Nanny - Saint Paul,MN

I live in IL and provide licensed daycare in my home. I have a membership with care.com and I also put advertisements on craigslist.org. I've come across many families with both of those. If you have a local organization, such as DCFS (dept. of child and family services), they can usually provide you with some referalls. What's nice with DCFS is they will ONLY refer you to licensed providers, and all licensed providers had to have passed a background check thru your state. They NEVER charge you for their services. There is also sittercity.com which I've heard really good things about as well.
Good luck!!

Ask around and see if anyone in your area knows of someone. My sister hired a fabulous woman to be at home with her twins when she went back to work. She found her through a friend who loved her, but whose youngest was starting Kindergarten.

Nanny services are nice b/c of the background check option, but they aren't the only game in town! Check out www.care.com- they offer less expensive background checks and you can search through their listings free, but need to pay the joining fee to communicate with anyone.

Hi S K,

Have you ever thought about an au pair? We have au pairs available now who have passed background checks, have extensive training with children, and can bring another culture to your child and your home!

In case you don't know much au pairs (I didn't before I became a childcare coordinator!) au Pairs are live-in nannies from another country. Many times they are more affordable than day care situations, and almost always more affordable than nannies. The best part is that you have flexible, affordable child care that can even cover date nights! They are young people age 18 - 26 who love being with children and want to experience American culture.

Feel free to call M. at ###-###-#### if you'd like to learn more about this option, or check out my website below.

Best wishes to you and your family! And Merry Christmas!

~P. G.
Portland Preschool Directory owner teams with Cultural Care to bring you flexible, affordable childcare!
http://PGowing.AuPairNews.com
http://www.PortlandPreschoolDirectory.com
http://www.VancouverPreschoolDirectory.com
http://www.MrsGowing.com

Word of mouth is always good.

I have also heard of www.care.com as being good, and they are background checked....

good luck.

I found my sitter on Sittercity. She was really great with my little one and realted well to my older kids, especially the girls. She did not have a background check done yet when I found her but after interviewing and checking things out, she was a good fit. We did have a trial period first to make sure she would mesh well and it worked out really well. We had to let her go last week because my hubby lost his job but hope to call her back soon. I originally found her as a fill in when our other sitter could not come. You can request a background check for about $10 if the sitter does not have one done themselves for their profile. And in the "ad" you place, you can put in that you need someone by a certain date.

We found our two nannies off craigslist (and the families we shared the nannies with) and it worked out great. I did my own reference calling and interviewing.

We hired our Nanny by word of mouth. We started asking friends if they knew of someone and when they didn't we turned to our church family and found a great Nanny. I felt much better hiring someone to come to my home when I knew we had a mutual friend in between us. I also got to find out more about the person that what a back ground check could ever tell you. A back ground check will not tell you what type of person they are. Good luck with your search I know that it is something very hard to do.

I also just show up on random some days just to check to see what's going on.

I, personally, wouldn't use an agency. I see no value in paying someone else to ask questions and do "homework" that I'm going to do for myself anyhow.

Someone mentioned care.com. I know MANY people that have found their childcare on www.sittercity.com. All of those folks have gone through background checks and you can see their schedules right there.

You can definitely hire someone fast, most posters out there want immediate work. We grilled our nanny before we hired her, and we're pretty anal. If you'd like, PM M. your email and I'd be happy to pass along the interview questions and nanny contract that we used.

We have found nannies in a short amount of time but what ive learned is to wait for the right one even if it means making other plans (family, friends, local moms group etc) for an extra week or two. Yes its stressful but you owe it to your child to find the right person and you'll be so much happier in the long run.

Agencies are expensive and in my opinion not worth it. We used care.com ($25 mo and you can cancel when you find someone) and craigslist. I know it sounds scary finding someone online but if you are very specific in your post about your needs, do phone screenings first then in person interviews and make sure to background/driving record check you'll be
fine.

We'vefound two nannies now through these sources but weeded through hundreds of responses to find just the right fit. Also, if you don't have friends or family who can help you during the transition phase, consider doing a separate post for s short-term 2-3 wk sitter. Many college students have off for the month of January and might be willing to help. Let M. know if you have other questions.

Use Sittercity.com or Care.com! We got a great nanny off of Sittercity! They do offer background checks and tell if the person has had one done. You can pay $40 to join for one month and you should find someone. I found one in 4 days -interviewed 20 who were REALLY qualified with tons of experience, references, etc. I had over 100 applicants to my post. Everyone I know who has used one of the above named sites has had a good experience with it.