my husband and i are thinking about getting a nanny. does anyone know where we should start to look or can anyone recommend someone?
it would probably only be for 4 to 8 weeks, just to help us a bit with DD. only in A.C.T

Hi, I looked into this when I was having problems in the last bit of my pregnancy.
There are two agencies in Canberra that can provide you with a nanny who is certified, insured and they also take care of there super and tax etc...
One is Mary poppins (this one is the most helpful i felt) and the other is Dial an angel, but on a casual basis they are both in the range of 92.40 for the first 3 hours.

Alternatively you can put an ad out for someone, but you'll need them to get an up to date police check, which takes about 2 - 6 weeks to come back and are only vaild for 3 months. You'll also have to make contributions to their super and there is that tax issue. On top of all this you need to get insurance that covers domestic staff in your house (in case your nanny has an accident or 'borrows' something) I found this was already covered in my home and contents insurance.

I gave up at this point, my son has a wonderful family day carer now.

But I know that if you seek a babysitter as a cash in hand type set up, there isn't all that hassle but to be honest after you consider all the things you should do to get a situation where everyone is covered and you have a certified nanny devoted just to your little one. Getting a basic babysitter just doesn't match up... to me that is, but i guess everyone is different.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask.

We found Mary Poppins great. I was not so impressed with Dial an Angel either. I just did not think that they were terribly helpful on the phone. When I started to ask about qualifications for their Nannies etc, I was swayed even further towards Mary Poppins. It was a while ago, so I will not go into what they told me, because things can change.

I also had a friend's mother work for Dial an Angel, and was not too impressed with the way they ran things for their employees either (the friend's mother had a mild brain injury, so the friend was doing lots of background checking to make sure her Mum was not getting into strife, e.g. with tax).

I made two phone calls to each agency, a week or so apart. The first I pretended I was a nanny looking for work, and the second, I was a Mum looking for a nanny. The first phone call certainly enlightened me.

As about first aid certificates, criminal record checks (these should be standard for anyone working with children anyway), drivers licence, duties performed, insurances (what happens if the Nanny injures themselves whilst working for you) ... um, there were heaps more things I asked, but I cannot think of them at the moment! I will come back if I think of more.

Jo2+2<BR>Angel Baby - Rachel - born still 21/11/00 (23 weeks)<BR>Matthew & Erin 7/11/01<P><BR>

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This message was edited by beclowe on Tuesday, 19 April 2005 @ 1:15 PM

I have nanny experience if you are still looking for someone.

Hi
What about Dail A Angel are suppose to be great so I have heard for short term care or long term care. I hope this helps Rosie

<a href="http://lilypie.com"><img src="http://lilypie.com/baby1/050514/2/21/0/+10" alt="Lilypie Baby Ticker" border="0" /></a>

hey There,
we recently hired a Nanny and what a disaster!
we advertised in the Canberra Times, we got a LOT of young people apply, unfortunately they were either on their P's or they had a bomb of a car (not knocking anyone with a bomb) but my kids needed to be driven to Preschool and ballet, and i didnt feel comfortable with my kids in their car and with little experience on the road.
after lots of interviews we hired a lady, who seemed the best at the interview and she was a disaster zone.
She only worked 5 days, but in those 5 days she:
lost the house keys
the little one fell over and whacked her chin and i had to be called to home and hold her down to get stitched up
My 4 year old drew all over her room with crayon (quilt, cupboard, pillow, dressing table) all covered in crayon) she proudly showed me when i got home.
a large hole was ripped the curtain
and she wasnt truthful she told me my 2 year old slept from 1:30 to 4pm, how is that possible WHEN my other daughter had to be picked up at 3pm from preschool.
and she was 20 minutes late to be picked up from Preschool.
Just be careful with who you go with, my 4 year old hated this Nanny we chose and thats the first person shes ever not liked, so something wasnt right.
Put the nanny on trial, dont expect them to do housework, because it never happens.

I myself have nannied before and i had no trouble when i was doing it. I have 5 children ( one disabled )so i did know what i was doing.
I think when hiring someone its best to have references first.

I think for a short-term position you're best off going with an agency, but I've had fantastic luck with nannies that I've arranged privately. The best nannies I've found have been disillusioned daycare workers - it's relatively easy to offer them more money for less pay!

And I'd never *expect* a good car from a nanny. If you need them to drive your children, leave them your car - that way you *know* it's in good condition with child seats correctly installed!

Kristen

Hi, we recently advertised for a nanny and found a great lady. She starts next week so we are going to see how it goes. We got her and her fiance over for an interview (as we wanted to meet him too) as we feel that she will be more like part of our family as she will be spending more time during the week with our boys than we will be. Anyhow we had lots of questions and she answered them, we checked out her qualifications, police check and experience which all seems to be really good. So i will let you know how our experience goes. At the moment we have the boys in family day care and it is so hard to get them there every morning, whereas with our nanny we will be able to feed them when they wake at 4 or 5 am and then put them back to bed and not have to worry about dressing them and waking them up - which of course makes them cranky!! So hopefully it will work out. Also it is costing us less than day care.. so hopefully it will all work out well.

Rach

Rach (26), BJ (35), Aidan & Keenan - born 5 February 2005