.50 - $16 and $16.50 - $17 respectively, depending on the area. However, I'm a multiples and preemies nanny who specializes in working with first-time parents, so maybe that's why people are willing to pay more. Even still, $15/hour seems low for 3 children. I do babysit 2 children who are not multiples and charge $15/hour for them. How long have you been a nanny and what does Care.com's calculator say about how much you can charge?

OP Nanny said...

Not sure why this was posted again, but I decided to go with $15 an hour for just looking after the kids. So far have managed to find 2 part time families. Thanks for all the tips.