Live in Nanny/Au Pair-Cost? Is it worth it? Recommendations? archived

Hi Summer49!

We've gone the au pair route for many years. It's been a great experience for all of us. We've had some issues here or there, but nothing horrific (knock on wood). As a result of the au pair program, our family is happy to say that we have friends all over the world!

We use Cultural care out of Boston and our Local Childcare Coordinator (LCC) is very knowledgeable and hands on. Once you review the program and see if it's a good fit for you, she would be an excellent person to speak to!

http://culturalcareaupair.com/

I heartily concur with @mammabear. We had 3 au pairs and all our experiences were great. We keep in touch with all of them and they're like family members to us. Of course au pairs are 7d/wk living in, which has its pros and cons. There are a lot of au pairs around here so when they arrive the can easily fit into a social network. We used both Cultural Care and Au Pair in America, I didn't see a big difference between the two agencies.

We have had 5 live-ins over the last five years, its a mixed bag with the living situation among the adults but the child care has been good. We like the flexibility within the 45 hours max each week, also enjoy the ability to know the person a bit more and better understand how they interact both with the kids and adults. The down side is parallel to finding out who your freshman roommate was in college...sometimes friends for life, sometimes not.

Also check out AuPairCare.com. I can give you the area director's email if you PM me. She can answer all of your questions for you.

hello check the Maplewood classified ads. a friend of mine has her ad up and has years of experience. she's great. her name is Candi Israel.

All the Au pair programs are heavily regulated. The same program rules apply across the board.

One thing...the Au pair selection process can vary by agency. Cultural care is hands on. They oversee the selection process. And assign a "match" to just your family and no one else. Other agencies have the same girls assigned to various families. This can become a mess. I've had friends competing with other families for one Au pair....and offering up all kinds of benefits to have the Au pair choose them. Yuck. It should be a mutual choice on both sides.

Several years ago we had 3 au pairs in 18 months. The last one was one that stayed in the US for a Second year and was such a disaster (attitude, totaled a car) that the agency refunded the rest of our fee when we refused a replacement.

This was before Skype, so I would utilize that before agreeing to hire one.

The first was from Brazil and her spoken English was horrible. (Written was fine, and we couldn't tell in the brief phone calls that he wasn't right. ). She was also a scary driver. Even the agency admitted that when they drove w her. Very nice girl, but it didn't work out. Am actually facebook friends w her.

Second from Sweden that we got quickly after #1 shipped off to Chicago to be with a family who didn't need her to drive. Lovely girl that got steamrolled by a family in Greenwich demanded extra hours from her, however she was admitted to a top university and left after 6 months.

We pretty much had the disasters you don't want, but I know others who have had fabulous experiences.

We had two Au Pairs - one was a horrible human being and we moved on from her after aa couple weeks and the third time a neighbor told me they found my the 3 year old son running down the sidewalk - once naked - while the Au pair watched tv and was obvious. The second was wonderful, she was in a bad situation with a family and she was placed with us. When ended up staying for two years with the program and then an extra year after she aged out. She ended up getting married so stayed in the US and is in regular contact with the family. She was great.

We've had many au pairs over the years too and we loved it. Being able to adjust her schedule each week made for the best situation for us. Out of 4 au pairs only 1 wasn't good and we ended the relationship after 3 months with the full support of our agency. I recommend more than one phone interview and if you have any doubts, move on. Having someone live with your family is a big commitment so it's important that they share your values.

The structure is set at the federal level and is considered a cultural exchange program. All au pairs earn about $200/week that you pay weekly directly to her. The agency gets about $8,000 which includes their airfare to you. Added expenses for us were cell phones, adding them to our car insurance, food. All total we figured it cost us about $23,000 for the year. It's a great program.

kimhh- How many hours did the au pairs work and what were the duties for 200/week?

I think it's a crap shot. A young woman who wants to have an interesting experience is stuck in a house for 45 hours taking care of someone else's kids for a crummy $200 per week, can be a recipe for disaster.

I was a nanny in Germany many moons ago. I hated it. I was too young and had to work full time taking care of a toddler, which ain't easy even if the kid is yours.

Does anyone know of an Au Pair agency based in the US that uses American Au Pairs?

three out of four of our au pairs were amazing, wonderful human beings who we have kept in touch with for many years. The fourth wasn't a great fit, but we all made it through the year. Looking back, I would have requested a replacement as soon as I started to feel there was an issue.

Other than that, it's been amazing knowing these wonderful young women an we wouldn't have traded it for anything!

greeneyes said:

kimhh- How many hours did the au pairs work and what were the duties for 200/week?

Au pairs work up to 45 hours per week. You make the schedule. They must have one weekend off per month. They take care of basic childcare...feeding, cleaning, etc the children. They do kids laundry, make beds, straighten rooms, cook for them, drive them, etc. Mine have also been awesome with helping me keep things tidy..kitchen clean, dishwasher emptied and the like.

I you want to chat, please feel free to message me!

Au pairs work up to 45 hrs/week. They are admitted to the US on a special J-1 visa for this program. There is no way you could find an American to work for that rate! It's a foreign exchange program.

We had au pairs for 8 years and it was perfect for our needs, especially when my schedule could be different every week and the kids were little. Yes, there were a few bad eggs, but we learned how to look for red flags. And we, and our kids, have some life long friends. Some married and stayed and some are back home. Overall very positive for our family.

Our daughter au paired in Spain for a year and made friends with many European girls (mostly; a few boys!) who were also au pairs. Nearly all were terrific, capable, responsible young people who you'd feel very comfortable living with and caring for your kids. It's very common in Europe (and possibly other continents as well) to take a year off to au pair abroad, and the participants can be top notch.

We are on our second au pair. It's been a fantastic experience for several reasons 1) I no longer have to do that stressful sprint to Penn Station. I still get home from work by 6:30 but knowing that she won't mind if I need to get on the later train really takes the stress off. 2) my kids enjoy the au pair's enthusiasm and energy level. 3) we all enjoy having this sweet person in our home and learning about her culture 4) my husband and i can now go out to dinner on Saturday night and not pay more for babysitting than dinner. We use Au Pair care mostly because their website is great which makes choosing an au pair easier and there is a local area director in South Orange who is a great resource. Her name is Leanna Paulis 978.219.4183.