I'm going to start WAH again soon and we are hiring a babysitter for the mornings to take care of DD, who will be 4 months when I start. The babysitter will be in our home while I'm working. I haven't yet decided if I will have her bring DD to me when she needs to eat or if I will pump. FWIW, DD is a fast nurser, usually less than 10 minutes per session during the day.
If you had a similar situation, tell me about it. Anything you wish you had done differently or any ground rules to layout?
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
My mom is our primary caretaker. She would come get me when I used to nurse and watched DS in our home. If I was busy she would bottle feed and I would pump after whatever it was I was doing for work.
After we weaned, she's been watching him at her place or our house depending on the day.
grapefruit / 4400 posts
We have Grandmacare and I WAH. I would nurse C whenever she was hungry, because I enjoyed the time together and it was less of a hassle than pumping. The only exception was if I was busy/in a meeting like @mrsjyw-- then I would have a bag of defrosted milk and my mom would warm it up and feed it to her, then I'd pump later. I would usually put her down for naps, too, but my mom would be in charge of entertaining her for the most part (and changing diapers! yay!).
Now that she's older/a toddler, I get her breakfast ready in the morning and my mom feeds it to her, they take a walk, my mom will does diaper changes, we all eat lunch together, I put her down for a nap, and she'll play with her when she wakes up. They don't do any classes/outings that require a car, because my mom doesn't feel comfortable driving with her anywhere.
blogger / coconut / 8306 posts
We were in the same situatoin when Chloe was about 6 months old. I hired a college student to watch her twice a week in the summer months.
I was pretty flexible on how things would go while S watched Chloe while I worked at home. Considering I *was* home, I could help if Chloe was extra fussy. She was eating solids at the time, so I always told S I'd make Chloe's lunch but preferred if she fed her. I had to eat, so I'd make myself something & Chloe, too, then eat my lunch in my office. I didn't ask her to, but our sitter always put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher for us and picked up Chloe's toys. I didn't ask her to or expect her to do any kind of housework; She just picked up after Chloe.
I toldher up front I was ok with them playing outside or going for a walk, and didn't need her to run it past me first. I could tell what they were doing by hearing the door shut or the garage opening.
I didn't have any rules on discipline. At six months, there wasn't really anything to discipline her on! It was a different story last summer, when Chloe was 18+ months. We handled things like discipline as we needed to.
It sounds like my beloved sitter is taking a job in the medical field this summer, and we have a back-up plan in the works, but it's going to be weird having to spell out all the rules! We really just took things in stride and I'm so used to the way S did everything! I don't have a single complaint about her & consider the girl our family now.
pineapple / 12566 posts
@Mrs. Jump Rope: that sounds like a good situation and a great relationship with the sitter. We don't have any grandmas nearby, so it has to be a stranger. I wouldn't have the babysitter do housework at all (other than dishes into the dishwasher).
@mrsjyw: @HabesBabe: good points about BF. Having DD brought to me would probably be much more efficient than pumping, unless I have a really urgent deadline.
grapefruit / 4400 posts
@lamariniere: And if you worked in a normal office, you would have pump breaks, anyway... that was my logic for nursing her and then sneaking in a few cuddles and snuggles 
grapefruit / 4400 posts
@Mrs. Jump Rope: How much did you pay S, if you don't mind my asking? Was it the same rate as you would pay a caregiver if you weren't home, or a little less, since you could help out?
blogger / coconut / 8306 posts
@HabesBabe: We asked around to see what the going-rate was for babysitters in our area, and chose a price in the top of that range. We paid S the same rate when we'd go out for date-nights, but would always give her a little extra just because we couldn't get change from the ATM 
We did look on care.com and the going-rate was $16+/hour for one child. We definitely didn't pay that.
clementine / 825 posts
@lamariniere: I WAH and hired a nanny that I found on care.com. I mostly nurse DD but I make 2 bottles per day as well for the times that I am on calls. The nanny will always check with me before giving a bottle. She handles most of the diaper changes and plays with her. I play with her and put her down for naps as much as I can. I think if you're both flexible and communicate with each other it can work really well. It's a partnership!
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