nanny share maternity leave

TheBorg7of9

Are you tired of hearing about my nanny share yet?  Well, since TTGP is not providing any entertainment, I thought I would post again.   To refresh, we do a nanny share with a neighbor (our 3 year old and 1 year old, their 1 year old).  They will have a baby in June.  The father is cost conscious, so I am worried they will try to say that she doesn't want to use the nanny on maternity leave and that we should pay for the nanny all by ourselves during her leave.  I think that would be unfair.  I want to be prepared in case they bring it up when we discuss the new baby this weekend.  What do you think?

BTW, regarding her new pay, I proposed $2 more an hour for the new kid, bringing it up to $18 an hour for 4 kids (including 3 year old in preschool 4 hours a day). $9 from each family.  Currently, we pay 2/3 of $16 ($10.66) and they pay 1/3 of $16 per hour.  Reasonable?

ErinO21

Is there a chance that the mother would want to keep the nanny during maternity leave, even on a part time basis?  I don't deal with nannies or daycares as my MIL watches my LO, but I can almost guarantee I will be sending LO to my MILs when baby number 2 comes along, at least a couple days a week while DH would at work.  Newborns are hard and from everything I've heard, toddlers (and all kids mostly) thrive with routine. Did you have any child care arrangement for your oldest when your now 1 year old arrived? You could use your experience to say how helpful it was if you did, or  how you wished you had made arrangements if you didn't.  

Beevol

I think your rate hike plan sounds super reasonable. 

I hope for the sake of your neighbor that her husband doesn't try that - I'm on maternity leave right now and if I had my toddler home with me all day I would LOSE MY MIND. Plus, a big part of maternity leave for me is bonding with the new baby, not to mention being able to sleep when the baby sleeps, both of which would be difficult to impossible with a toddler around. 

TheBorg7of9

ErinO21 said:

Is there a chance that the mother would want to keep the nanny during maternity leave, even on a part time basis?  I don't deal with nannies or daycares as my MIL watches my LO, but I can almost guarantee I will be sending LO to my MILs when baby number 2 comes along, at least a couple days a week while DH would at work.  Newborns are hard and from everything I've heard, toddlers (and all kids mostly) thrive with routine. Did you have any child care arrangement for your oldest when your now 1 year old arrived? You could use your experience to say how helpful it was if you did, or  how you wished you had made arrangements if you didn't.  

Yes, I will definitely tell her about my experience. I would never take leave for baby 2+ without help personally.

rklinge0

I was a nanny throughout college. They had a baby when I graduated and begged me to stay. So basically for the 1st 6 months after the new one was born I played mommy. There was no way they could handle a newborn and a 3 year old. So more than likely if your neighbor could pay for it they will use the extra help.