Are you keeping your nanny during mat leave?

muybueno · April 2016

I realize this will apply to a small subset of this board- but maybe others are in my position.

I have a FT nanny that takes care of my boys at the house every day. I work from home and have my own consulting business. As such, I don't have paid maternity leave. No complaints- I love my set up.

If I take maternity leave, I will not be making any salary so it's harder to justify child care during that time. However, I would never expect my nanny to take unpaid leave from her job during my maternity leave- I'd expect her to try to find another family and move on. Therefore, I'm thinking that I'll continue to have her work during my leave and I would work just enough to cover her salary. That would put me working about 8 hours per week, which is do-able. That way, my boys will also have the continuity of their nanny and all their daily activities, rather than suddenly staying home all day with me while I breastfeed and shuffle around the house.

Others that employ a nanny- how have you worked this during past maternity leaves?

TwandaFTG · April 2016

Not in your boat but if you are happy with her then I would do what it takes to keep her! I will be keeping my lo in daycare while I'm at home. I think it will help with the transition and adjustment bc his daily routine will not change too much.

muybueno · April 2016

TwandaFTG said:

Not in your boat but if you are happy with her then I would do what it takes to keep her! I will be keeping my lo in daycare while I'm at home. I think it will help with the transition and adjustment bc his daily routine will not change too much.

Yeah, I haven't known anyone that's pulled their kiddo out of daycare during maternity leave. For the reason you pointed out and also because you can't expect the daycare to hold the spot.

hellopartyof5 · April 2016

Yes I will be keeping my nanny, but he also happens to be my husband. I think he would be most disgruntled if he was fired :-p. In all seriousness, I think 8 hours is completely doable. I'm considering putting my DS in part time preschool once lo is born so we can have some downtime and he gets to do fun activities.

shevaCC · April 2016

A good nanny that you trust and that fits into your family is hard to find! I would keep her. I LOVED having the continuity of DD in daycare while I was on maternity leave with DS. We're going to have to keep the kids in daycare this time to not lose their spots.

rspalding001 · April 2016

no Nanny but I also intend on sending our DD to day care while on leave like @TwandaFTG said.

muybueno · April 2016

nauticallife said:

Yes I will be keeping my nanny, but he also happens to be my husband. I think he would be most disgruntled if he was fired :-p. In all seriousness, I think 8 hours is completely doable. I'm considering putting my DS in part time preschool once lo is born so we can have some downtime and he gets to do fun activities.

Ha! Yeah, be a good "employer" and keep him around.

I think 8 hrs is do-able too. I know that the post-partum period is no joke, but our nanny works 45 hours a week. Surely I can find 8 hours out of all the time she's here. Or even a couple hours on the weekends when DH is around. This is assuming the babe and I are both healthy, of course.

TrulyBlessed22 · April 2016

Same as some others, we do not have a nanny but the plan is to send DD to daycare while I'm on leave and I would honk that's somewhat similiar. As you mentioned, and I agree, I believe most kids accustomed to a daily routine of daycare and/or other activities would be bored at home with their parents caring for a newborn baby. Unless there is a financial reason to keep them home it's my opinion that everyone benefits from keeping their lives as unaltered as possible.

We we may pull DD out for an extended winter break but that would be the max.

atcwag · April 2016

Similar, but different situation in our household. DH and I have overlapping schedules. Our sitter comes to our home 3-4 days/week for 3 hours/day. No summers.
We will not be having her come when I'm on mat leave.

talkthewholetime · April 2016

I'm pulling my kid from daycare, or seriously dropping her hours/days to maybe 2 mornings/days a week.

BUT, I'm taking 11 months. If I was taking 6/12 weeks or something like that, I'd keep her. They also wouldn't hold her spot if I pulled her completely, I think you can drop down to 2 days.

yosemite2018 · April 2016

I'm not in your situation but a good friend is pregnant with #3. She had a nanny for #1 when she was on maternity leave with #2 but she basically offered her as much time off as she wanted. I think the nanny cut down her hours slightly but it was actually really helpful for my friend adjusting to having 2 kids and definitely made the transition easier for the older kid.

aquasocks · April 2016

If I were you then I would keep her, but
let her know that it would be a great time for her to take some unpaid time off and go on vacation, visit family, or whatever.

lajoliedreamer · April 2016

I was a nanny when my employer had a third baby and she kept me on. Even while her mom was visiting for a week to help out. I was able to shuttle the two older kids to school, play dates, and other activities so she could devote her time to recovering from childbirth and bonding with the baby. I also cooked for the family as part of my job and kept up that responsibility as well.

