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Wednesday, February 12th
Nanny Lane is a branch of the CareGuide family, a versatile platform connecting individuals with a wide array of services - spanning from nannies and babysitters to handymen, petsitters, and more. This nanny referral platform proudly declares that it hosts a pool of over 10,000 available nannies in the United States alone.
You'll need an account to look at nanny profiles
To browse nanny profiles on Nanny Lane, you must first create an account. This entails specifying that you are a parent (not a nanny) and, if applicable, whether you're willing to share your nanny with another family. Account creation on Nanny Lane also involves phone number verification, a step taken for safety, although it may open the door to potential spam texts. After verifying your phone, you'll be prompted to complete your profile. This includes providing information about your child(ren)'s age, the expected number of hours of care per week, and your desired hourly rate range.
Big push to subscribe
Following the initial account setup, you'll feel the pressure to sign up for Nanny Lane's PLUS package. This premium subscription offers personal hiring assistance, access to five enhanced background checks, a contract builder, payroll service, the capability to track and interview top candidates, profile highlighting, and the removal of ads. The subscription is priced at $55 per month and auto-renews until canceled.
Can filter and browse for free
For those who prefer not to subscribe at first, click on "find a nanny yourself." This will direct you to your dashboard, where you can specify whether you require live-out or live-in care. You can also indicate preferences for meal preparation, light housekeeping, nanny qualifications, and other factors. Filters are available for customization: sort the results in your area based on qualifications, price range, location, languages spoken, and more. In our metropolitan area, we were initially matched with over 3500 profiles within a 32-mile radius (which seemed rather unlikely). This number decreased to 600 when the filter for part-time nannies was applied, so keep that in mind if you're not looking for full-time help.
Background checks on request (and for a fee)
Nanny Lane does not offer the feature to sort your matches in any particular order, such as by distance, experience, or hourly rate. Instead, families must manually sift through the results. However, a positive aspect is that you can conduct a background check on any provider once you've made an offer, which is an advantage over some other services within the CareGuide network. Unfortunately, Nanny Lane does not specify the cost of background checks for free account users.
Support is practically nonexistent
When it comes to support, Nanny Lane offers limited options, particularly for users who do not subscribe to their PLUS services. The only available contact methods are an online Help Center, where you can submit a support ticket, and an email address designated for payroll inquiries. This deficiency in support has led to numerous complaints from both families and nannies who faced difficulties getting help when they needed it most, had issues with paid services like payroll and taxes, and overall expressed dissatisfaction with their experience.
Lots of room for improvement
Ultimately, the "A-" rating held by Nanny Lane's parent company, CareGuide, with the Better Business Bureau is not sufficient to keep this nanny agency high in our rankings. The service has a less-than-stellar track record when it comes to customer support, and it often returns profiles of caregivers who may not offer the full-time assistance you're seeking. You may want to save Nanny Lane as a backup option, after you've considered the nanny services on our list that have a better reputation for creating happy nanny/family connections.
It can feel a little overwhelming when choosing a nanny to watch your children. You have to figure out how to even find a nanny, let alone several candidates to choose from. And then you have all of the searching, screening, and interviewing to zero in on the right person to be your parenting partner. That's where online nanny agencies can take a lot of the weight off your shoulders.
Many online nanny agencies conduct background checks and verify credentials, providing an added layer of security. Families can then search for nannies based on specific criteria, or agencies may provide recommendations based on your requirements. Platforms can also facilitate communication between families and nannies, allowing you to ask questions, schedule interviews, and negotiate terms.
When planning for a nanny, consider what you'll need for childcare from day to day and week to week, your expectations regarding housekeeping, and any special skills you may need in a nanny, such as CPR certification or multilingual capabilities. Next, determine your budget for a nanny's salary and additional expenses, such as benefits, taxes, and agency fees. This will help you narrow down your options.
As you've been thinking about hiring a nanny, you may have also come across the term "au pair”. Do you know the difference? In brief, nannies are professional caregivers who typically have formal training or significant childcare experience. They work in exchange for a salary and are considered employees. Nannies often work full-time and may have more extensive responsibilities, including housekeeping and transportation.
On the other hand, au pairs are young adults from other countries who come to live with a host family for a cultural exchange. They work for a set number of hours per week in exchange for room and board, a small stipend, and the opportunity to immerse themselves in a new culture. Au pairs are not professional caregivers and may have limited childcare experience. Only you can determine which option is right for you and your family, but there are pros and cons to each arrangement.
So - choosing a nanny is a significant decision that requires careful consideration, as the well-being and development of your child are at stake. To make an informed choice, it's essential to understand the process of hiring a nanny, how online nanny agencies work, and even the distinctions between nannies and au pairs.
How can you decide which nanny agencies are worth your time? Keep in mind these criteria to help you focus your search:
The experts at Top Consumer Reviews understand how important it is to know that your children are in capable, loving hands while you're away. We've carefully evaluated and ranked today's most popular nanny agencies, so that you can quickly find a reliable caregiver who will hopefully come to feel like a member of the family. Whether your perfect fit is more like Mary Poppins or Mrs. Doubtfire, the right nanny is out there for you!
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