Anyone here use or consider a night/morning nanny?

rdgove

DD is 14 months old and we're TTC. Hopefully DD and the baby will be around 2 years apart. DH works long hours and we have no family nearby or available to come out to help for a while. Most days, it will just be me and the kids. We're pretty well-off financially, so I suggested to DH that we look into getting a night-morning nanny to help me out a bit. I was envisioning hiring someone to come around 10pm, bring the baby to me to BF during the night, change his/her diapers and rock back to sleep, then get up with the kids in the morning so I can shower, dress, etc. The nanny could get the kids into clean clothes, feed them breakfast, and then I'd take over around 8/9am. 

What do you think? Is this realistic? How much do you think this would cost per hour? 

MammaBear81

We have an au pair and you can have them work whatever hours are best for you.  I haven't had my au pair do "the night shift" but I have a friend who did, and it worked out well for them.  It gave the mom some much needed rest (they had a baby with colic) and she was able to manage the days by herself. I don't know if you have space for a live-in but it cost around $340 per week (for 45 hours of care) all cost included.

allie_smalls07

We have a nanny who has been coming since DD was about 3 weeks old.  DD was severely colic and I was losing it.  Our toddler seemed to be suffering a lot with the transition from only child to older sibling.  We got our helper and it allows me to get out of the house for errands or to take DS to his playgroups twice a week.  I take DS with me wherever I go because he has a ton of energy and needs to get out or he will not take a nap (and trust me you WANT the toddler to nap!).  I'm hoping with spring and summer coming he will be able to get some energy out by playing in the yard more so we won't always have to go somewhere to get the 'ants out of his pants.'  Our nanny comes M-F from 8am-12:30pm and it's a true GODSEND.  I don't know how I would have gotten through the last 6 months without her.  DS would have literally gone crazy if he was always cooped up with me and DD (especially in her earlier screaming days).  I say if you can afford help then go for it!  Our helper is only $10/hr and she cleans the house too and does laundry.  I'm pretty sure that is insanely cheap based on conversations I have had with other moms. 

Another nice aspect of hiring help is that now we have someone else besides our family members that our kids know and love and that we trust if we ever want to go out and leave them with someone.  (Which we never do yet but we talk about it )

Telyco

We considered hiring a mommy's helper to come over a few mornings a week - to play with DS, help with whatever...but DD was so easy that there was no need for an extra hand. We have no family in our area - and my DH works longer hours.

I believe in a mother/newborn bond...and would not hire someone to bring me the baby to feed and then give the baby back to her to rock to sleep. Those are the most precious memories I have of my babies and I would not trade them for anything.

But there were some mornings when #2 would go down for a nice long nap and I would have given anything to take a little snooze with her...but DS was already up for the day. So a few hours of help in the morning would have given me the chance to take a quick nap or take a shower, etc. I also would have liked a hand taking the kids out more - since we very rarely went out with DH. A lot of activities are 1 adult/child so I was very limited.

roundtheworldgirl

Like pp, I have never considered using a night nanny.

I do, however, have a nanny who also does housework in the mornings from 9-1 a couple times a week.  It allows me to go to the gym and run errands in a third the time it would take if I took both babies with me.  She probably spends half the time with one or both kids, and the other half the time cleaning.  I know it's not an option for everyone, but help is very affordable where we live and it makes a huge huge difference.  The house is cleanish and I get a break if I really need it.

mom2cole

I have 3 under 3.5 and I would never consider a night nanny even though we could afford it. I do however have a fantastic nanny during the day to make my life easier.

celiabwatson

In terms of cost it would be a LOT more expensive to have a night nanny, unless it's a live in au pair type like PP suggested. When I used to babysit there was a family who has a dad who is out of town a lot and a mom who occasionally works nights. I would show up around 11, sleep in their bed, wake up with the girls, feed them breakfast and take them to school. I was done by 8:30 or so and had really only worked for about an hour and a half and they paid me $300/night. It was a sweet gig, plus the girls were all over the age of 3 so they STTN no problem. I guess if you're asking someone to spend the night away from home you pay more, just like graveyard shift at a normal job pays more than day shift for the same duties.

jmlushbough

celiabwatson:

In terms of cost it would be a LOT more expensive to have a night nanny, unless it's a live in au pair type like PP suggested. When I used to babysit there was a family who has a dad who is out of town a lot and a mom who occasionally works nights. I would show up around 11, sleep in their bed, wake up with the girls, feed them breakfast and take them to school. I was done by 8:30 or so and had really only worked for about an hour and a half and they paid me $300/night. It was a sweet gig, plus the girls were all over the age of 3 so they STTN no problem. I guess if you're asking someone to spend the night away from home you pay more, just like graveyard shift at a normal job pays more than day shift for the same duties.

That has to be a typo... That's more than most hookers get paid!