Childcare for 3 kids
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
But 2 nannies? |
Anonymous
Agree. My older 2 ride the bus to school (we do extended day so one parent runs out for pickup around 5) and preschool for the youngest is in walking distance of our house. Helps that DH and I both work from home, so no commutes to factor in. But we’ve built our lives around not needing to spend a lot of time in the car. I used to have a long commute and daycare drop off to manage, and it sucked. Some people don’t seem to mind though. |
Anonymous
| If your nanny is currently doing extra non childcare work like meal prep, cleaning, laundry - then I would absolutely talk to her about dropping some of that when the third comes along if you plan for her to juggle all three. Those are the things that will have to be outsourced separately or at least some slack allowed depending on how the day went. |
Anonymous
Oh I misread yeah that seems crazy |
Anonymous
I have heard of this in NYC where people live in small spaces and consequently kids have a lot of classes and things outside the home. I also hear of it when parents both work long hours and there is a morning nanny and afternoon nanny, or a weekend nanny. I don't hear about suburban kids with two nannies at the same time during the day. That seems odd to me. |
Anonymous
Oh in my opinion this is different then two nannies at the same time. I think having an afternoon nanny in addition to a weekday nanny is a little much though if no one is working on the weekend. |
Anonymous
|
I have three - both of us work full-time -- Kids ages 6 months, 3.5 and 5
5 year old -- In K, goes to aftercare 3.5 year old - in pk3, goes to aftercare 6 month old - in a nanny share, nanny and family come to us. DH drops off the older two at separate schools on his way to work while I wait for the nanny to show up to take #3. One us of picks up the older two depending on whose day finishes first. |
Anonymous
I live in the city and the local urban school isn't great so we go to a private thats 2 miles (but a 12min drive) away. So with the loading and unloading time that's 30min round trip each way in a car seat and that's just for one kids school. The preschooler is in half day a mile away, so he gets dropped off in the same swoop (making the morning drop offs take about 45min total) but his pick up is separate and all in takes another 30min door to door because i have to go in, sign him out, check his stuff etc. We live in Chicago so that 2 mile walk round trip is miserably cold many months of the year so its a drive until the weather is nicer. Then pick up for the older is at 3 so that's another 30 min round trip. A few days a week the kids go swimming or something to get out a lot of physical energy which is also close but also a drive when weather is bad...and baby would just be in a carrier for most activities anyways. So whether its car, stroller, or strapped to me, if we are out of the house he's contained and not able to explore his own world on the floor. (please don't pick at the specifics like "why can't the baby swim too"...i'm just using the example of just our close by schools with 2 kids on different schedules for pickup to show you how even that could easily turn into 2 hours in a car seat for a baby every day. |
Anonymous
| My third was born when older sisters were 5.5 and almost 3.5. By the time he was 6 months, both older kids were in school full time. The nanny only had 3 kids for less than 3 hours per day abs she managed. The older kids did not have activities except for swimming on the weekend and soccer one day a week. It wasn’t hard. The first 6 months were a bit more difficult because the middle child was in part time preschool, but I was home for 3 months and worked part time for another 3 months after that. It might have been harder if the kids were closer in age. |
Anonymous
Wealthy people have one designated nanny for each child. You see it a lot in zLos Angeles. |
Anonymous
|
I have 3. I think the most stressful part with childcare was securing an infant spot before going back to work. My 2&3 year old go to the same daycare and my 2nd grader is about 15 mins away from them and we use before and after care.
Not going to lie though , mornings and afternoons are chaotic as hell right now. |
Anonymous
+1. I know lots of families who added a second nanny when the third was a newborn. It’s not unusual at all and great if you can afford it. |
Anonymous
+2. Even with two (a 4mo and a preschooler) we provide one-on-one care. |
Anonymous
| We did daycare until we had a 3rd and then got a nanny. Nannies definitely handle more than 2 kids easily. The best Nannies have worked at daycare centers or schools where they have to watch lots of kids at a time. Then 3 seems easy. |
Anonymous
| Pickup/drop off and extra curricular activities are definitely the hardest part when you have three kids. I didn’t want to limit my older child’s activities after school or have the baby strapped in a car seat for hours so I hired an afternoon babysitter to stay with the baby for a couple hours every afternoon. Minimal expense for a much smoother and healthier day. |