Best approach for childcare

[Anonymous]

We are expecting our second child later this year so were trying to plan out the first few years until we start preschool at age 3.

For our first we had an au pair prior to starting preschool.

This time we’re planning on hiring a nanny towards the end of our parental leave.

How long should we keep a nanny? 1 year? 2 years? Should we try to find a nanny share or daycare at some point? Any suggestions on the best approach would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Nanny share with two of your own kids doesn’t really work in my experience. I’d do a nanny and part time preschool for the older until your youngest is 2 or 3 and then an all day preschool for both. Having a nanny with two little kids was some of the best money we spent. So much easier for us as parents.

[Anonymous]

We have used a nanny, and put each child in a preschool for the half year (spring semester) prior to kindergarten. It's worked wonderfully for our kids.

[Anonymous]

We also had a nanny for our 3 kids. All kids started preschool at 3, but it was part time that first year.

Our youngest will start K in the Fall and we just told our nanny we won’t need her anymore after that. It was great and super helpful to have her here helping us even though this last year we were paying full time care for only 3-4 hours of actual work because all 3 kids were in FT school.

I am scared about our transition next year, but we just can’t justify the (quite large… about 50k/year) expense anymore.

[Anonymous]

3 is too young for preschool. It's not a requirement for kindergarten. Many kids I know went close to 4 and they are thriving in public schools now

[Anonymous]

Nanny has pros and cons - needs vacations, sometimes a month- you raise $1 per hour after each year, bonuses at holidays(December)

Daycare home has pros and cons (most stay open, most of them don't follow public schools schedule, care can be from 6am to 6:30pm most places

SAHM has pros and cons - you get tired, exhausted, having regrets is normal

[Anonymous]

If you sent your child to daycare early age like 3, 5 months old they get used to the schedule, routine, directions early and will adjust better at schools.
Our daycare provider is a teacher and our daughter is sweet, fun, smart and follows directions

Choose what is comfortable to you, anywhere, any place they will get love, patience and education, kids are learning all the time.

Play is so important for young ages

[Anonymous]

OP here-

What I’m thinking is nanny from age 3 months to 2 years age to avoid too much sickness early. Full time or part time preschool/daycare from 2-5 years old.

Nanny is going to be expensive so I’m trying to not keep one too long.

SAHM is not an option financially.

[Anonymous]

The sickness will just catch you later.
Kids get sick. A lot.

[Anonymous]

We had a nanny until 3 for both kids. Then home based preschool type place. Yes kids got sick that first winter. But its much easier to manage a sick 3 year old than a sick 6-2 year old in my experience. And a nanny can take care of a sniffly kid that you wouldn't send to daycare. Second kid gets sick more as the oldest brings stuff home too.
I loved that my kids got to nap at home, eat homemade food on their schedule, no drop offs or pickup and nanny watched the oldest when she can home from kindergarten so no aftercare for a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here-

What I’m thinking is nanny from age 3 months to 2 years age to avoid too much sickness early. Full time or part time preschool/daycare from 2-5 years old.

Nanny is going to be expensive so I’m trying to not keep one too long.

SAHM is not an option financially.

This is what we did and it worked well! Littlest goes to K this fall - hard to believe but it flew by.

[Anonymous]

Go the nanny route! It makes more sense financially and if you find the right one for your family it will be so helpful for you to save time (fewer drop offs/pickups, packing lunches and bottles, etc). A good nanny will also help with kid-related stuff around the house (organizing, laundry, cooking, etc) so really helpful with multiple young children. You aren’t missing anything by holding off on daycare/preschool except a quieter/less crowded house during the day

[Anonymous]

I’m a SAHM, not a nanny, but we started part time preschool at 2 and I think it has been hugely helpful. At 2 it was just a few mornings a week. At 3 it’s almost full time and I don’t know how I could match it in terms of development. The other kids are the best teachers.