Nanny #6

I received an urgent email from a friend:

"We just find out that our nanny is looking around. We need to find a replacement as soon as possible. Please pass any lead you have!"

It turned out that the nanny had an interview with another family. But, the family knew my friend and told them that their nanny was looking around.

My friend’s family consists of a duel-income working couple, one 5-month old, and one 2-year old. Like many working families, they have to spend a significant portion of their income on child care. But, money doesn’t solve all of the problems. It’s really hard to find good nannies. And it’s even harder to keep nannies. My friend’s family has had 6 nannies in the past two years.

I’m fortunate that my wife is a stay-home mom. But, I have heard many couples having problems to find and retain nannies.

I wish there is a "Costco for Nannies" program that provides quality nanny services with affordable price. Actually, I think most couples are willing to pay more if the nanny service has quality guarantee and the nanny is committed to stay for a certain period of time.

At meantime, my advice to my friend is to set up an incentive program to give the nanny an annual bonus if she stays for one year and her service is deemed satisfactory. :-)