Like every type of childcare, there are pluses and minuses to nanny care. Of course I believe the pros far outweigh the cons but is it the right choice for your family? Here’s a list to help you decide.
Pros
One-on-One, Quality Childcare Of course this is the most important benefit of having a nanny, providing your child with a loving, capable caregiver that’s devoted to creating a safe, happy, nurturing caregiving environment.
In-Home Environment The safety, familiarity and convenience of the home environment is a great plus to kids of all ages. With nanny care, your child will nap in her own bed, have meals in her own kitchen, and play with her own toys. Her daily schedule and routine will reflect her individual needs, not those of a group. And on those days when she’s home sick or school is closed because of snow or a teacher in-service, you won’t have to miss work or scramble to find back-up care. Your nanny will already be there.
No Kid Commute If you’ve ever had your child in daycare, you know how difficult the morning and evening commute can be for them. And you. Children often have to leave the house in the morning way before they’re ready. Simple things like getting dressed and having breakfast are frenzied or put off until they arrive at daycare. You get home in the evening with a hungry child who wants all of your attention but you have to focus on fixing dinner and getting a jump on the rest of the chores piling up. With a nanny, this day-to-day stressor is eliminated. Your child can follow his natural schedule for sleep and meals and the in-home environment supports his natural pace, weather that’s fast, fast, fast or sloooow.
Healthy Environment Daycares are infamous for sharing illnesses. For many parents it can feel like bugs get passed around over and over again. Although nanny care doesn’t make your child immune to sickness, it does greatly lessen the number of viruses your child is exposed to. This is especially important for infants and toddlers who have weaker immune systems than older children. And with in-home care, you won’ be forced to miss work if your child does get sick. A familiar and loving nanny is a great companion for under-the-weather kids.
Flexible Schedule For parents whose work hours don’t fit into the typical nine-to-five schedule, the hours available in other childcare settings just don’t cut it. If you have to pick up your son or daughter no later than 6 PM, what do you do when you have a client dinner, a late afternoon meeting runs over or you have to travel? Many parents hire a nanny because a nanny’s schedule is tailored to fit their individual needs, whatever those needs may be.
Control Over Daily Activities With an in-home caregiver, your child’s day has endless opportunities. Do you want your child to take an art or music class? Learn how to swim? Explore nature through the local arboretum program? Or do you want your child to simply have lots and lots of unstructured play time? Whatever you want your child’s day to be like, a nanny can create it.
Organic Socialization Nanny care doesn’t offer a built-in social network like group care does. However quality nannies understand the importance of social development and involve their charge in lots of great activities. This means your child will make friends in a more natural way. She can play with neighborhood kids, spend time with the children of your friends and family or make friends doing her favorite things; taking a swimming class, participating in a local wildlife program or just going to the park. In group care, your child becomes friends with whomever’s in the group, regardless of interests, social connections or temperaments.
Consistent Caregiver Common sense along with an abundance of research tells us that having a long-term caregiver greatly benefits a child. A nanny often works with a family for years, providing consistent care through the many stages of a child’s life.
Household Support Person Imagine not having to spend the weekend catching up on laundry, not having to stop for milk on the way home or not having to go into work late so you can register your child for swim lessons. Nanny employers don’t have to imagine. By handling the multitude of tasks that keep your household and family life running smoothly, a nanny can lessen the time you spend keeping up and increase the time you spend enjoying your child.
Travel Care If you’d love to have an extra set of hands along on your family vacation, a nanny’s a perfect choice. You can bring along a caregiver you and your children know and trust, someone that can pitch-in whenever you need and can even care for the children of the family you’re vacationing with. Yes, there’s an extra cost involved but for many parents having adult only time with a spouse or friends, one-on-one time with each child and some guilt-free alone time is well worth it.
Cons
No Built-In Social Network When your child attends a daycare, preschool or family care center, there are built-in playmates. That’s not the case with nanny care. A nanny has to make an effort to provide your child with social opportunities by spending time at the park, joining local play groups, etc. Fortunately most nannies want to get out and about too so they’re proactive about creating an active social network for your child.
No Built-In Back-Up Childcare When a daycare or preschool employee is out sick or takes a personal day, the director simply assigns another worker to her classroom. However when you’re the employer and your nanny is out, you have to find an alternative caregiver or become the alternative caregiver. Fortunately there are lots of back-up options for nanny employers. By registering with a center or service in advance, you can avoid a last minute crisis.
No Direct Supervision of Your Caregiver Unlike centers where caregivers are regularly observed by colleagues and supervisors, a nanny works almost exclusively on her own. This can lead to a lack of quality care if the nanny isn’t fully committed to maintaining professional standards. To make sure your nanny is providing the level of care you expect, it’s important to put in place checks and balances and then stay alert for potential problems.
