How many infants/ toddler should a nanny care for?

[chcheung]

Hi all,

My potential nanny is a stay at home mom caring for her own 4mos old and I am thinking to join her and have her care for my own 4mo at her home. Which I think it would work fine, however, then I found out that she is planning to care for 3 additional children, so total of 5 children (likely 3 infants and 2 toddlers). I absolutely do not feel comfortable with this, but understanding that daycares usually have 1 to 5 ratio.

She mentioned that her husband can help, but then I am not hiring her husband, am I?

Currently she does NOT have any other child confirmed for her care, so total is still just 2 (including her own). Is it reasonable for me to ask her to keep it to just max at 3 children?

I read that the MoCo Child Care laws that it is max at 3 kids, but then I dont want to bring the LAW out and stuff. Any advice on how to handle this?

[Anonymous]

This is a home daycare, not a nannycare situation. Look up the regulations covering home daycare.

That means that she will set the schedule, rules, time she's open, what she feeds the kids, etc., though I assume she will also let you have a lot of input. She will also decide who she hires as an assistant.

Is that what you want? If you want a nanny, even a share, then look for that.

[Anonymous]

If she's not licensed I wouldn't risk it and I would
Look for more reputable care

[chcheung]

She is not a licensed daycare, she was a live out nanny before.
That's what I am thinking too, it seems risky.

[Anonymous]

chcheung wrote:She is not a licensed daycare, she was a live out nanny before.
That's what I am thinking too, it seems risky.

Exactly Op

[Anonymous]

What I've typically seen is a 5:1 ratio for older children, but a 2:1 ratio for infants and young toddlers. This is not law, but IMO good practice.

[Anonymous]

That isn't a nanny, it's home daycare. If you want a nanny you need to move on. If you want home daycare I would look for someone fully in compliance with the law.

[Anonymous]

It sounds more daycare vs. share to me.

Your child will be exposed to more germs & they will have to wait their turn every now + then for feedings and diaper changes.
Plus they will probably be left to cry it out every day for their needs.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like a daycare to me too and I would not do it. A SAH who was a live out Nanny previously just watching her kid and mine would be fine.
Our daycare ratio was 1:3 for kids 2 and under. ( where we took DD) and we are in Moco

[Anonymous]

No way. That's a recipe for disaster.

[Anonymous]

Yikes. In Fairfax County it's 1:4 for infants, then increases gradually until it goes to 1:8 when they are around 3 years old.
In Arlington county, infant ratio is stricter at 1:3.

In your case, unless you can't afford say $1100 a month for a real licensed or permitted inhome daycare, I would not take this route.

I'm a mom of a baby and a preschooler. Babies are easier because they sleep a lot but even watching 3 babies who are not yet mobile is no joke. If a mix of infants and toddlers my bet is that she would spend more time attending to the toddlers because they can't yet play by themselves too long. Babies are easy to ignore or stick in a swing or jumperoo. You don't want that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No way. That's a recipe for disaster.

Agree. sounds highly unorganized, too many babies/toddlers for one person, husband helping (for real!??!), her own baby (natural priority), and general germs and lack of attention per child. All unappealing to me but she'll be taking in the dough if she gets $10/kid....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a home daycare, not a nannycare situation. Look up the regulations covering home daycare.

That means that she will set the schedule, rules, time she's open, what she feeds the kids, etc., though I assume she will also let you have a lot of input. She will also decide who she hires as an assistant.

Is that what you want? If you want a nanny, even a share, then look for that.

Mostly agree. But notice how everyone wants to have someone to call a nanny, even when they don't.