Ideal combo in a nanny share

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone,

Looking into creating a nanny share for my 6 month old. What is the ideal age range to consider and why?

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

In my experience, you want another child that is the same age as yours within a few weeks or so. Especially under 1 when the schedules and feeding are so important. After about 18 months, I find they don't need to be as close in age. The age really helps the nanny focus on age appropriate milestones, consistent schedules, the right outings for their age, etc.

[Anonymous]

We much preferred a same-age child--it's easier on logistics (naps, activities) and also on the durability of the nannyshare (if you share with an 18mo, for instance, the other family might opt for preschool in a year and then you have to find a new family, whereas if you start with two six-month-olds, it's more likely that you can align your transition to whatever comes next). My kids started shares at four and six months, respectively, so it was easy to find other families starting then too. Both kids we shared with were within a month of our own kids' ages and that worked really well for our family.

That said, we have plenty of friends who have done different-aged shares and enjoyed those too--that can be more of a sibling relationship, which is especially nice if you think this may be your only child. However, I don't know of any that lasted as long as the younger child needed care so there was an ongoing process of needing to fill the share spot when someone leaves, which can be stressful.

[Anonymous]

I will second the idea that you want a child of similar age. I'm going through trying to find another family right now. Our nanny share partner family is sending their little one to preschool in the fall. There is an 8 month age gap. My son is almost 15 months and the other little one turns 2 in July.

[Anonymous]

We shared for ages w/ multiple families. Definitely worked best when the kids were close in age (i.e. within 6 months or so of each other)