nanny verse child care

[belinda]

hi i am just woundering if anyone here has a nanny at all i am just woundering how much they are where is the best place to get one from???? my hubby wants me to go back to work as i do not want to go but he thinks i have to because we are struggling finicialy.... and i dont want to send my baby to day care as i feel he is just to young he is nearly 5 months old and i dont want to leave him with others i would rather someone come in to my home and do the job i would just feel more comfortable with that and in a years time when he is older i would send him off to daycare.....

i would love the advice of other

thanks Belinda

[Sandy]

Belinda,

Nanny's here in Canberra charge up to $150 per day and thats just caring for child, nothing more. No washing, ironing etc. we have a friend who has a nanny and its costs them $25,000 per year, and she isn't full time. It is very expensive and so is childcare. You need to work out if the amount you will be earning is worth it.

I had my DD in childcare from 13months old and I was shattered the day she went. Now, I think CC is wonderful for them. You need to find a centre that you are happy with although I appreciate with waiting lists, you don't always get your preference.

My biggest fear going back to work was that DD wouldn't remember me. Not true at all. They know who their mum is no matter who cares for them during the day.

There are two babies at our CC and they are doing really really well. Very sociable and they love being with the other kids. They learn so much by watching other kids. It has changed my opinion about CC and babies although I still think a mum should be home with them for the first 12months at least. Thats just my personal opinion.

Hope this helps some.

[draught]

We are in Brisbane and we have a nanny for our two girls. We found her through the Brisbane Nanny Agency. Nannies charge between $10 and $20 an hour in Brisbane to my knowledge and you tend to get what you pay for. If you want someone experienced with babies with training etc you are probably looking around $15 an hour. For me it made leaving my breastfed 8 month old at home much easier. Our nanny loves our girls, and cares for them very well. They have cuddles, their own home, and routine. She does clothes washing for the girls, prepares food for the girls and sometimes, because we don't expect it of her, she also does it for us. She says that her role is to make our lives as parents run smoothly while we are working and for the children to be happy - and she achieves that very well.

To compare, last year when we just had one child, we used family day care. She went to the home of a warm lovely carer who looked after two children at a time - one was my daughter and the other was her grandson who was one month younger than my daughter. So our daughter was treated like one of the family and loved and cherished. That cost $4.10 an hour. She wasn't in her own home, and probably watched a little more TV than I would have liked, but apart from that, I was very happy with the care she received.

I don't have anything against a childcare centre - we just have never had a place in one offered at the right time.

One option to look at as a compromise on the cost - because a nanny is the most expensive option - is to nanny share with another family. Makes it much more affordable but you are still getting the care you want for your child.

Hope that helps a bit.

[belinda]

thanks to both of you for your help...
yeah i am in brisbane too and i have opted for a nanny it is just so much easier on me and hubby as there are no vacancies for him in child care and even with a nanny we will be better off and it will be in our own enviroment and his routine doesnt have to change at all.. i am also going through brisbane nannies and they seem really nice and friendly....

thanks again

Belinda

[nanny87]

Hi I am a nanny in Canberra and i get $300/week as a live in nanny for 4 children including an infant, if you go to the website www.greataupair.com you will find some wonderful girls who do not charge anywhere near this much and will clean aswell. I am very lucky to get paid this much as this is what i was offered not what i asked for but as both my emp[loyers are OB's and can be called into work nearly anytime it works well.

[ThomasMum]

if you go to the website www.greataupair.com.

I'm pretty sure thats where my sis got her nanny from, An Australian nanny which is what she always wants, and she;s been with the same nanny for 3- 4 years now.
(FYI, My sis lives in Holland Park, UK)

[jlrjyeboah]

Hi there, we just got an au-pair, which is not the same as a nanny, but it works for us. She is 19 and from Germany. She had just finish doing 3 month practicals at a childcare before she came and we got references from there. I am a SAHM, 36 weeks preggers, new to melbourne and no family in Oz whatsoever so we felt like we needed the help for a few months.

We pay her $100 a week, (she gets weekends off), she looks after our 2 boys, plays with them, takes them for walks, to the playground that sort of thing. She also helps around the house with things like vacuming and emptying the dishwasher, things like that. No ironing, cause even I don't do that. :)

If she was looking after the kids and house full time, we would pay her more, but she doesen't. There is a website called www.aupair-world.net. There are tonnes of au-pairs on there looking for placements and there is also a list of things they can and can't do. Such as the recommended "pocket money" is between $80 and $120/week. They can work up to 35 hours per week. Its a good comprimise between a nanny and childcare, not as expensive as a nanny, and your child gets the one-on-one attention that they don't necessarily get at childcare.

[ThomasMum]

Hi ya, for me childcare is the best option (it costs the same for us whether to hire a nanny/childcare). Because childcare gives lots of benefits to Thomas and our selves e.g. extended family, he gets to meet other kids- and for us meeting other parents. Thomas goes to cc 2 days/week since I went back to work couple months ago, and he loves it! His personality, health wise hasn’t changed; he’s still a happy, smart, healthy and easy going bub!

My older sister opts a Nanny because her DH goes overseas a lot for business and she needs someone to help her (she has 4 kids age 12 to 1 y.o), she has a nanny live-in from Australia and the cost for live-in nanny for her is £200-£300+,(she lives in the UK, and her advise nanny or chilcare no biggie, as long as kids healthy and happy is all matter)

Good Luck!

Thomas'sMum

[funfarrell]

I was interested to read your comments Thomasmum. I have to decide as soon as whether to put my 6 month into a childcare centre or a nanny two days. Nannies are very expensive. Howveer i am worried about my baby catching all sorts of illnesses and not being looked after properly. Does anyone have good stories of their little ones (under 1s) and childcare?