Deciding between daycare and a nanny.

[Mirichka]

My baby is 20 months old and my husband is unhappy at his current place of employment. I am about to sign a contract for a part time job teaching 2-3 hours a day,5 days a week (2 hours teaching 1 hour for planning). The pay for the job will just about cover child care so I could enroll in my prereqs for nursing school (I eventually want to be a midwife) and pave the way for me to take up the reigns as a breadwinner and my husband to become the stay at home parent. I am going to start slowly with the schooling and probably only take one course come fall semester, but this would mean two mornings a week plus I will need time to study....I could hire someone to care for my son 5 days a week and she could clean on the days I stay home in the mornings. The other option is to have him in a daycare on-site at the school I will be teaching at, but they would require he be enrolled for the morning program for all the days he would need care in the afternoon--which is what time I will be teaching. The appeal of the nanny is she also cleans and cooks for baby. I am just not feeling excited to send my kid to full-time daycare set up. I feel he is too young and needs the comfort and familiarity of home. Any thoughts and ideas would be greatly appreciated. I am anxious about leaving him period, but I know we need this as a family.

[babygirlsmama]

Hey there! I am in totally the same boat...ok, not precisely, but similar.

My choices are between a great daycare literally in the same building as my office, and a nanny that I have yet to find, but I have fantasies that could be great.

My thoughts are these...this decision is so specific to your specific choices.

What I am doing is that I am proceeding by trying to try each out and go with my gut. If we did the daycare, I would want to ease her transition. So, I have been visiting with her and spending an hour or so at a time. The problem I have seen is that the place can be a zoo at times. IT may just be a fact of getting that many babies together, but there always seems to be someone crying, and then the other babies chime in. That, and from my observations, the caretakers are awesome, but seem to only be able to attend to the basic needs. There doesn't seem to be a lot of extra time for soothing, comforting, or just playful interaction. It's like the place is often just on the verge of crisis and all the kids are on the verge of crying. Also, it seems overstimulating -- lot of noise, music, noisy toys, etc. It adds to the general feeling of chaos.

Then again, there are times that it is calm -- my concern, however, is what would happen if my baby was the crying one and nooone comforted her. That idea just kills me.

I also have mixed feelings about a nanny -- but that seems more consistent with maintaining a strong attachment to a few primary caregivers. I am going to seriously explore this option as well....but it so depends on who the person would be.

I don't have much to offer in the way of advice, except to try each out as best you can and go with your gut!

Good luck!

[babygirlsmama]

I should add that right now I have yet to decide, but something that matters to me is the environment -- ie where is my baby spending her day, and it it a peaceful, calm, fun environment. The daycare can feel fun at times, but I have misgivings about it being stressful. So, even if the caregivers were the most wonderful, and she was getting constant attention, there is still the fact that she's spending her day in the middle of a circus.

[texmati]

having a great nanny can be great. We had a great one, and it was awesome! She was always on time, ect. We are not estatic about the new one.

Just remember, that with a nanny, you'll be responsible for being her boss as well, pay checks, taxes, covering for her when she is sick, late, car breaks down, ect. Also, you'll be responsible for training her, following up, making sure that she's doing her job the way that you want her too.

[fireHC11]

My son is 16 months and we've gone with a part-time nanny since 5 months. We've been through 6 or 7 different nannies (college kids). I appreciate the variability of activities a nanny can provide. My son gets to go to different parks, feed ducks, and go to the beach; sometimes, they do more mundane things like laundry (hers, not mine), playing with friends, and errands. Usually he spends the day out and about, which is great for me because when we're both home, all our home toys are still new and exciting.

The real consideration is cost. What's it worth to you to have one-on-one attention? What would you pay for your baby to have that?

It was worth it for me.