Thrifty Thinking: How to Hire a Nanny to Share with Another Family (Guest Post)

Some parents do not consider hiring a nanny as the best way to take care of their child as the nanny pay is often high; so such parents go for other child caring options such as daycare centers. But those options do not provide the benefits as same as having a nanny. Hiring a nanny to share with another family is a decision that many families are taking these days. Because the nanny share option provides the parents with almost same benefits that they can have as if a nanny is hired for themselves only. Besides, since the nanny is shared by two families, the nanny pay is also split between two families which means a family should only have to pay part (ideally 50%) of the overall nanny pay. Both families together can agree on how much percentage the each family should pay for the nanny. Most importantly by sharing the nanny with another family; the children of both families can still be in a home environment, they can spend time with some company (help them to socialize) while the parents are not at home and receive utmost attention & care from a nanny. 

Finding a nanny who agrees to work for two families may take more time and effort compare to finding a nanny only for one family. However, since nanny share is the best way to provide the child with great care while being cost effective, here are two ways you can find such a nanny. 

Online nanny referral agencies

These services are a great way to find a nanny to share because they always possess many nanny candidates on their nanny referral websites. Some sites may have a dedicated section for the parents who are in search of a nanny to share. However, when selecting the potential nannies to share between two families, requirements of both families should be considered. So it is recommended that parents from two families together arrange and conduct the nanny selection process. In this case also, nanny referral websites can help parents in many ways. Because reputed nanny referral sites are designed to make the process easy for parents as well as for nannies. Those sites often have all the details on nannies such as contact & personal information, previous work experiences, qualifications on child care, availability time & other certificates (driving license, police report etc) that are filled by nannies themselves. If you are able to find such a convenient website  that would speed up the nanny hiring process significantly (one example is www.weneedananny.ca ).

Communities

There are parenting groups and other communities in almost every local areas - specially those arranged by the church - which consist of many parents. Even though those communities may provide you with ordinary nannies more effectively, it may difficult to find a nanny to share with help of those. But it is still worth to try through the communities because the referrals they provide often can be trusted and therefore helps to find a reliable nanny. Additionally you may be able to reach more people through such communities and the chances to find a nanny that suits your family (religion beliefs, parenting philosophy) is very high.