I am constantly amazed and intrigued by the variety of childcare arrangements available and utilized by moms today. When working full-time I always had a nanny as do many of my friends. Some women I know have a nanny share arrangement but others have their kids in daycare or are lucky enough to have family around to help.
In other parts of the country, the most affordable and available childcare is a home care facility. These are often run by neighbourhood moms specializing in childcare or looking for a way to subsidize the household income. Some moms who don’t need full-time childcare manage to trade babysitting with a friend in exchange for time to get work done.
All of these arrangements have their pros and cons so take the poll below and let us know what form of childcare works for you and see how other moms across the country voted.
Even though I helped to create this poll, I know it is not a complete list. There are so many varied options! I myself have a bit of a mishmash of childcare to cover my flexible working schedule.
Between school and preschool, my mom, and a variety of friends I am able to cover off most of my working hours.
I agree with Carol-Lynn, the hardest part is finding time with your partner. What Beautiful Chaos!
We employ a nanny in our home 3 days a week (the same 3 days that I work) for our 3 young boys. I have no childcare the other 4 days a week. I didn’t select “nanny share” but we have previously shared a nanny with another family with good results.
My husband & I work opposite shifts so that we really don’t NEED daycare. We rely on Oma when we need someone to look after our 2 1/2 year old daughter. