Nanny share newbie please convince me why it's a good choice

[Anonymous]

A nanny share is an unlicensed in home daycare.

[Anonymous]

says who

[Anonymous]

Huge proponent of nanny shares here. We did one with my older kid, then we had our own nanny (2 under 2) and now we're headed back to a share for our younger child.

For us, our own nanny was not financially feasible for longer than the 18 months we did it. So for us, it was nanny share or daycare.

To me, the biggest advantage of a nanny share is SLEEP. Our son is a finicky sleeper. He needed a pitch-black room and a noise machine. That's just not doable at a daycare. Every one I visited had a "well, they sleep when they're tired" attitude toward morning naps. At best, they rolled the crib into a somewhat darker corner when a kid fell asleep. Some kids I'm sure do great with that, but 1) my son would not have 2) even if your kid can fall asleep like that, that is far from ideal.

We hosted - and it's great. No pickup/drop off. Yeah, our place feels a bit like a daycare, but so what? The other family is great. The nanny is great. It's so easy. Find a nanny payroll service (we use and recommend poppinspayroll) and call your homeowners insurance company and ask to add workers comp. It's like $800 a year, NBD. The nanny brought her own food, and the other family brought food for their baby. With just two kids, you DON'T have to agree on everything related to childcare. If one family is sleep training and wants the nanny to help, she can do that, even if she's still rocking the other baby to sleep. You do need to coordinate a bit on schedules, but honestly, that was just not that big a deal. Each family tells the nanny their schedule, and she'll figure out how to coordinate both, and let you know if one needs to be tweaked. There was a bit of an awkward month when one baby was ready for one nap before the other baby, but really, it was fine, the nanny made it work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dear parents,

We are expecting our first child this summer and looking for care options once we both go back to work in Feb 2024. We are new in DC area and one of us is required to travel for work 40%.

Based on my understanding, nanny share requires very close coordination with another family which can be emotionally labor intensive, agree on everything related to child care with ith them, provide food for nanny, insurance, etc. We are not sure given we don't know many people if we will be a good fit for nanny share. Over all it's seems a lot of work.

Could you please share how you went about finding nanny share? Why you chose it, how much you pay and any lesson learned.

For context we are in DC, early 30s, both work full time and will need care when DC is 7 months.

Thanks

Sorry but Nanny share is a terrible option given the fact that you’re required to travel. I’d you can afford a FT Nanny for your child that’s your best bet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dear parents,

We are expecting our first child this summer and looking for care options once we both go back to work in Feb 2024. We are new in DC area and one of us is required to travel for work 40%.

Based on my understanding, nanny share requires very close coordination with another family which can be emotionally labor intensive, agree on everything related to child care with ith them, provide food for nanny, insurance, etc. We are not sure given we don't know many people if we will be a good fit for nanny share. Over all it's seems a lot of work.

Could you please share how you went about finding nanny share? Why you chose it, how much you pay and any lesson learned.

For context we are in DC, early 30s, both work full time and will need care when DC is 7 months.

Thanks

It’s a very bad thing for babies. Reconsider in two years. —Former Share Nanny of many years

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hated the management of the nanny and was so relieved to start daycare. The ratio of 1:3 was what the baby was used to (he is the third kid), and it was so much simpler on all fronts. If you hesitate to do a nanny share, listen to that.

The DC ratio is 1:4 for 8 babies. That’s 8 infants in a room with 2 adults.

Maryland is 1:3. And many good daycares have more staff beyond that. (But yes it's expensive)

[Anonymous]

Daycare stuff is a bunch of inexperienced random people, with rare exception, since they are paid very, very little despite high cost of daycare Anyone can get a daycare job as long as they pass background check. Plus, babies are sick half the time. Private shared nanny is usually a nanny pro with 10+ yrs of experience who makes twice as much per hr and babies get their naps and bottles and playtime and outdoor time with so much less stress, and they hardly get sick since it is just 2 families plus the nanny.

[Anonymous]

sorry, staff, not stuff, haha

[Anonymous]

Share is cheaper

[Anonymous]

Maryland total infants is 4 in Family Daycares. If you want 4 infants you need to hire an assistant. It's the law in Maryland.

I think for centers is 3 infants ,1 caregiver

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who said shares are a good choice,? Nanny shares are for cheap people.

so if you are not wealthy enough to pay $30+ an hour alone you are cheap? It’s one or the other with no middle ground? OP the hardest part is agreeing on schedule as far as daily/weekly hours plus coordinating vacations and holidays. Would you want to host? This would create wear and tear and you would need duplicates of certain baby items. Or if other person hosts you still need to get your baby up and out the door in the morning… you could piss switch off but most Nanny’s prefer one location.

If you aren’t wealthy enough to pay $30/hr, then you’re a daycare family.