More families looking for nannies at night

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More families are asking for nannies with flexible schedules. It seems that nannies aren't just needed in the day anymore.

The sound of zurberts (blowing on someone's arm to make a gassy noise) is common in the Anderson household. Little Aiden seems to love giving them to his dad, Jared. As for Jared, he's looking for someone to take care of his two boys.

"They're pretty easy going. You only know what you have, but I feel they're pretty easy to take care of," he said.

But Anderson isn't looking for a regular nanny. He's looking for a night nanny, up to three times a week.

"I'm looking for somebody that's going to be available after hours. Say, after dinner around bedtime until about 12," Anderson explained.

Most of that time, his two sons will be asleep. So, why is he looking for someone so late? Does he work late? No. He's just a single father looking to have some sort of a social life.

"I feel that's a time when I can get away from the kids and still be the predominant role in their life," he said.

Anderson isn't the only one looking for one of these night nannies.

The owner of a company called Your Child's Nanny, Kari Shafer, said, "I would say that night nannies are something that's increasing rapidly as people have new needs for nannies during all different times."

Shafer says one out of 20 families asks for someone to care for their kids at night, and for many different reasons. Many times, these nannies are actually newborn specialists needed to help parents deal with the late-night feedings and changes.

"Most of the families we work with are really just calling us as a last resort, [saying], ‘Ahh, I need help right now. I'm desperate to get some rest,'" she said.

Your Child's Nanny recruits nannies from Utah to move to other states. She says some of these jobs require newborn specialists to stay awake during night hours, but others are allowed to sleep until the kid wakes up.

"It really depends on the individual needs of the family," she said.

But, other nanny agencies say these positions can be hard to fill at times because it's hard to convince nannies to take a late night job at the same pay a daytime job would provide.

E-mail: pnelson@ksl.com