This is an anonymous post from an Elpha member.

Founder hiring an infant nanny but working from home -- what should I expect/look for?

Marilu89·Jul 04, 2022

Having a hard time finding this answer on the internet so thought I'd try my Elpha fam.

I'm a founder, pregnant FTM, WFH with a partner who's also a founder and is WFH. My company's in a super critical place right now (great for the company but shitty timing for me) so I'm not in a place where I can just stop working and take a full maternity leave (not looking for advice or comments on not taking maternity leave). Long story short, we're looking to hire an infant nanny pretty much right away.

What I'm trying to figure out is -- what should we expect out of them and how should we best use that resource? I know babies sleep a ton, especially in the early months, and I know that some nannies do housework, cook, run errands, etc. that's more about taking care of the family than exclusively childcare. But as a FTM, I'm just not sure what I should expect from a nanny and how to best utilize our time with them. If you're a founder, you know the work never really ends, and obviously the nanny's there for a limited number of hours per day, so if you've been in a similar place and hired a nanny (esp. an infant nanny) how did you best use that time?

Rae79·Jul 04, 2022

I think you need a live-in nanny who has their own bedroom at your place. The nanny might want to do weekends off to be with their friends or partner and that’s when you can spend more time with the baby. Every little bit helps (in terms of the nanny only being there a few hours during the day), but otherwise I don’t see how this will be possible without full-time help. Either you or your partner is going to be the one who has to step in when the baby needs something and your nanny’s not there, and whoever it is will probably quickly become resentful toward the other partner, especially if you both have startups.I’d say talk to both of your investors to see if they can pony up the money for full-time help, because that’s the only way I could see this working (unless you also have grandparents nearby).

Marilu89·Jul 04, 2022

Thanks for your advice! Is this something you did for your family? What did your day-to-day end up looking like with a live-in nanny?

smichalczuk·Jul 07, 2022

Hi! I can connect you with a founder who has gone through this situation. DM me if you are interested!