- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
June 2012 Moms
Samiantha101
member
Au Pair or Nanny
Samiantha101
member
We've recently begun to realize the significance of the old saying "It takes a village to raise a child". Unfortunately, my husband and I don't have a village. In a couple months, once we move and I'm gainfully employed, we're considering hiring an Au Pair or a nanny. Being first time parents, we're not really sure how to go about this. I'm just looking for some advice/tips from those who have had experience with this before. I've done a brief search on Au Pairs and their costs. They're on the higher end of what we can afford. What was your nanny or Au pairs duties? What were yours? What hours and how many hours did your caretaker provide? What were your costs? Did you find it more beneficial than daycare? TYIA
Warning
No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Au Pair or Nanny
We have a nanny (although I just say 'babysitter') who comes to our house while I work. We found her on sittercity.com. Long story short, my grandma needed some care, so the lady has been working for my grandma for a year. We just transitioned her to become our baby sitter-- which made finding someone on the internet a little less scary. Sittercity is pretty reasonably price ($30-40 a monthish) and you can get criminal background checks on them.
Online, you can set your own $/hour and schedule, and only people who will work those hours for that pay will respond to you, so that worked well for us. It's basically just like match.com but with sitters. Our sitter costs $12 hour- expensive but worth it if you can swing it. Some people pay hourly, and others pay "per week." I would research online to see what the going rate is in your new area. She does the laundry and empties the dishwasher which is super helpful. I think really light housekeeping (like light dishes and laundry) is pretty typical- just a little something to do while baby is napping.
I really love it- I don't have to wake her up and take her anywhere, she is the sitter's one and only charge, so I don't have to worry about other kids or germs, and it is super convenient. The only downside is the expense. Once DD gets older I might look into a nanny share type situation to cut down on the cost.
Hope this helps.
I looked into hiring an au pair, but it was just too expensive. Plus we have a really, really small house and having another adult live with us full time wouldn't really work out for our space. So, DD goes to daycare M -W, and we have a sitter watch her while DH and I work from home on Thursdays and Fridays. It is much more expensive than daycare, but the benefits outweigh the costs. As pp said, it's so easy Thurs & Fridays not to have to rush out the door with her. I also love that she's getting the one on one attention. We found our sitter on care.com. She's been great so far. We pay $10 an hour. She just cares for DD. We have talked about her doing laundry and light cooking, but that would be extra $ and it's just as easy for me to do lanudry throughout the day while I work from home.
I've also heard great things about nanny shares. That's not really an option in our little town though.
FYI - An Au Pair is from a foreign country and lives with you. A nanny is normally from your area and does not (or can) live with you.
Personally for 1 baby, I'd look into either a small in home care center or a smaller day care center. Nannies are expensive. Not only do you have to pay their hourly or weekly wage, you have to pay employer taxes, workers comp, etc. You also have to be willing to withhold their employee taxes and submit those taxes to the proper government agencies. You can either do this on your own or pay a service to do so, which is not cheap. Nannies are usually about 2X the cost of a large daycare center and 4X the cost of a small in home center, at least where I live. Don't get me wrong, I love my nanny and I'd rather have a nanny than a day care center now with 2 kids.
I found our nanny on care.com and she's amazing..
**The Pros to a nanny**
She comes to your house, so you don't have to get the kid(s) ready every day.
The kid(s) sleeps in their own bed, eats at their own table, plays with their own toys.
The kid(s) get sick a lot less, as there aren't a ton of germy kids around to get them sick.
She'll probably keep the house tidy and do the child(ren)s laundry - mine does! You can negotiate other cleaning duties as well. Mine does the kids laundry and keeps up on the dishes throughout the day. She also keeps the house tidy.
Someone is always home to sign for packages!
You know exactly what the kid is eating and playing with, because it's yours.
If your kid does get sick, you don't have to miss work because the nanny will take care of the kid and dispense medication as needed.
Kid gets a lot of 1-on-1 time
**The cons of a nanny/pro of a day care center**
Someone you don't really know all that well is in your home all day every day, when you are not.
The kid doesn't get sick very much, thus not really building an immune system and will get sick *ALL THE TIME* once they hit elementary school.
You don't have to worry about the nanny messing up the laundry, or cleaning something wrong.
If nanny gets sick, you have to stay home because no one can care for the child.
Kid is only getting 1-on-1 time with nanny and very little socialization with other kids unless you have the nanny take kid to social outings, thus risking kid getting sick.
The kid will get a chance to play with toys/educational games that you might not be able to afford or have the room for in your home.
You have to deal with the taxes for the nanny.
Hope this helps! I've used big centers, small in home centers and now a nanny.. and I'm actually going to start looking at preschools next week for the older kid! Phew!