We've been considering doing a nanny share with Olive when she gets a bit older... anyone out there have experience with a share? Would love to hear about your experience!
-
We do a nanny share and love it. We got very lucky that things clicked with the other family and the nanny. We share a nanny with a family in our neighborhood. Our sons are almost exactly the same age so it's kind of like the nanny is watching twins. We switch locations back and forth on a weekly basis, but I have friends who nannyshare and just use one of the homes as the primary location. There were many concerns in the beginning (we started when the boys were almost 5 months old, they're now 15 months), but it's been working really well and has made having a nanny much more affordable. It's also nice that the boys are built-in playmates. For us the keys to making it work are being on somewhat of the same page with the other family on parenting philosophies and having some flexibility.
-
Interesting. I was thinking a Nanny share would be something where you use the nanny a few days and someone else uses the nanny the other days.
With this type of nanny share, do you split the cost of the nanny or are you still paying the same amount you would pay if you used a nanny for just your child/children?
-
@mediagirl: You can either share one nanny for two kids on every day, or alternate days for two different kids. Or any variation in between.
Either way, you split the cost of the nanny between two families... it can be a big money saver!
-
I had a very good friend who was a nanny. She actually did this for 2 families that lived on the same street for 9 years. She liked the change of scenery. The funniest part though was holiday's and bonus times. One family was very generous and the other was super cheap. She used to complain about the differences all the time. It may be important to get on the same page with the family you share with so that there isn't a discrepancy.
-
I'm bumping this because I'd love to hear from any others that are doing this, know someone who is or is considering it. Again, we are not TTC for a couple years so this is all very hypothetical. Still, I am thinking through our pre-baby plans and what we would do if I decide to work.
I'd rather not put our LO in daycare until they are at least 1 year, if not 18 months. Still, after the cost of a nanny, I wouldn't bring home enough for it to be worth it. The daycare I'm hoping to use is about $800/month. If we split the cost of a nanny with another family, it wouldn't cost that much more than the daycare (assuming $12/hr, 40 hours/week).
What I'm interested in is how parents work out how they want nannies to handle things with both their children. What if you have different parenting styles, approaches to sleep, eating, etc? Especially if they are the same age, it's unrealistic to expect a nanny to have two completely routines. Maybe it would be better to nanny share with a family that has an older child, so there's not that issue with two infants?
-
I'm confused. When you say you share the nanny do you mean that one of the children comes over to the other child's house and the nanny watches them there? Or does it mean that she splits her week and your children get nannied on Mon, Wed and Friday and the other family gets Tues, Thurs and Saturday? This sounds like a great way to save!
-
I am extremely interested in this... especially since I only work 4 days a week (3 days some weeks) and it could be a matter of just chipping in with another family's nanny. I'm just wondering if we can find someone close by enough with a child around the same age.
-
@ecogirl: People do it either way, but I was referring to sharing the nanny with another family full-time. So if the nanny costs $12/hr, both families pay $6 each and the nanny watches both children at one of the homes. I agree - it's a GREAT way to save! It comes out to about the same as a lot of daycares, but I think when babies are so little, there's benefits to being at home and having more individual care. The only drawback I can see is any disagreements or communication issues with the other family.
-
Yes your point about different parenting styles is very valid. I'm interested in hearing the answer!
-
We thought about doing a nanny-share with one of my co-workers, but now his kids are in a daycare they love so we probably won’t do that. The way we were going to work it was to alternate homes/days, so the kids would all come to our house on Mondays and Tuesdays, coworker 1’s house on Wednesday and Thursday, etc. We were going to have the nanny meet us at work to pick up our kids, and then take them for the day (our office is midway between my house and co-workers house). Then, split all the costs equally.
We are looking into maybe getting a nanny for LO’s first few months and are looking at hiring a nursing student from my husband’s University. Apparently a bunch of the nursing students are PT or FT nannies, and it would be nice to hire someone with some medical sort of credentials and education, so that’s an avenue to consider, especially if you would only need PT care.
One drawback might be your state laws regarding employers and taxes (if you hire a nanny directly and don’t go through an agency). The amount of paperwork can be terrible – as are the additional taxes you have to pay, so that’s something to consider as well unless you plan on paying someone under the table. My coworker (the one I was going to nanny-share with) gave up his nanny in part because of the headache of the paperwork and fees, and he is an employment attorney, so he’s pretty versed in the subject area.
-
@mrs. wagon: That would be awesome! Is there a listserv or Google group or anything for your neighborhood you could post on? Or maybe post something on Craigslist?
-
We've had a few friends do this, and it has worked out great for all of them. I think the key is that you need to click with the other family. The friends we know who had done this have shared their nannies with families that they already knew quite well. I would love to do a nanny share w/ our LO, but we don't know anyone who would want to do this with us. Plus, we're moving to an area with an amazing daycare, so we're going to start her there once she hits 4 months.
Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite1
12 comments