So as a former nanny, I say it makes sense to keep her. ;-)

NatashaSprout · April 2016

I am keeping my nanny. I'll be off work from June until February/March but she is invaluable to my program. I wouldn't want to lose her when I go back to work. Not exactly your situation because I will still be paid my full salary so nothing will really change for me financially.

lajoliedreamer · April 2016

I was just reading through some of the other responses and came across the suggestion to offer her time off during that time. It wasn't something I was offered, but I think if you let her know that you are open to her taking off for a vacation or personal time while you are on leave, she would appreciate the consideration.

muybueno · April 2016

lajoliedreamer said:

I was just reading through some of the other responses and came across the suggestion to offer her time off during that time. It wasn't something I was offered, but I think if you let her know that you are open to her taking off for a vacation or personal time while you are on leave, she would appreciate the consideration.

That's not a bad idea. I have her on a salary so she doesn't take unpaid vacation- she accrues vacay days like at a professional job. But I could give her the option to take some unpaid leave if she wants. However, that leaves me w two toddlers and a newborn...wowza.

TheBorg7of9 · April 2016

Seeing as I would like to keep my sanity, there's no way I'd do maternity leave without her.

muybueno · April 2016

TheBorg7of9 said:

Seeing as I would like to keep my sanity, there's no way I'd do maternity leave without her.

Right? I had babies in 2012 and 2014 too, so I'm guessing our kids our around the same ages. I just can't imagine going from working FT to SAH with 3 kids 4 and under.

Having said that, I'm watching my little sister do that very thing right now and she makes it look do-able. Although, she's a lot more maternal than me...

lajoliedreamer · April 2016

muybueno said:

lajoliedreamer said:

I was just reading through some of the other responses and came across the suggestion to offer her time off during that time. It wasn't something I was offered, but I think if you let her know that you are open to her taking off for a vacation or personal time while you are on leave, she would appreciate the consideration.

That's not a bad idea. I have her on a salary so she doesn't take unpaid vacation- she accrues vacay days like at a professional job. But I could give her the option to take some unpaid leave if she wants. However, that leaves me w two toddlers and a newborn...wowza.

That would be quite a handful!

And I love that you have a system where she accrues vacation time. I insisted my employers take care of the taxes for me, but didn't ask for or receive anything further. Wish I had a "momboss" like you! ;-)

roundthree24 · April 2016

We're keeping our nanny while I'm at home. She gets a salary anyway and it wouldn't be fair to ask her to take unpaid time off, unless she wants to (which hey, you never know, maybe she would like to go on a vacation or something, but probably not for that long.) It'll be nice to have her around when the little one gets here!

Cristin343 · April 2016

Having to make tough decisions here!
My 14 month old is supposed to start preschool /infant-care this summer.
now that #2 is coming, I'm faced with either pulling her, or paying for a nanny + preschool. Both are expensive! Around $700 monthly. Not sure what to do.

muybueno · April 2016

Cristin343 said:

Having to make tough decisions here!
My 14 month old is supposed to start preschool /infant-care this summer.
now that #2 is coming, I'm faced with either pulling her, or paying for a nanny + preschool. Both are expensive! Around $700 monthly. Not sure what to do.

Yeah, we have a nanny and on top of it, we send our preschooler to a mother's day out church program two mornings a week. I really want him to have that socialization but I would pull him out if it was breaking the budget. Our nanny plus mother's day out is $2,250/month. More if she works overtime.

DCmama4248 · April 2016

Keep your nanny! But rather than planning on 8 hours/ week the full time, I'd plan on almost 0 for the first half, and 16 for the second! Also, I might even take a slight loss (e.g., work less than 8 hours/week on average) just to keep her! Do what your body and mind are up for!

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