# Hiring a nanny for a newborn **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 21, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiring-a-nanny-for-a-newborn/763523 "2016-08-21T17:59:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiring-a-nanny-for-a-newborn/763523/1 "2016-08-21T17:59:21Z")
If a couple has a newborn and for various reasons wants help a few hours a day, a few days a week, where do they go to find it? There are a lot of sites for ‘hire a nanny’ but many want you to join, and I have no idea if any one site is considered superior to others. You cannot browse w/o joining. The main purpose of this would be for someone to help with feeding of an infant so the mother can get some time to run errands, catch up on sleep, shower, etc. The father is away on business and cannot help. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiring-a-nanny-for-a-newborn/763523/2 "2016-08-21T18:04:13Z")
[Care.com](http://Care.com) is the service we have used several time with excellent results. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiring-a-nanny-for-a-newborn/763523/3 "2016-08-21T18:07:08Z")
> [@USCDiver](#): > > [Care.com](http://Care.com) is the service we have used several time with excellent results. I’ve looked into that, is there a way to search providers without paying to join first? I wouldn’t want to pay to join a site, only to find out it doesn’t have the providers I want. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiring-a-nanny-for-a-newborn/763523/4 "2016-08-21T18:51:52Z")
You can register for free and look through postings, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiring-a-nanny-for-a-newborn/763523/5 "2016-08-22T01:52:05Z")
Around here, it’s very much word-of-mouth. People who are no longer needing a nanny they have been pleased with (they’re moving out of the area, kids are aging out, different job situation for the parents, whatever) are often pretty actively trying to help the nanny find a new position. If you don’t know a lot of people with kids in the right age group for nanny recommendations, there are Facebook groups (and probably other social media sites) that seem to always be for moms (it _should_ be parents, but in my area, it’s essentially all moms), that are specific to certain towns or even neighborhoods (search Facebook for [your town] moms/parents). There were always a lot of folks asking for recs/making recs in the group I was in. Obviously you would then need to check out the references to your satisfaction. If you work for a large company, they might have some benefit for employees such as a group membership to a childcare site – I was really surprised to learn that my employer offered this, I guess maybe I hadn’t been paying attention pre-baby? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiring-a-nanny-for-a-newborn/763523/6 "2016-08-22T16:06:09Z")
Sittercity is the other site we looked at, but [Care.com](http://Care.com) seems to be the big dog online. The end of summer is going to mean fewer listings for babysitters, however, as a lot of people looking for that kind of spot work will be headed back to school. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiring-a-nanny-for-a-newborn/763523/7 "2016-08-22T16:11:35Z")
The term you are looking for is “night nurse”, not a real nurse, but a nanny, that comes primarily in the evenings and stays overnight in your house for the first couple of months after the baby is born. This way the parents can get more of a full nights sleep, until the baby is also sleeping more fully (normally at about 2-3 months). This is fairly common in parts of the country. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiring-a-nanny-for-a-newborn/763523/8 "2016-08-22T16:26:28Z")
“Mother’s Helper” is the term I know. They’ll do a mix of childcare and light housework so that the parent can recover and manage the rest of the household. In my city, there is a large popular message board dedicated to different childcare options. Barring that, word of mouth or [Care.com](http://Care.com) really are your main options. If there is a university in town, you may be able to reach out to the career center to see if they have a way to connect to students. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hiring-a-nanny-for-a-newborn/763523/9 "2016-08-23T00:24:19Z")
In my city many recommendations for nannies are shared on NextDoor. Beyond that I’ve also had great success also with [Care.com](http://Care.com).