My Success in Finding a Great Baby Nurse in Los Angeles

I was 25 years old when I had my first baby, and my knowledge of child rearing and newborns was zip! My mom was ill and could not help, I had no close friends to assist me, and panic was setting in by the seventh month of pregnancy. Thankfully, we were financially able to afford a baby nurse for the first few weeks after birth. But, how to find the perfect baby nurse in the big city of Los Angeles?

I would not consider help-wanted ads (too dangerous), I was not successful with word-of-mouth referrals, and time was of the essence. I was told that baby nurses book themselves long in advance, therefore, I was getting very nervous. I decided to look in the internet, but I was flabbergasted by the variety of sources listed on the result pages. I didn’t know where to start! How to screen dozens of sources? Where to zero in my attention?

Finally, I decided to call an ex-college friend, who worked as a registered nurse, for advice. It was my best idea! She happened to have used a local nanny agency, in the past, to obtain baby nursing assignments, and gave me its name.

I immediately went online, and found it, quite prominently listed, with great reviews. I clicked on their website address, and was delighted with the amount of information about its longevity in business, ‘Best Agency” awards, amazing testimonials, its clear and concise ‘fees and guarantees’ disclosure, and the large pre-screened pool of candidates, available for in-person interviewing.

To make the story short, I called and spoke with one of their counselors, Miriam, explaining my predicament and the dates I was going to need the baby nurse. It took less than 24 hours, and I was already interviewing three lovely candidates, in the privacy of my home, having in front of me their complete resumes with all work history, and notes from the agency highlighting their particular strengths, hourly rates, dates availability, special courses and certificates, and a list of references with the ex-employers’ personal phone numbers, should I wish to contact them for further checking.

By the next day, I had already booked my perfect baby nurse, not only an expert in pre an post-natal newborn care, but also in lactancy and last-month pregnancy care.

Thank you, Sandra Taylor Agency!

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How I Found a Great Housekeeper in Los Angeles

 I lived in France most of my life, and I moved to Los Angeles a few months ago with my family, composed by husband and two school age children. In Paris, I had full time domestic help, since I had a job. Here, in Los Angeles, my husband is the only bread winner, as he was hired by a multinational company to head a whole subsidiary, with a sizable salary and benefits.

My new life didn’t require me to have a job, but I had to be in full charge of my children’s commuting, activity planning, school homework, and the various social obligations derived from my husband’s new prominent profile. Therefore, I urgently needed to find a great housekeeper-cook, that could drive to do the grocery shopping and household errands. It was important that she be fluent English speaking, to be able to handle phone calls and take proper messages, as well as dealing with local merchants and house maintenance providers, like gardeners and repairmen.

Since I didn’t know anyone in Los Angeles, I had to use my own judgment to go about searching for domestic help. And quickly! Thus, I resorted to the internet, of course, to start the process. Unfortunately, I was immediately lost in a labyrinth of dozens of choices. What to do? How to screen all those agencies, publications, public forums?

I decided, first, to weed out the bad ones. I immediately ruled out the big national companies which had hundreds of unchecked applicants who just sent in unverified resumes, then I ignored publications for wanted ads (too risky), and finally, I decided on local domestic agencies. But there still were too many, so I started screening them by looking into their websites. Good idea! I was able to narrow it down to three, now I needed to refine the parameters; I wanted an agency with longevity, licensed and bonded, with a clear explanation of its fees and guarantees, good local references, great expertise in the domestic field, hopefully one that had won awards and recognition from the industry, and with a pool of highly screened applicants with verified references.

Well, only one of the three domestic agencies had ALL of that, the name was (and is) Sandra Taylor Agency. Founded in 1967, serving Beverly Hills and all of Los Angeles county and Southern California. In its website shows plenty of awards and great client testimonials, plus a great video showing its staff in action. And its fees and guarantees are clearly listed. It goes without saying that they found me an amazing housekeeper-cook, with all my requirements.

Thank you, Sandra Taylor!

 

How to Find a Great Nanny in Los Angeles

When I moved to Los Angeles from a small town, with my two young children, the first thing was to find a nanny, since I was planning to work full time after my recent divorce. A single, working parent needs expert and reliable childcare, plus the assurance of honesty and good common sense. Nothing worried me more than to have to leave my precious toddlers with a stranger.

I got various opinions from several sources, but quickly I ruled out ‘wanted’ ads on publications or internet sites, since that was too dangerous. Then I looked online for nanny agencies, and I was overwhelmed by the enormous amount of companies listed. They all looked the same, with just a couple of lines stating who they were.

I needed to find a system to find the Best Agency in Los Angeles amongst so many, thus I started clicking on their websites and carefully studied their qualifications. There were some big, national companies, but the problem with those was that I had to do my own search from hundreds of listed candidates, who hadn’t gone through any screening process whatsoever, they just had sent in their unverified resumes. Obviously, those companies were not good choices by my standards.

I started looking into local agencies, and comparing their time in business, references, size, fields of expertise, and their specialties. After a couple of days I narrowed it down to three, and started to study their fees and guarantees, any testimonials, and whether they had received any awards or industry prizes.

That was a great idea! I noticed that two out of the three chosen agencies had none of the above. But… there was one agency that listed its fees and guarantees in a dedicated page, with detailed different options of fees and the corresponding guarantee plans. Also, had a long list of great testimonials, plus several ‘Best Nanny Agency‘ awards, with the corresponding pictures. The name of that company is Sandra Taylor Agency, founded in 1967, bonded and licensed.

To make the story short, I now have an amazing nanny, that they found, and I can go to work stress free. Thank you, Sandra Taylor!