Nanny share: Should hosting family pay less?
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copyedster
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Sorry if this has been asked before... How do those of you who share a nanny handle the cost breakdown between families? Our arrangement is 100% at Family X's house, with both babies being the same age (they're a week apart). Up til now, we've shared the cost 50/50, but the other family has started asking us to chip in for random things (e.g. batteries for the swing). I'm more than happy to do this, but I want to make sure that I'm proactive in offering the right thing. I don't want them to resent us for not chipping in more. Trouble is, they don't know what's fair either.
I'm thinking the hosting families incur the following costs: batteries, utilities, toilet paper, laundry costs (for things like blankets; they don't do any of our kid's clothes), other things that I'm overlooking??? The flipside is that we have the inconvenience of adding 30 mins to our commute each way, every day. What do other families do? Thank you!!! |
Anonymous
| The host family does incur a number of costs, like you mention, but they also have benefits - such as not having to pack their kid & the kid's stuff up each day. Any help around the house that the nanny provides is to their household - not yours. You chipping in extra batteries, supplies as requested by the nanny, and whatever gear your kid needs (pack n play, sippy cups, etc) is sufficient. It's not all a loss for them, so don't feel bad. |
Anonymous
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Also, make sure you bring some of your toys over. When I was a nanny in a nanny share, it was always a problem and host family got frustrated that only their toys got worn down or broken.
Also, in my nanny shares, I've never had much time to do any house work so I wouldn't consider that a perk. Nanny share are busy and a lot of work. |
Anonymous
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Every single nanny share situation is different. Each family can weigh for themselves the pros and cons.
What you assume is a pro, isn't if mom works out of her home office fulltime in a very small house. She needs her child elsewhere to get her work done. |
Anonymous
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I think it makes no sense that the host family is asking you to cover the cost of batteries for a swing.
How cheap can you get....??! Sure, the host family's home has add'l wear and tear, but there are benefits too. They have someone in the home during the day which is a plus because you can care for pets, if any as well as bring in any packages that get delivered. Also, their child gets to stay in their own home which is huge. So to answer your question...No, the host family should share the cost equally here. |
Anonymous
| Never been asked to pay extra as a guest family. The host family has more advantages in the share so it doesn't make sense for the non-host family to pay more. |
Anonymous
This. The host family doesn't have to travel or get as organized in the morning. |
Anonymous
| Some parents prefer to take their child to someone else's home, especially if their house has a poor layout, or is small, or a parent works at home. |
Anonymous
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To the point about organization, the host family DOES have to stay VERY organized to ensure the home is clean and orderly for both babies and the nanny. No leaving the dishes in the sink or leaving the toys out after junior goes to bed or leaving the mail scattered on the sofa because if you do you're leaving a mess for the nanny and both children. Not cool. I was the full time host and felt the pros of hosting outweighed the cons, but don't think for a second there isn't additional work that comes with hosting. Oh, and higher utilities because the AC and heat will run all day. (Again, totally worth it in my opinion, and I don't even know how to begin calculating the additional cost of this).
In my situation I asked the other family to bring a pack of wipes every other week (I estimated we went through a package every week). That and the nanny's wages were the only costs we shared. The other family brought their own high chair, food, bottles, and any special blanket/pacifier, basically anything they wanted their child to have that I didn't have (I had a place for both children to sleep safely in separate rooms). |
Anonymous
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I'd prefer to drop my kid off, WAY less wear & tear on my house. I think it is more than fair to split the cost of repairing or providing toys, books, batteries, etc.
Do you know how beat up cherry wood cabinets get by 2-3 kids ramming their plastic trucks into them? No thank you. Host family loses over the higher cost of heating, cooling, electricity, water bills, etc. but wins over intangibles like convenience of nanny coming to their house. (mainly just morning drops involve some degree of planning/prep). |
Anonymous
| ^ thank goodness there are others who feel the way you do pp. I LOVE hosting and would pay more if I had to in order to remain the host. Schlepping the kids seems like zero fun. |
Anonymous
| Has anyone ever had a nanny share nanny go to non-hosting family's house early to get kids around and then bring them to hosting family's house? |
Anonymous
Of course. |
Anonymous
I asked because I've never heard of a nanny doing this, but was talking with two families who each expect it (rotating houses every two weeks). They're deciding whether nanny would also be returning kids to the non-hosting house at the end of the day. This seems like it would be more convenient to the parents, yes, and nanny would get a few more hours. However, it also seems like that's eliminating the natural times that the parents might discuss issues, instead wanting nanny to be the go-between. |
Anonymous
I certainly hope they respectfully ask the nanny if she's interested. If the price is right, she'll probably say yes. |