My wife and I have a 4 month old boy. We both work full time. While my wife is blessed to be home based, she has to work diligently as she would in an office setting.

For the time being, our moms help us Mon-Friday, however, in 2 more months, when our little boy is 6 months old, one mom will not be able to keep helping us. Ideally, the other mom would like to babysit for us Mondays and Fridays. (We are grateful for any help that we get)

We will need care Tuesday - Thursday. We are trying to figure out what option is best. Please chime in with your experiences and what we should expect to pay for each:

1) Babysitter to come work 9 - 5 PM Tuesday - Thursday (hourly rate for 1 infant?)
2) Live in nanny that can watch him 3 days a week (no clue how much to pay if they live rent free)
3) Day care (last preference). Not sure if we can due Tues - Thurs or if they'll just allow Tues/Thurs

Please let me know what has worked for you in the past/present, as well as what we should expect to pay for the options listed above. If we went with the live in nanny route, she could live here rent free. We have maids come every 2 weeks and the basement has 1,000 SF finished with a large bedroom with a wet bar and nice full bath. Basement has large playroom with 60" smart TV and direct access to the back yard/drive-way.

[Edited on December 19, 2013 at 11:14 PM. Reason : ]

12/19/2013 11:14:03 PM

Find a girl out of high school, but not in college, to be a non-live in nanny. Pay her $12-$15 per hour.

12/20/2013 12:14:03 AM

Daycare will run you between $30 & $50/day.

We were able to do 2 days of daycare per week, but that will probably depend on the center.

Source: 2010-2011 rate for 2yo = $71/week for Tues/Thurs. in the Clayton Area (4-star center)

12/20/2013 12:46:58 AM

wow, this is one of those things that you want to plan for more than two months from needing it.

i think we put deposits down at a couple of daycares the same day the piss stick test was positive.

your best bet at this point is to try to find a day nanny or something. doubt you'll be able to get in a decent daycare (as in not a shitty place like kinder care or la petit) on such short notice.

12/20/2013 12:54:20 AM

we lucked out and have a family friend who stays at home with her 3 kids, and so we pay her to watch ours for half the day. (it works out well financially for us and her)... have you exhausted those resources? Also sometimes people get together with other families with kids and do a "nanny share" type thing. I have no experience with that personally.

12/20/2013 8:10:51 AM

^+1
Came here to suggest Nanny Shares.

[Edited on December 20, 2013 at 9:54 AM. Reason : ]

12/20/2013 9:54:26 AM

You in the Raleigh area? My wife is actually looking for a nanny position. feel free to pm me if you want

12/20/2013 5:03:47 PM

Knowing where you guys live would help form advice given.

12/21/2013 8:47:11 AM

The folks here will take care of him:

4253 Michigan Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90063-3432

12/21/2013 1:04:01 PM

Did you forget you were in the lounge? Get that shit out of here.

12/21/2013 1:24:26 PM

The daycare we use does part time, which is how we started using them.

http://www.casparpark.com/daycare.html

If you want part time daycare, you will have a much easier time, if you are willing to start with mondays & fridays. Once you are in the daycare, you will get preference for switching to Tu - Th.

12/21/2013 4:19:14 PM

find a nurse. seriously.

at the ER I work at probably 6-10 of the younger nurses nanny. Nurses work odd schedules and generally only 2-4 days a week, so they have more flexibility to work out when you need help.

most of them work for between 14-18$ an hour

12/21/2013 8:15:57 PM

We live in Cary, just off Harrison and Weston (Wessex). We are convenient to everything. I could also provide a spare car, so whoever is watching wouldn't have to use their own car/gas.

We need to figure out what we want and what makes sense financially. Had no clue people charge $15-20/hour for a single infant/toddler. I used to get $10/hr to babysit 2 grown children. 2-3 hours of the 8 hour day, the baby will be napping.

We'll have to figure out whether we want daycare versus a nanny. I'm assuming a nanny will cost the same for Tues - Thursday help as a daycare would for Mon - Friday.

12/22/2013 11:39:36 AM

I know someone who actually went to school to become a nanny . Last time I talked to her she was looking for a new gig. I could ask her about it if you are interested.

[Edited on December 22, 2013 at 4:29 PM. Reason : .]

12/22/2013 4:28:58 PM

$10/hr for a babysitter may be fine but you arent looking for a teenage babysitter I am assuming. This person is gonna be dealing with a lot more than just making sure the kid is fine for a couple of hours. If you both want to work you are gonna shell out a good portion of one persons salary for child care unfortunately unless you happen to know someone willing to help out for cheap (family).

12/23/2013 8:53:38 AM

Best option in regards to price is another mom with a kid the same age that will keep both together.

12/23/2013 9:11:54 AM

^ agreed. But then you get into questions of impartiality with the mom caring for your kid. Additionally, since they're not accredited/inspected to the same degree that a daycare is, you lose some margins of safety as well.

It definitely is cheaper though.

That's why we ended up going with a daycare. The cost is outrageous, but at least we have a lot more leverage (and access) to how they care for our daughter. There's a webcam you can watch during the day, emailed, daily reports and a great amount of communication between us and the workers.

It costs a lot though. 4 days/week for $1027/mo

12/23/2013 7:05:21 PM

I'm a nanny now and I hope to get another kid to take care of after my baby is born in March. I have my first aid and cpr certification and 6 years of childcare experience, 3 years in a daycare setting. We are planning on getting a drop cam so the other parent can check in. Not to hijack the thread, but what else other than getting my childcare credentials (which I plan on doing) would make me more marketable to parents?

12/23/2013 7:09:08 PM

My wife works from home, but works and can't slack off. With that said, she can check in periodically and during lunch. If she's on conference calls, she can't go soothe a crying baby.

Ideally, we'd like to pay $1,000/month for 3 days a week (Tuesday-Thursday) from 8:30 - 5:30.

I need to do more research, but I find it hard to pay more for 3 days of care versus 5 at daycare. While we prefer someone work from our house, we aren't against day care or them possibly watching their own kid or another kid (age appropriate).

We have a nice house and don't need them to do chores (we have a maid every 2 weeks). We are looking for someone who is dependable and can grow to love our little guy. When we aren't working, we are very hands on and involved.

12/23/2013 11:21:34 PM

If you haven't read my PM yet you should check it out. for 1000 bucks a month you can DEFNITELY get a nanny for 3 days a week off care.com. They can run background checks and all that jazz.

12/23/2013 11:24:46 PM

Quote :

"Not to hijack the thread, but what else other than getting my childcare credentials (which I plan on doing) would make me more marketable to parents?"

Do you work independently or for an agency? If independently, accidental or personal liability insurance coverage might be nice in case something happens while at another person's house. Just an idea. I don't know if something like this is offered for individuals like it is for businesses.


[Edited on December 24, 2013 at 12:08 AM. Reason : .]

12/24/2013 12:08:04 AM

The next job I get will be out of my own home, and as far as I know my homeowners will cover stuff as long as I only have one kid that isnt my own. More than two and I have to get licensed and inspected I believe. I will research more but I have until around June.

12/24/2013 12:31:50 AM