Today I have a guest post from the lovely Cristy of HappyFamilyBlog.com on the topic of child care.
We’re actually sharing a nanny as well, so I’m excited to see that specified as one of the items on her list of child care alternatives.
This is part of a series I am doing on child care and nannies. If you are a blogger and would like to guest post here on this topic, let me know.
Alternatives for Child Care
Since my daughter was a preemie the idea of a daycare center never came into our decision-making process. Our original plan was a nanny in our home. We did not have luck finding the right fit so we ended up exploring other options:
At-Home Daycare – After abruptly letting our nanny go we were in a bind. Two friends both used a home daycare that they highly recommended. It was a mom and an adult daughter in their home. After meeting with the mom and speaking to all the parents, I knew it was a good fit for us. I loved that our daughter was in a loving environment with other kids. She was like a grandmother. It was a great fit. We only stopped because we moved.
Nanny Share – When we moved for a year we did a nanny share. A friend had a son a couple of months younger than our daughter and they were in a similar situation. It gave us the opportunity to have another family to pop by during the week and to increase our budgets. We split the cost down the middle and did a week at our house and then a week at their house. It was also nice to have another child her for my daughter to play with.
Friends – For me, this is not a full-time solution, but we have found friends would want to trade babysitting services. It is nice to know our daughter is with friends instead of just at home with a sitter.
Do you have a non-traditional childcare situation? I would love to know about it.
About:
Hi, I’m Cristy, a wife, mom to an adorable toddler, friend, sister, daughter, Junior Leaguer, water lover and world traveler. Happy Family is my journey through motherhood where I share my experiences so I can connect to other parents and give back similar to other bloggers have done for me. I am passionate about my family, friends, party planning, traveling, crafting, home décor, celebrating and organizing.
P.S. If you are looking at hiring a nanny, I have prepared a Nanny Contract Template to help you hire your own nanny.
Read other posts from this child care and nanny series.
Heather aka HoJo says
It’s tough finding the right balance as a WAHM. I need to spend time on my business, but I want to spend time with my son. I’ve thought about reaching out to other moms to do an afternoon or two a week where we watch one another’s kids, but I just can’t seem to bring myself to do it. I don’t think we even have nannies in the area where I live. Definitely some food for thought here though!
Julie says
I think having a mom-care share is a great idea Heather! I can’t get much done on weekends so I can definitely see how difficult a WAH situation can be.
Healing Mama says
The nanny share is a great idea!
Erin @ Stay At Home Yogi says
I love the idea of a nanny share – especially because of the built in little friend to play with! We actually used “grandma-care” with my first!
Julie says
Totally! The built in friend is quite awesome. Baby H and G3 are only 2 months apart and they are starting to play together instead of around each other.