I have worked in childcare since I was 13, watching children from ages 0mo. to 14y.o. and mentored/tutored children up through high school and nannied for the past 4 years.

In reading some recent ads, some military, seeking childcare, I find that many pay under $5/hour and want in-your-home care. Also, from experience, caregivers are frequently shorted on their pay and it's easy because it's under the table work.

Take this from a nanny:
$5/hour or less, is not decent enough pay to watch your 2 year old all day. I do not say this to be rude, but to be honest. If you want an experienced, adult caregiver, you're paying for gas and time (time which mind you, would pay double in minimum wage). Taking a job that pays less than half minimum wage is not appealing nor is it sensible.
Also, realize that their efforts and time with your children are valuable; and if a caregiver cleans as well, take that into consideration when paying.


As for the in-your-home watch,it's senseless unless the caregiver has their own children. Children are best cared for in THEIR home where they have toys they are fond of, a bed they are used to for nap time, appropriate snacks, baby-proofing and other basic comforts. Children feel more comfortable and are more relaxed in their own home. Also, as a parent, is it not more comforting to know the environment that your child is in? To know the ins, outs and that they are safe and happy?

Next time you advertise for childcare, please just remember these things. Remember that this is a JOB for them and that they may depend on reasonable and dependable income.

Keep in mind that having your children watched in your home is healthier for them and a more positive experience.

Understand that nannies and babysitters take their jobs seriously and deserve to be treated with respect and paid accordingly for their time and efforts.

Thank you,
-The perturbed nanny 

I said this before to someone wanting to pay $3/hr for someone to come to Lacey to watch her 'well behaved,very independent, fully potty trained, loving 2 yr old'. Ummm, a 2 yr old is a 2 yr old! I told her u get what u pay for and she locked the topic! Good for u I agree fully! 

That's why I put this up, so many families see watching their kids from the perspective of "I don't get paid to be their mom" so they don't see the need to pay the caregivers well, but we're not their mothers, and this is a JOB for us. Yes we grow to love and care for the children, but nonetheless, we need to be paid accordingly for our services. I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels this way. If they want to pay under $10/hour, they're generally looking for teenagers, especially if it's under $5/hour, then they need to look for someone in the same neighborhood. 

Ok not to be rude, but having been a military mom and now currently spouse, offering 4 bucks an hour is sadly ALL I could afford AND MORE then I made myself! I understand that in that case there is day care which if on post I could afford, but what day care opens at 4am when I had to be at work? And do you think I had a choice about whether or not I had to go to work at 4?

Thankfully I am NO longer in the military but because of nannies who think just like you do, do you know how many times I had to bring my 6 week old baby in the middle of Jan with me to PT at 4am and LEAVE HER IN THE CAR BECAUSE IT WAS SNOWING while I ran 10 miles because I could not find anyone that was willing to come to my house or accept her at 330 when I would have been able to drop her off for the amount of money I could afford to pay??????? I use to have a portable baby monitor that I would carry around with me while doing PT or a ruck march or whatever so I could at least still know she was ok and do you think my unit cared that my husband was deployed and that I was being forced to do this because they didn't! 

Now that being said I am currently a stay at home mom and also a nanny as I was when I put myself through college AND I HAPPILY will watch children for 5-10 dollars an hour.

What I think you are failing to do is consider the area in which you are attempting to be a nanny! A nanny's income typically reflects the area in which she works and so if she is going to work in a predominately military area she needs to either accept that is what they can afford and accept it or move to another area and or travel further to say Seattle to find a job! 

And I don't think a single one of us moms have EVER had the thought of, "well I don't get paid to be a mom so I'm not going to pay you well to do the same job."

You are again missing the entire point, we are paying what we can afford to pay, not what we think you deserve and if you can't understand/respect that, then you don't deserve to work for any of us! 

Understand that nannies and babysitters take their jobs seriously and deserve to be treated with respect and paid accordingly for their time and efforts.


Please you understand that our positions as mothers and military spouses and our children also deserve to treated with care and respect despite not all being able to pay you more money then we make ourselves. 

LEAVE HER IN THE CAR BECAUSE IT WAS SNOWING while I ran 10 miles because I could not find anyone that was willing to come to my house or accept her at 330 when I would have been able to drop her off for the amount of money I could afford to pay


you left your baby in a car while you ran 10 miles and your unit was ok with that? Im sorry but some one would have been told to f off and I would have taken a article 15 for it aswell, i would never have left my child alone in a car at 4 am, yes you had a monitor but how was that going to help if she choked or was kidnaped? Females in the military have the right to have children, but just like everyother job they have the right to plan for them aswell. I feel bad for soldier who cannot afford child care and I have watched several children in my home for whatever the parents could afford. I think th eposter was simply trying to point out you get what you pay for. 

And my point is, "is if fair that I was put in that position because that is all I could pay for?"

As for the example I used, until YOU are the one being threatened to be there are lose everything the way some military units go about things, you can't really respond. Have you ever been in that position? Where you were being threatened severe punishment for not doing something that was already heartbreaking enough?
And it is easy to say you would take the art 15 when you weren't the one who worked so hard to get to the position I was in.
AND just to be clear, It's not like I parked away from where we were at. I did push the rules a lot and if I could not park directly next to where we were at so that the car was clearly in view and within 10 yards, I would literally pull the up on the grass next to us. And my baby monitor was one of those video ones so I could clearly see and hear her. 

IMO there is a big difference between what you pay for a full time job and for an occasional gig. I can't justify paying $10/hr for a full time job, but for an evening out, I would NEVER drive myself or my daughter to Lacey or even to post(live in Tacoma) for a 2 hr. job that will pay $6. It's ridiculous. As for a full time job, or even a job that is more a regular thing then of course you have to pay less. I used to watch a baby for $20/day and each day consisted of about 3 to 4 hrs. To me that is pretty fair. 

I think 5 dollars an hour is good actually, even 100 bucks a week is what trained, day care centers, prek centers and FCC homes charge.

just because youve watched kids and have had kids does not mean you know everything when it comes to cpr, first aid, reporting, and so on.

I understand coming to someones home should cost a little more but when the centers on post charge 4 an hour to watch your child and they provide toys, help with potty training manners, and have a set schedule and routine they follow its kind of rideclous to just go to some wife that calls her self a nanny wo any training.

I consider a nanny with a childhood education background, lots and lots of experince with kids, and all types of children and devoted to your kids.

a 20 something yr old wife that has 5 kids imo is not qualified too watch children the RIGHT LEGAL way.

So I think 5 an hour is excellent or 25 a day.

How hard is it to watch a kid in your home or their home, its not like your bringing out a curriculm. 

Sandra- I completely agree! When I hire a sitter for anything other then regular sitting I ALWAYS pay at least 10 an hour for just my 1 daughter. 

Ella, Again I agree, but for myself, I actually have a degree in Elementary Education, am almost done with my Masters in it and am CPR, First Aid, etc. I have almost 10 years professional exp on top of that as a child care professional and even with that, I consider 5 dollars an hour in this area is more then acceptable! 

I think 5 is perfect unless you have a real high ranker but realistlcly they would pay more then the average working mom and dad of lets say a SPC or SGT.. everyone knows we dont make a lot of money and everyone knows jobs do not pay much these days. If I was gonna pay that much I would just go to a center. 

AMEN TO THAT!! I TOTALLY AGREE-- SOME PEOPLE ARE JUST SOO CHEAP!!

Maybe if you're planning on having children, you should add in daycare to your expenses!! 

That is why you are suppose to have a family care plan I am sorry but if one of my husbands soldiers left their kid in the car at 4am I would call the mp's on them 

because of nannies who think just like you do, do you know how many times I had to bring my 6 week old baby in the middle of Jan with me to PT at 4am and LEAVE HER IN THE CAR BECAUSE IT WAS SNOWING while I ran 10 miles


So let me understand this right...your daughter had to be left alone in a vehicle in the middle of January, while it was snowing, at 4am, and somehow that's the fault of all the money hungry nannies out there? Sounds more like poor planning on your part to me. It's your responsibility to have a plan in place and to be responsible for your child's safety and well being, not the Army's.

Childcare workers probably don't get paid enough in most cases. Neither do teachers IMO, and neither does the military . But if you choose to provide a service and accept less money then you think your service is worth then there's no sense in complaining about it. Just hold out for the right family. Skip over the ads offering less then you're willing to accept. There are people out there who are willing to pay more then a few dollars an hour for quality childcare. Like any well paying job you can't just expect them to fall into your lap. 

That is why you are suppose to have a family care plan I am sorry but if one of my husbands soldiers left their kid in the car at 4am I would call the mp's on them
I couldn't have said it better myself. 

some units dont care, my husband had a soldier a very close friend of ours and the command did not give a crap her daughter had various medical issues, and she was forced to bring her kid and she would stand out their for formation at least with her 3 times a day even with doc notes and notes from the childcare on post that she couldnt go. She was in the process of getting out. But still .. my husband has told me a lot of stories to the point where I took in these kids.

and people really need to think before they call themselves a nanny, and you know what dont take the job if its just about money, not helping someone out if your that money hungry then you should not be watching kids. Its about loving them also. No matter how skilled you ar.e

And if you want a well paying job take your skills to a center or up north near microsoft and take care of the rich folks kids. 

And do you have a family care plan when your new to the post. We just got to drum trying to enroll are kids in cys and we couldnt because we didnt have local emergency contacts.

a lot of soldiers dont also and no center opens at 4 am so blame the army for not opeing on post centers early enough. 

As for the example I used, until YOU are the one being threatened to be there are lose everything the way some military units go about things, you can't really respond. Have you ever been in that position? Where you were being threatened severe punishment for not doing something that was already heartbreaking enough?
And it is easy to say you would take the art 15 when you weren't the one who worked so hard to get to the position I was in.
AND just to be clear, It's not like I parked away from where we were at. I did push the rules a lot and if I could not park directly next to where we were at so that the car was clearly in view and within 10 yards, I would literally pull the up on the grass next to us. And my baby monitor was one of those video ones so I could clearly see and hear her.

You stated you ran 10 miles while she was in the car! And if I was EVER put in that position I would take the punishment and NEVER indanger the life of my child! I would have called the MPs on you aswell and the whole dang unit for allowing it to happen!




i]
[i]So let me understand this right...your daughter had to be left alone in a vehicle in the middle of January, while it was snowing, at 4am, and somehow that's the fault of all the money hungry nannies out there? Sounds more like poor planning on your part to me. It's your responsibility to have a plan in place and to be responsible for your child's safety and well being, not the Army's.

Thank you I am glad I am not the only person who this upset! 

Seriously! Thank-you for being supportive to the mother who was trying to fulfill her obligation to the military without just leaving because I had a child, be a spouse who's husband was deployed and a single mother to an infant all while living 2000 miles away from my closest family member and in an area where the cheapest nanny I could find wanted 20 an hour to come to my house and i DIDN'T WANT TO SHIP MY NEWBORN BABY OFF TO LIVE WITH FAMILY I HAVEN'T SEEN IN YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THAT made MY Veterans DAY!
YOU ALL HAVE OBVIOUSLY BEEN IN THAT POSITION TOO!!!!!!! 

how do you expect people to be supportive when you say you left YOUR BABY IN THE CAR [b]what do you want people to say its ok and hold your hand[/b] 

So again, I am guessing you have been put in that position before? 

how do you expect people to be supportive when you say you left YOUR BABY IN THE CAR


I could not have said it better, its not everyone else fault you did not have care for her. Yes it sucks your husband was deployed, but I had to be there for my children when my husband was deployed and work while thousands of miles away from my family. You make it work however you need to with out putting them in danger. 

I have three kids had a jobs 2 deplyments single mom and my kids have never ever been locked in a car at 4 am 

And at no point did I request a hand holding, I just would expect more from other mothers who I was simply trying to defend myself! 

So mamaalverez, you are in the military? 

MOST MOTHERS dont leave their kids in a car 

Bellesmamma...I have been there 2. I was a single mom while in the army and I had a really hard time finding care. Thank you for your service girl.