Crazy idea? Nanny share with 2 preschoolers and 2 babies and 2 nannies
Dear parents,
Has anyone ever tried having 2 concurrent nanny shares in their home, one for 2 babies and one for two toddlers? This means 2 nannies working together the whole time, but one is responsible of the 2 babies and one of the 2 toddlers. The cost for each family is the same as if they had hired a single nanny for their 2 kids, but it allows for each kid to have a playmate of their own age and also to be close to their baby sibling as they grow.
Is this a crazy idea? Has anyone heard of anyone doing it? As a parent, would you have considered something like this if you had a toddler and a baby and worked all day?
And has any nanny ever been in this situation?
thanks
Nov 21, 2018
Parent Replies
it sounds freaking amazing. I think this is how celebrities do it. If you have the money, this sounds great!
Hi, there. While this may be an unorthodox model, I think it could really work! It's very, very challenging for a nanny to be alone with two infants OR two toddlers for an entire day. Several times a day, the poor thing needs to use the bathroom - you need to leave the kids unattended for a few minutes to do that. And then there's no actual break all day long, unless the children sleep.
Starting when our daughter was 8 months and going until she was three, we had a childcare cooperative. Four days a week, one parent and one paid caregiver cared for 4 babies, and up to 5 toddlers when they got older. The grownups were able to spell each other while one prepared food or used the bathroom, talk to each other, share ideas on how to care for the children.... It was a model I highly recommend.
Honestly, this sounds crazymaking. The majority of families with this age split send the 2.5-year-old to preschool and have a new share for the baby. A few have a nanny for the preschooler and baby. But I can't imagine two nannies with two shares in the same house (and then you have two employees vs. one, which is also more complicated on the insurance and tax end of things). If you don't want to send your older child to preschool, I'd get a nanny for your two kids and then reach out to other families with same-aged kids to try to find some who might like to do regular meetups. Even a three-child share where two are preschoolers and one is a newborn would be a hard sell for me as the parent of the second preschooler. It would take a really perfect fit for either to work.
If the nannies get along and work well together, this seems brilliant. Two adults and four kids is so much more practical and efficient, and better for everyone, than one adult and two kids. Better for the older kids, to have the interaction. Better for the nannies, to have some adult interaction AND be able to play zone defense when needed 'You keep an eye on the napping babies AND the tots, while I wash the dishes or use the bathroom".