nanny pay question

Hi everyone,

We have a fabulous nanny that I adore. I am lucky to have her, she works Mon to Fri 10 till 6. My husband is going on a business trip for seven days and because the boys are no where near sleeping through the night...up at least every couple of hours (I know, I know, it's very bad)I need help as I cannot physically or mentally deal with them by myself at night. So I am going to ask our nanny to stay overnight those days and help me out. We pay her by the hour but paying that way when she stays here 24 hours a day is too much for us to afford, especially since she won't be working every hour and I will deal with them from 6 to 10 so she can sleep in. What do you think? Any ideas on how to pay her?


Thanks

 

Hi everyone,

We have a fabulous nanny that I adore. I am lucky to have her, she works Mon to Fri 10 till 6. My husband is going on a business trip for seven days and because the boys are no where near sleeping through the night...up at least every couple of hours (I know, I know, it's very bad)I need help as I cannot physically or mentally deal with them by myself at night. So I am going to ask our nanny to stay overnight those days and help me out. We pay her by the hour but paying that way when she stays here 24 hours a day is too much for us to afford, especially since she won't be working every hour and I will deal with them from 6 to 10 so she can sleep in. What do you think? Any ideas on how to pay her?


Thanks

 

If it were me, rather than having her spend the night, I would have her come 6 am until they go down at night (7-8?). Then you take the night shift alone. That way, YOU can go back to sleep at 6 am the next morning and sleep in. That would only be adding ~5 hours/day of pay. Does that make sense?

Are your babies still taking feedings at night or are they just restless?

 

I think you underestimate yourself. I bet you could handle them. But I agree with PP that you could ask her to just lengthen her hours for a couple of days to give you some rest after the nights. Are they sleeping through yet?

 

I agree - have her stay through the evening - even until your bedtime. THen, she can leave without spending the night, which will save you a lot of money and just help you relax. (that is my problem) Just knowing she is there so you can shower, eat dinner in peace, etc. might be all you need.
Once they spend the night the prices go way up. We pay $13 an hour no matter what - which is too much to spend the night.

jen

 

Perhaps you can try working out a deal with her for a fixed amount for the week? She might be willing to negotiate with you for a set fee, regardless of the hours for the week.

 

We pay $25 an hour for the night hours (we're also in the big city), we have her 3 nights a week for 2 more weeks (7 in total) since they usually wake up once a night now, so yes, a lot of money. It's not so much for me, but for my husband. He leaves every day at 6.30 am and won't get back until 7 pm (trying 6 pm to help me out with the kids). I agree, once you have them dressed and back in bed in the evening you CAN do the evening hours. So in terms of money that's probably a better solution. We're getting day help (2 half days) as soon as we stop the night nanny ... but first we're off to Jamaica!!!

 

Thanks for all the responses. I don't think I can do it myself. The boys are up all night long. We are sometimes up every hour. last night I was up every two hours. It's just so hard, and sometimes they overlap so I really need another person. Errrgh, frustrating. I have no family here or I would just make my Mom stay over and deal.

 

Can you have her temporarily do some night hours and work on sleep training? At 9+ months they really should not be up all night. I think I'd concentrate on how to get them to sleep better at night, then you should be able to handle the nights solo. Have her spend extra hours during the day after that.

My girls haven't had a night feeding in at least 5 months, probably more like 6. And, except for some teething problems sometimes, they sleep through the night every night (for at least 5 months).

My DH just had them solo for 4 nights in a row as I was out of town on business. One of them woke up once one night due to teething, otherwise no problems. We have a nanny during the day.

 

I met a mom of twins who has having a hard time with night time sleeping. She had her nanny switch so that she came at night instead of during the day. If you don't work, you could do that and save yourself some money. Also, if the nanny is knowledgable on sleep training, as the PP said, you could have her help you with that while she is with you at night.

Mona