Those with nannies
NicoleWI
member
...tell me about it. Good? Bad? Are you glad you went this route? Struggling with what to do once number 2 arrives. Kids will be about 22 mos. apart. I don't love daycare but DD is finally at the point where I think she gets something out of it. And, I have some anxiety about having just one caregiver and not a lot of "rules" to keep things safe. On the other hand, I am very unsure about putting another newborn in daycare. I really never felt good about it until recently even though we have a nice center, and DD was sick ALL THE TIME the first year to the point where it really affected our lives (multiple holidays, vacations, etc affected--nearly ever major event for her whole first year).
Financially, it makes no sense to do one thing w/ DD and another with the baby! Ugh.
Re: Those with nannies
My son had been in daycare, but when I found out we were having twins I hired a nanny. I liked the daycare but I love having a nanny.
He THRIVED under her. His vocabulary went through the roof with the 1-1 care. She is also a teacher and has a lot of experience with infants and toddlers. She is good at taking them out every day and keeping them occupied at home when they are home: art projects, cooking projects, helping my toddler with educational games, etc.
Pros for me: no getting everyone ready in the morning, no rushing to pick someone up at the end of the day. I don't have her do any cleaning for us, but she does pick up after the kids. Cons: if she needs time off, I need to find a backup option (I get one through my work, so actually this isn't a big deal for me). You also have to budget for classes, etc., if you sign your children up for that. And, next year I'll also have to be paying for preschool for my son in addition to the nanny for my twins.
It really will depend on the type of nanny you get. You can get a glorified babysitter or you can get a professional nanny with teaching experience. You'll pay more for a nanny with more experience (and maybe an educational degree) but IMO that is worth it. You get what you pay for.
We have a nanny and overall I'm so happy! I heard horror stories about missing SO much work being in a traditional daycare. On one hand I'm sad that DS doesn't get that much kid interaction but on the other I just love the 1 on 1 attention. I'm not pg again but am torn with what to do when that happens. If I put DS in daycare in the future, do I pull him out when #2 comes? I'll probably keep a nanny through #2. I'm 100% certain I wouldn't put my 3 or 4 month old in a daycare. The choice is so tough. Good luck!
We went the nanny route because we were told that our LO absolutely should not be in daycare (she was 10 weeks early and could have easily ended up back in the NICU if she got sick), however, we had been leaning towards getting a nanny anyway because of the convenience factor.
Our nanny started two weeks ago when I returned to work and we absolutely LOVE having her! She is a live out nanny, and she comes at 8:30 every morning and stays until 6PM. I love that LO has one on one care and that I don't have to deal with packing her and her things up and taking her somewhere every morning. I also love that if I hit traffic or run a little late I dont need to worry about being charged by the milisecond for every minute I am late picking her up.
Our nanny was extremely experienced and is great with LO. I always let her know what milestones LO is working on and she works with her to help her reach them. When she started, my LO was not reaching for toys at all (its one of the few milestones that she is behind on), and after a week with our nanny, she started reaching for toys and is now a pro at it!
As for the lack of interaction with other kids, she is really too young for that right now, and I have tons of friends with little ones who she will get to interact with, so I am not concerned.