Melissa Grossman and her daughter, Leah, at home. To care for her three children, she and her husband employ two nannies, Daisy Ofiana, left, and Venus Abordo.Kevin Van Paassen
Melissa Grossman hired her second full-time, live-in nanny three days before her daughter Leah was born.
Friends joked about her "staff," but with three children close in age and the demands of running her own business, a recruiting agency in Toronto, she felt she had no choice but to hire extra help.
After she and her husband assessed their finances, they decided that even if it meant they were working to pay for the second nanny, it was worth it.
"I'm 38 now, and maybe if I'd been 25 when I had my first child it would have been different," says Ms. Grossman, whose children are now 2, 4 and 6. "But I worked for 13 years before I had my children. And if I want to take them on vacations and put them in programs, I have to continue to work."
Faced with increasing demands on their time, whether at work or at home, parents are hiring help at an unrelenting pace. And despite an uncertain economy that has forced many families to adjust their household budgets, caregiver placement agencies across the country are reporting that not only has demand held steady, but requests for a second nanny have increased significantly in the past year.
Even mothers who aren't working outside the home are hiring two nannies, and some only have two kids, says Robyn Zeldin, founder of Wee Care Placement Agency in Toronto. "I would have thought people couldn't afford it, but they seem to be finding things more overwhelming than expensive, and need, rather than money, is playing a role."
Lisa Bruce, placement manager for Nannies on Call in Vancouver, has also noticed an increase in families looking for two or more nannies in the last year.
Some are high-end clients who can afford to pay for a team of caregivers. (Wages for a live-in nanny start at about $1,200 a month, while a full-time, live-out nanny will set you back anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 a month.) "We recently placed a third nanny with a local celebrity couple who needed more help because they were going on tour," Ms. Bruce says.
And then there was the couple that hired a third nanny for their two children, in addition to their housekeeper, gardener and driver.
But those are the extreme cases. Most of the company's clients are working professionals who need extra help and don't want to pay overtime to an existing caregiver. Others are stay-at-home mothers with two young children who simply want more me-time.
"They still want to make it to their yoga classes, or have date nights with their husbands," Ms. Bruce says.
Then there are the families who find that things get tougher as their kids get older. Leanne Pettigrew always had a full-time, live-in nanny for her children, who are now 15, 12 and 10. But the 44-year-old health-care worker from Ottawa recently found herself hiring a second part-time nanny, just to help shuttle her kids to and fro.
"I needed a nanny who could drive," says Ms. Pettigrew, whose husband's job in sales and marketing often takes him out of town for a week at a time. "She'll shop for the kids' clothing, register them in sports, get them to their hockey games, pick them up from school and even carpool with other moms."
"It doesn't really shock me that more families are hiring two caregivers," says Don Giesbrecht, president of the Canadian Child Care Federation. "It could be a sign of families being really busy, or just economically able to support it, or a sign that parents have to work that much harder to make ends meet. Many also don't have immediate family close by to give them some respite."
From 2006 to 2007, just over half of Canadian children aged six months to five years were in the care of someone other than their parents, according to Statistics Canada.
And for those who choose to hire a couple of caregivers, quality is as important as quantity. "Parents are demanding more qualifications," Mr. Giesbrecht says.
Many families are looking for one nanny for general child care and some light housework, and a second nanny with an early childhood education background or another language, says Martha Scully, founder of Canadian Nanny in Nanaimo, B.C.
"French-speaking nannies are extremely popular," she says. "Often, people with a newborn want someone who speaks French right from the beginning."
The increase in multiple births has also fuelled the demand for extra caregivers, she adds.
Still, mothers who end up hiring an additional nanny are acutely aware of how they may be perceived by other parents. "I felt like I was being judged and that I always had explaining to do," Ms. Grossman says.
Agencies say that many parents who call to inquire about a second nanny feel they need to justify themselves. "No one wants to admit that they can't do it all and they feel guilty about asking for more help," Ms. Zeldin says. "But if it makes life more doable, then why not?"
Tulin Cil, 36, is expecting twins and didn't hesitate when it came to hiring an additional caregiver. She and her husband are both physicians in Toronto and already have a full-time, live-out nanny for their three-year-old daughter, Ela.
Now they're searching for a second full-time nanny, this time a live-in. "Considering what our lives have been like with just one child and a live-out nanny, the fact we're expecting twins clinched it," Dr. Cil says. The couple also didn't want to overburden their existing caregiver.
"Our nanny is very flexible and understanding, but it's been quite a struggle as we're often on call. We knew two nannies would be a necessity if we both want to keep our careers and still make sure we have great care for our kids."
Ms. Grossman acknowledges that she couldn't have three kids, a career and her own business without her two caregivers.
"I just decided that it's better to do what works for me and not to worry about being judged," she says. "There are some supermoms out there, but I'm not one of them. I can't do it all by myself and I need the help."
Special to The Globe and Mail