Have additional ideas? Please share them below.
Regarding socializing. For younger babies and toddlers, being with the child care giver IS socializing. Many of them haven’t been left with anyone else ever. The nanny socializes the child, takes the child out into the world on walks, to the zoo, to playgrounds and socializing begins there. To throw a too young child into a room full of wild kids who are also too young to play together are aren’t even at the side by side play stage can be traumatic and is a big mistake, in my opinion. At around age 3 children are ready for this, not before.
Babies and toddlers need one on one care. A crowded day care room cannot give one on one care. They can love and care for every single child, be a great teacher and person, but they cannot give 15-20 under two year olds one on one care. It is physically impossible.
Also, if your nanny or child care giver needs constant supervision you need to reconsider your hiring practices. You should be able to tell by your child’s behavior when the nany arrives and leaves whether the child is receiving love and care. You should be able to tell by the child’s development and conversations with your child care giver what is going on between them. The child care giver should tell you what they did that day and how your child did during the day. Did you check your references? Did the child care giver have many great references from other families? Trust should not be an issue if you did your homework and if your child is happy. If he or she acts withdrawn or other warning signs, you need to find out what is going on.
In the daycare I where I formerly worked, no one ever came down to check on our room. Not once during the entire winter I worked there. The other teachers did things I thought were unacceptable and which I reported to the office. I was the outcast after that, not them. The people in the office are busy with their own work, they tell you the rules and laws when you are hired, but after that you’re pretty much on your own. No one watches over you to be sure you follow the rules and regulations. That is just another one of the blissfully ignorant ideas parents have about day care that make them feel safe, even though it is just not effective.
Having a trustworthy, tested and true one on one child care giver that you get to know and trust over time and experience is really all the checks and balances you can truly have or trust in, because a day care is only going to tell you the good and a good nanny is going to tell you the facts and the truth.
Thanks for your reply. I would like to say there are some great daycares out there. I think nanny care is a great option but it’s not one that’s right for everyone. High quality care is the key in every setting.
You mention no backup childcare as a con if the caregiver is sick. However, if the child is sick, daycares require them to be kept home…and all the kids in daycare are bringing in their family’s illnesses and passing around their germs, so daycare kids get sick often! Yes, this helps build a stronger immune system, but in terms of coverage nanny care is a big plus…nannies take care of sick kids without a blip!
Janice,
Daycare illness. A huge complaint. I’ve added it to my list. Thanks!!
In daycare, when a child gets a fever (fairly low fever, at that), the parent is called to come pick their child up immediately. The parent has to leave work without notice and come get there child right then. Many parents try to get away with bringing a sick child to school by giving them tylenol before they come to daycare, but as soon as it wears off the fever is noticed and the parent is called. Not only do they have to leave work in the middle of the day, they are required to take the child to the doctor and bring a note from the doctor before the child is allowed back in school, even though the fever may be caused by something your wouldn’t normally have to take your child to the doctor for, so there goes more time the parent has to miss work. During the days the child can’t come back to school, the parent has to hire someone to babysit their child or they have to miss work. What kind of PRO is that?
Nannies come if the child is well or if the child is sick. I don’t know where you got the idea they don’t. The parent certainly doesn’t call and say don’t come, my child is sick. You find out when you get there and you stay and take care of the child. No big deal, it’s part of the job. There’s the PRO, not a con.
I think you might want to switch this illness thing on your list of pros and cons.
I talk about no back-up care as a con because I’m referring to when your CAREGIVER gets sick, not the child. When your nanny gets sick, there’s not sub teacher or director to talk over.
I would like to add to your great list. When your child is in day care, they immediately must conform to the adult world. That begins with waking up on an adult schedule and not being allowed to sleep until they wake up naturally. Then parents must rush to get them dressed, make breakfast, hope they eat some of it, pack up day care supplies, and get out the door in time to drop their children off at daycare on their way to work. Their day care center may be close to or even in the workplace, but often times, this means additional miles, travel time and stress involved just getting to the day care. Then, at the end of the day, parents have to do the reverse, which involves driving back to day care, picking up with child, driving them home. Once they arrive home, the parent can turn their full attention to their job of parenting, in addition to dinner, laundry, and housekeeping chores. Over the years, the time spent in getting ready and driving to and from day care adds up to hours and hours, adding to a parents your daily commute and taking away from both a parent’s and child’s quality of life..
Judi,
Thanks for the great idea. I’ve added it to the list. There are so many advantages, aren’t there?