Why Start a Nanny Share?

Joelle, a mother from the Bay Area, has always been leery of daycare. Several kids to one adult... germs galore... 'how could we go from our baby safe in the womb into our arms, to a loud place full of strangers?'

This is a normal reaction from parents when they realized they both had to go back to work- 'we wanted nothing more than a nanny, but affording one in San Francisco was ludicrous.' Thankfully, they had heard about nanny sharing from a friend.

One nanny, two families, a customized plan, lots of love and for a much more affordable price? 'we were sold' Joelle told us.

It's pretty normal for parents to have a moment of panic when they have to return to work after adding a new addition to the family. You just spent months growing, caring for and protecting this little human, now you have to go back to work, and as a parent, you want to leave them in the best possible hands.

For Joelle and her family, this wasn't a daycare.

We asked Joelle to tell us about how she got started to help other parents with the journey.

They started by joining an online community where people post their nanny shares. "We were lucky to find a family a few blocks away that already had done all of the grunt work interviewing nannies and finding the perfect one." Now they were interviewing families for a second child to join the share in their home and that's where Joelle and her little one came into play. Thankfully this family had all of the toys and accessories necessary already. "We met them, liked them, loved the nanny and it was easy from there."

Now that they interviewed the family and the nanny and were sure this family and nanny was the right fit for them, they proceeded with a nanny contract. "They duplicated their contract with the nanny for us and we personalized it and got started the next week."

This first step was pretty smooth sailing for Joelle and her family- "it's not always that easy" says Peter from Nanny Lane. Sometimes you're the first family interviewing the nanny. When that happens, you need to take the time to get to know your families need, so that when you interview nannies and families- you know what you're looking for.

In both cases though, it's clear the place to start is by joining an online community where you can meet and interact with people.

Still wondering if a nanny share is right for your family? Learn the basics of a nanny share, possible nanny share set ups, and the pros and cons of nanny shares.