finding the perfect nanny with Nanny Harmony

Hi friends!

Wondering why we all look so happy? Well… WE FOUND A NANNY! And I’m so excited to tell you all about our experience and how we found the perfect nanny for our fam!

So to kind of backtrack, when we first had Ivy, I stayed home with her on Maternity Leave for the first three months. After returning to work, I worked primarily from home, so Ivy stayed with me during that time, too. From about 4-6 months, she started getting much more active and mobile, and we decided it was time to figure out what kind of childcare we wanted.

I was still working from home often, so we decided on hiring a nanny so that I was able to see Ivy throughout the day. Looking back, it wasn’t an easy task finding a nanny on my own– it was very time-consuming and worrisome. We used nanny sites, local mom groups, and were very lucky when we did eventually find a nanny.

Unfortunately, our nanny needed to leave us close to the time Isla was born. Again, I was off for three months on Maternity Leave and kept the girls with me during that time. It was a mixture of things that caused me to put off looking for childcare again as my time off drew to a close. We considered daycare, toured some locations, but decided that wasn’t for us and were back to needing a nanny. It was daunting, but I started to plan how I would find another nanny.

Then, almost if by destiny, a company called Nanny Harmony reached out to see if we were interested in working with them to find a nanny. Nanny Harmony is a nanny agency whose sole purpose is to help families with finding the perfect nanny. They deal with screenings, pre-interviews, the works, and only send you candidates that meet the needs of your family.

“Nanny Harmony is a local nanny placement agency proudly serving the Chicagoland area. We are dedicated to matching loving families with professional nannies who are highly competent, enthusiastic, warm–hearted individuals. Through our unique and personalized process, we are here to help you find the best nanny to fit your family.”

nannyharmonychicago.com

Step One: Family Application & In-Home Consultation

The first step after filling out a Family Application was meeting with Nanny Harmony’s founder and lead placement strategist, Brooke. She came to our home one evening to get to know us and discuss what we were looking for in a nanny. Within a few days of our meeting, Brooke had several possible candidates and, from there, we set up our own interviews.

Step Two: Matchmaking & Interviews

We met with several qualified candidates. Unfortunately, our top choice decided she was no longer looking at the moment. We still had several other good candidates, but after further discussion with Brooke, we decided to keep looking until we found someone we truly felt was right for our family. She agreed and said she had actually found another candidate who seemed perfect for the position.

Step Three: Trial Days

We set up the interview and it didn’t take long to see we had found our match. After the interview, we moved onto a trial day where the nanny came to our home for a couple of hours just to spend time with us and get a more better feel for the role, as well as getting to interact more with the girls.

Step Four: Make an Offer!

The trial went great– she wasn’t even put off by our rambunctious puppy! It was clear we had found our perfect match. After the trial, we decided to extend an offer and Brook sent over Nanny Agreement papers for us to fill out, as well as additional screenings, checks, and references, and, within a day, we were making our offer! The nanny accepted and is now set to start in the next two weeks! From our first meeting with Brooke to making the offer, the process only took about 4 weeks, which was exactly within the 3-6 week timeframe we were originally given.

I seriously cannot recommend Nanny Harmony enough. Working with Brooke was such a wonderful experience. She was easy to communicate with and always gave prompt responses. She was so thorough and thoughtful in her search and truly found candidates that suited our needs so that we weren’t wasting our time in any way. And best of all, she was able to match us with someone we are genuinely excited to welcome into our home and have the girls spend time with. She really put her all into the process for us, which I think is truly why we had such an excellent overall experience.

And now, even though we’ve found a nanny, we will continue having access to support from Nanny Harmony throughout the entire employment of our nanny. They are a quality, full-service, beginning-to-end, company. If you’re interested in learning more about Nanny Harmony, check out their website for a more in-depth explanation of the process and the services offered. (Be sure to tell them I sent you!)

Finding a nanny is so bittersweet– it’s much needed, but I will miss all of the time I’ve spent one-on-one with the girls the last few months. Here’s to our new adventure!

xx, the windy city mama