There is no point beating around the bush here – as a Norland trained nanny, I am always going to come down in favour of at-home childcare for the very youngest of children (0-3 years, for example) – I know what a great job I always did and how much the families whose children I cared for benefitted from having quality and professional childcare.
However, I have also worked in nurseries and been a nursery manager, and I know that there are clear benefits at different stages for all children in both at-home and nursery arrangements. If you are weighing the pros and cons of this often difficult decision, here are some practical tips to help you make the choice (with my bias made pretty clear!):
- Having a new team member: Employing a nanny will give you a greater chance to shape how your children are cared for, than using a nursery. Nurseries will consult your child’s personal routines and preferences; these are then matched as closely as possible in good nurseries, but generally children fit in with the established routine of the nursery. Whilst this isn’t necessarily a negative, think about how much influence you’d like in deciding what your children do, when, how and where.
- Flexibility: How much flexibility do you need? How do your children’s activities and your work patterns and commitments match? Nannies will offer a more flexible and responsive option if your needs for childcare might be irregular, affected by unplanned events, business trips, unusual or unpredictable hours etc.
- Illness: Nurseries have to be very strict about refusing to care for children who are even slightly under the weather, whilst still charging for the nursery place that day. Of course the flip side of this is to consider what your back up plan would be if your at home childcarer was ill, or when they are away — do you have access to a local network of other parents, a potential emergency nanny share or helpful friends and family who could step in to help?
- Cost: Paying for care even when your child is ill, and paying for two or more nursery places, can soon add up. With a nanny you know that your outgoings are the same whether you have one child or more. (Which of course makes nursery cheaper if you only have one!)
Talking to friends who have recently had a second child, they expressed the view that nursery is useful, but with two children, young mother Lucia wanted her sons Rufus and Carlo to spend as much time together at home as possible. Also, she says, “when we added up the hours that we were all out of the house it turned out that Rufus could be away from home for up to 50 hours a week and that prompted us to think carefully about what we wanted for our family and childcare needs.” Because of this, Lucia and Craig will be hiring a nanny and not opting for a nursery.
Employing and working with your own nanny can often be a more flexible, personal and cost effective option for the whole family. Now you can post your job and start shortlisting!
Mother and Norland nanny, Rosemary Albone has been working as a child care expert for over 20 years. She is passionate about working with children and understands the joys and challenges that come with being a care provider.