Nanny
Nannies in New York City
Nannies who know how a child's day runs in New York, from the walk to school to a summer out east, matched to the way your family actually parents.
New York City
A nanny in New York looks after children whose days are tightly scheduled and lived largely in public: the walk to school, an afternoon in the park, classes and playdates across the island, and home in an apartment where the parents are rarely more than a room away.
The heart of the job is the same as anywhere: safe, attentive daily care, routines that hold, and close attention to how each child is growing. What the city changes is everything around it, from logistics to how closely a nanny works beside parents who are often at home.
We place nannies and governesses for families in Manhattan, including the Upper East Side, the Upper West Side and Tribeca, and for families in Greenwich, Armonk and Westport.
The role in New York City
A nanny's day in New York
In Manhattan most of the day happens on foot. Drop-off and pickup, the park, swimming and music, a playdate six blocks uptown: a nanny here manages a stroller, a scooter and a timetable at once, sometimes for children at two schools with different calendars. In a townhouse the day also goes up and down stairs, often with a toddler on one hip, and New York families do ask whether a candidate is willing to take them all day.
Greenwich, Armonk and Westport are a different job. Schools, activities and friends are spread out, so a nanny there usually drives, and the home is more often an estate with space for a live-in nanny to have quarters of their own.
Then there is the summer, and the rest of the year's travel. Most staff in New York households travel with the family, chiefly to the Hamptons, South Florida and Europe, and nannies are no exception. Families who split time between the city and the Hamptons increasingly choose a ROTA schedule, two nannies alternating blocks of weeks, so care continues without one person working every hour of it.
Why Wellington
How we approach a New York nanny search
We start with how you parent rather than with résumés. Discipline, screens, sleep, food and how much structure a day should hold matter more than matching hours and ages, because a nanny whose instincts differ from yours will not last in a home where you share the same rooms.
Language is a frequent part of the brief, and a nanny who speaks another language with the children every day makes it part of ordinary life rather than a lesson.
It is also worth deciding whether you need a nanny or a governess. A nanny looks after the child's day: care, routines, meals, outings. A governess works to a curriculum, holds the child to it, and travels with the family so the learning goes too. Some families employ both, with the line between them drawn clearly.
We are a licensed agency, and New York nanny searches typically take 2 to 6 weeks, including trials. A settled schedule and a clear live-in or live-out decision at the start keep a search toward the shorter end.
Questions
Frequently asked
It can be, and ROTA nannies are in demand. Two nannies alternate, typically weeks on and weeks off, which suits households with long or unpredictable hours or a summer divided between the city and the Hamptons. A live-in ROTA needs private space for whoever is on duty, and both nannies need a clear handover.
Usually. Outside the city, school runs, activities and playdates are spread across towns built around the car, so driving is normally part of the role. In Manhattan a nanny may never need to. Tell us at the start, because it narrows the shortlist.
Many will, and it is worth agreeing at hire. Travel is the norm for staff in New York households, and a summer in the Hamptons, or a trip to South Florida or Europe, is easier when accommodation, days off and the schedule are settled before the first move.
Yes, where that is part of the brief. French, Mandarin and Russian are among the languages families ask us for. We search for the language alongside childcare experience, never instead of it, so the candidates you meet are strong nannies first.
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