Before school only nanny?

[RollerCoasterMama]

I'm trying to figure out the logistics of school for DS (I have at least a year, maybe 2---he's in full time preschool now). I've been trying to figure out how on earth to make it work.

I'm single, but even when I was married I still did 90+% of the drop-off/pick-ups. So this problem is not exclusive to my divorced status.

I had a brainstorm this afternoon and wanted to pick your brains. If I got to work really early, I could beat the traffic and pick him up earlier. The school I like doesn't start before-care until 7:30, so I was trying to figure out how to work things out. Has anyone hired a before school nanny to get there early and get the child up, dressed, fed and off to school? I'm a little afraid to rely on anyone else to make my daily schedule work, but if I could pull it off...that could be an option.

If you've used a before school nanny, what was your experience?
Any idea what they would charge? (We're in a fairly high COL for childcare here.)
Did your kids respond well?
Any cancellation problems?
Did you hire a college kid? SAHM? Through a service?

Any feedback would be highly appreciated!!

[JudiAU]

I think you could easily find someone to cover the hours you need. I've seen postings like this before. Odd hour jobs are often prized by people looking to squeeze a little more money out od the workday.

[RollerCoasterMama]

Thanks Judi!
I hadn't seen those threads in the past...probably because I wasn't looking for them! My search didn't come up with anything useful. It's nice to know this is an option. Even if it doesn't let me send DS to the dream school...it still opens up some good options for scheduling later on. Although I'd need to become *shudder* a morning person.

I'm still curious what is typically paid if anyone uses this option.

It just seems like a better option if I could get off work in time to pick him up from school. He could sleep until he naturally woke up instead of the rush to get ready and he'd be in his own home. He's been in full time day-care or preschool since 9 weeks old, but once he starts proper school, I'd like to be able to pick him up in time to spend some time together in the afternoons without our current eat-bedtime scramble. My gut is telling me that with the extra pressures of starting school, this is a healthier option.

[Geofizz]

You've got time to figure things out, and who knows what might change between now and then.

I know some people that do an am sitter. It's not hard to find someone - often it's either a college student or it's a retiree that's looking for a little extra income. A friend has a retiree neighbor that does this for her daughters, and the woman has started cleaning her kitchen and floors daily. The bonus there is that there are no transportation issues because it's a neighbor that walks over.

Also, our school has School Aged Child Care that's mostly for kids after school, but they do start at 7 am, and they feed the kids breakfast. We also have a local childcare center that does before and after care, delivering and picking up the kids at school. I believe that the before care there starts as early as 6 am, but they will also help the kids get themselves dressed, so they show up in their pjs.

At kindergarten registration, our school was able to give us a listing of all the local licensed childcare options that would do drop off and pickup at the school.

[GoGoGirl]

It sounds like a great idea, if you can make it work!

I saw jobs like this advertised fairly often on our college student job database. I'm not sure how you would get on the database, though...I don't know if the people looking for childcare were affiliated with the college in some way or not. I think a college student would be great for the job; it's hard to fit in a job around classes, but I think this would work well.

[SilverFish]

i'm just chiming in from the perspective of someone who ran a before and after school program at a public school. the morning program was frankly pretty rough on the kids. i mean, we still had a good time, but they were definitely drowsy when they came in the door, and even though we had food available, i don't think many of them ate enough to get them through until lunch... we tried to make it as quiet and relaxing an environment as possible, but being at school from 7 onwards isn't much fun. if you can find someone to come and do the morning routine with your kid, i think they will be MUCH happier. i think your best bet will be a neighbour so that travelling is never a factor, plus it's makes it more worthwhile for such a short time period. i would start asking around now, if you can. if you belong to a church, that might be a good place to find someone trustworthy, as could the pool of parents at your preschool. someone like me who's a SAHM could probably pull it off too... my husband goes to work quite late (9 or 10am) so would stay with our kid until i got back...

i think it is a really great idea, i hope it works out for you.

[RollerCoasterMama]

Originally Posted by SilverFish

i'm just chiming in from the perspective of someone who ran a before and after school program at a public school. the morning program was frankly pretty rough on the kids. i mean, we still had a good time, but they were definitely drowsy when they came in the door, and even though we had food available, i don't think many of them ate enough to get them through until lunch... we tried to make it as quiet and relaxing an environment as possible, but being at school from 7 onwards isn't much fun. if you can find someone to come and do the morning routine with your kid, i think they will be MUCH happier. i think your best bet will be a neighbour so that travelling is never a factor, plus it's makes it more worthwhile for such a short time period. i would start asking around now, if you can. if you belong to a church, that might be a good place to find someone trustworthy, as could the pool of parents at your preschool. someone like me who's a SAHM could probably pull it off too... my husband goes to work quite late (9 or 10am) so would stay with our kid until i got back...

i think it is a really great idea, i hope it works out for you.

Thank you for the perspective. I appreciate it and you've confirmed my gut feeling that it would be less stressful for him to wake up and get ready at home rather than being rushed through it all by me. And if I could counter that by shuffling my hours and getting home in time to pick him up from school...or within an hour of aftercare, it would be an easier transition for him. Officially the hours wouldn't really need to change, but it is different. I know before-care is available, but we already struggle with not enough sleep and waking up earlier wouldn't help one bit!!

[emma00]

I have a friend who has exactly this arrangement. I think she just advertised on a job posting site. The woman who works for her is a retired teacher (I think) who was looking for just few extra hours of work per week. I think she starts at 5am - 9am when she drops the kids off at school / daycare. I don't know the exact rate of pay - but I believe it's on average with the usual nanny hourly rate around here 12 - 14$ per hour. My friend finishes work in time to pick up the kids from school. Good luck - it definately can be done.

[cchrissyy]

I agree, in home-before care beats in-school before care, just because of the drowsiness and privacy of getting ready at home instead of rushed out the door to mathc your schedule. (At least, that's how it seems better in my imagination. I do rush my kids each morning.)

I bet there are good nannies out there who don't start with their main famaily until 8, 8:30, 9, 9:30 and therefore would be happy to get another hour or two paid in their day. that's who I'd look for first, since compared to a college student, a real nanny is more likely to be a stable hire and trained / on time / kid-loving

[RollerCoasterMama]

I just thought of a nice side-effect...the fact of having someone in my house every morning might motivate me to keep things neater! As it is, 80% of what I pay my cleaning lady is the guilt factor--she comes in every couple of weeks so it needs to be all picked up at least that often.
;-)

I think no matter what our future school plans turn out to be, I'm going to keep this idea in mind. One less scramble and rush during the day. And it would let me see him after school and still feel involved in that part of his life.

[pammysue]

I did this in college. I would come to the house, get the child up, dressed, groomed, breakfasted and walk her to school in the morning. I would then pick her up from school and stay with her until her parents came home.

Even though I had to be at the house some mornings before 5am, it was perfect for me. I still had most of the day for my internship and other nanny jobs. If there is a college in your area, I would start there first. Maybe there is a neighbor who would like to nanny share?

You should also think about looking for someone who can work full days occasionally for the days the school is off and you don't want to take time off work. I was paid the standard babysitter hourly rate which was $10-15 (in a high COL/wealthy area 10 years ago).

[Areia]

Another option might be an older lady in your neighborhood. My mom's friend has been doing something similar for a couple of years - she walks down the street to the family's house, gets the kids breakfast and dressed and then walks them to school.

They have a barter system set up - she doesn't drive so the parents take her grocery shopping once a week and in the winter they clear her sidewalk and walk way.