Is A Nanny the Right Choice for Your Family?

Going back to work after my son was born was gong to be hard enough, but finding appropriate care for him, within my budget was an even more daunting task. When it came time to find child care for my first son, I did lots of checking around. Working in the field of child development, I knew what I was looking for in care, and I had to balance that with our budget, which wasn't much. In our case, it just so happened that a friend was looking to start watching children in order to spend more time with her own. This then became the beginning of our nanny use. I still get that "Ooo a Nanny" look or remark when I tell people we utilize a nanny for our kids, but in general this school of thought is slowly starting to change.

So is hiring a nanny an option for you and your family? Rising costs of childcare and rising unemployment rates have changed the face of the everyday nanny. Sure there is still the Mary Poppins type woman who lives in your home and cares for every aspect of a child's raising. But more and more, a nanny is either someone in the child development field wanting to care one-on-one for children or a stay at home mom wanting to earn some extra cash. There are several pro's and con's involved when considering the option of in-home care.

Cost of Care:When considering a nanny for in-home care, cost can be a very big factor. Someone with experience and education will, in general, cost more than someone looking for extra cash. I have been able to find some very qualified care givers that were willing to work within my small budget. There are a variety of payment methods people use with a nanny including hourly, daily and weekly rates. One policy we always make clear is that if you don't work, you don't get paid, which helps us have control over our costs. NOTE: I have been willing to hire people who either have their own children or watch other children, which leads to those who are willing to work for less. Granted you can still use your child care costs as a tax deduction you will also want to keep in mind any tax liabilities.

PRO: Can keep the cost of care within your budget
CON: Must be aware of Nanny Tax liabilities.

Quality of care:When you are talking about bringing someone into your home for childcare, you are looking at more focused one-on-one for your child. It's easy to take the children out on field trips such as local museums or just the beach in the summer as well as individualize the meals they receive. One note of caution in this area is to be sure to complete background checks on potential nannies to be sure you are hiring someone you can trust your child with.

PRO's: your child gets individual attention, great field trip possibilities
CON's: must make sure to do background checks, there are generally no other children to socialize with on a regular basis

Convenience: Nanny care is in YOUR home or at the east the nanny is responsible for picking up and taking the children elsewhere. After the first nanny experience we had, there was no way we were going to utilize any other system. Being with a nanny, I can allow the children to be in their own environment with their own toys. There may be days when they are not feeling the greatest and they can sleep in til they want to wake up. I don't need to hustle them around in the morning in order to whisk them off to daycare, which would really make us all stressed in the morning. In addition to the care of your children you may opt to have your nanny do light housekeeping for you as well. My general rule of thumb is that they clean up any messes the kids make during the day, including toys and meals/dishes. Also there are days when they may have a runny nose or slight fever that I can leave them with the nanny and feel they are being taken care of as well as not loose work time. Now the down side is you are at the whim of a person, meaning any appointments and or sick days will require alternate arrangements.

PRO's: less morning stress, children in their own environment
CON's: requires flexibility for nanny's needed times off

One last thing to keep in mind is that nannies will come into your life for a reason and usually only a season. It could be that your situation changes in times you need someone, which calls for a change. Or your nanny's circumstances could change as well. In the past 4 years we have had several come and go as they were with us for only a certain time or their circumstances changes and needed to part ways with us.

We have had very good luck in hiring wonderful nannies for our kids and in our situation, this has been the best choice for us. We are able to control our costs, keep our boys in their own environment for most of the time and there is a ton less stress when it comes to getting out of the house. Our nannies have become like part of the family and I love to see how much my guys enjoy when their nanny arrives in the morning.