nanny vs day care

I took my girls out of the day care they were going to and now am wondering what to do next.
I'm due in about a month so I've got to move quick on this. My two thoughts now are: either send them to another day care or keep them at home and hire someone to help me out. I will be staying at home till the new baby is 15 months old. If they go to day care dh will drop them off on his way to work in the morning and I would pick them up. The one I'm thinking of is really near where we live so I could do that while on a walk with the new baby. Financially I think it will come out to be about the same amount of money either way.
So ladies, help me out. Why did you choose what you chose? What are the pros and cons of each?
Thanks for your collective knowledge.

 

I had a nanny from the time I went back to work until very recently, full time. I chose this option because I work from home and liked having them here with me, plus they were preemies and I didn't want them to be around too many germs, especially that first winter. And it was convenient not to have to drop off and pick up.

We just switched them to 3 days daycare/2 days nanny in mid-February. I could just sense they needed to be around other children regularly, and I was right. They are having a blast at daycare. I do realize you can have a nanny take them to playgroups and such, but our nanny is not a good driver so that wasn't an option unless I found a new one. And to find a new one who is a competent driver, etc. was going to end up costing us more than daycare (current nanny is DH's niece and inexpensive).

So I guess I currently have both options, and I'm liking it this way for now. We'll evaluate again for the fall, as it would be cheaper to do 5 days daycare once they are potty trained. And they can go to the preschool room once they are potty trained.

 

When I was looking into my options before the twins were born, I explored several different options. I looked at in-home daycares, nannys and day care centers. I liked my options with the center the best. As I thought about having 1 person responsible for caring for them as opposed to the staff in a center, I thought about what I would do if that person got sick. In the in-home care option, they have a network of others moms that take over if they can't, I didn't like the disruption for the kids, getting to know a new person, etc. With a nanny, if she was sick, then I would have to take the time off from work. With the center, if a teacher was sick, they didn't come to work and another teacher covered for them (my center had regular teachers and then part-time teachers and students in a local Early Ed College program). The other thing I thought about was socialization. They would definitely get more interaction with other kids at the center. Kids of differing ages. I loved the center I chose. They were so good to my kids and my kids loved it there. They had relationships with ALL the teachers in the school and with the kids. I saw them playing with the older kids and as they got older, they would check in on the babies. I have to say, we had a terrific day care experience. My kids didn't get sick a lot (they still don't) and they are pretty social. I cried the day I took them out (to become a SAHM).

I'm glad you took them out of the other center. I would go check the one nearby and see how you like it. With me, I just knew when I had found a place for my kids. There were two that I really liked, but this one just seemed more homey, the other one was a chain. I think that at your kids age, a center might be good for them. They will be interacting with other kids and get a "preschool" experience there. Only you know for sure, but go check it out and go prepared with questions for them to see how their child care philosophy compares to yours. Good luck!!

 

Since we are from NC and moved to NJ, we don't know that many people around here for nanny referrals. And I didnt' want to put an ad in the paper or go through an agency without any referrals. I did stay home with the girls until they were 15 months old. At that point they were definitely ready for interaction with other kids.

As far as day care goes, we looked at 12 different facilities. And, around here at least, you get what you pay for. The one that we liked the most had a really long waiting list. So we put them in our 2nd favorite and the girls did fine there. Then, luckily, 2 spots became available in November and so we switched them. I can tell a difference in the girls. They LOVE going to "school". I feel so good about it.

My advice would be to look at a bunch of different options now, that way if you find a day care that you love, then you can go ahead and put them on the waiting list.

A nanny might be good as well, since you will be home with her. I was just nervous about having a complete stranger in my home.

Good luck and let us know what you decide!

 

Hi- With my first son ( who is now 4) I had several friends that hired Nanny's. I ended up doing the same. Put and ad in the paper- interviewed - the whole nine yards! I found a wonderful women. She was great! Only issue that was good and bad was she did not drive. I knew I would have another child (oops who would of thought I'd have twins) so I wanted her to drive him to pre school when the time came. After about 1.5 years and after the twins were born dh and I decided we could not trust her to care for all 3. She was great and had 6 kids (older) herself but I felt she was just to scattered. Maybe I was just to contolling and nervous. after our twins were born so early dh decided to work nights and care for them during the day. I know this may not be an option for you.

I looked into daycare settings and felt sick about them. I just could not do it. My older son now goes to 3 year old preschool 2 hours 2 days a week. we may find a prescshool that takes 3 year olds all day when the twins are 3 so dh can go back to first shift. That's another year and a half!

I think it is really a personal decision. Go with you gut. I know when I went the nanny route- I could tell as soon as I talked to the people on the phone if I'd even consider them. I have a list of interview questions if you want to PM me. If you can find a great center go for it. They have many advantages.

As far as price goes I think you would end up paying less at home. For one child I paid $7 an hour. I'm not sure what I'd pay for 3. Also ask the person- if you go the nanny route- how much they would charge for 3 children. I was SHOCKED when a few women wanted $18 and hour for 1 child. I had to stop myself from laughing out loud! I ended up paying ours a bonus every 6 months- that way I did not have to worry about raises. The bonuses went up every 6 months.

Also- you can do a background check on line before you hire her. It cost about $50 to put an ad in our local paper, and $10 for the background check. I got over 50 responces. If you don't find anyone- you can always go the day care route. Like I said it is such a personal decision. I think a lot depends on your job and the flexability... Mine is very flexable. At first I stayed home for a few days and let her take over- I'm so glad I did that. After that I'd pop in when I could at various times- to keep her on her toes! Only to find out she was GREAT!!

Best of luck!

Jenn

 

We chose daycare without really considering the nanny option, because we knew we had an excellent daycare available to us -- our nieces had gone there and loved it, and it was very highly respected. I hated the thought of hiring a nanny (the actual hiring process, I mean), and I also thought that as long as my kids weren't going to be with me anyway, I would rather have them with other kids and with professional teachers who could offer a lot of enrichment activities. It all depends on the quality of what you have available, and also how nervous you are about germs. My twins were full-term and I wasn't all that worried about them getting sick (which they have, but not seriously) -- I figured better now than in kindergarten.

Other pros and cons are:
With the center, it's not your problem if the teacher is sick -- they cover it somehow. A nanny can call in sick and leave you in the lurch.
On the other hand, if your kid is sick, they often can't go to daycare, but usually a nanny can still come.
A nanny can obviously provide more personal attention than a daycare teacher who has (at best) a 1:4 ratio. On the other hand, a nanny may not have as many resources -- art supplies, climbing equipment, a variety of toys, books, etc.

I'm also always amazed at the "experiences" our daycare comes up with -- painting with mittens (which the kids loved!), dyeing snow with food coloring, picking up cotton balls with kitchen tongs -- silly things, but things I would not have thought of that teach the kids a lot about the world.

OK, so you can tell I'm biased in favor of a good daycare, but FWIW, that's my take on it.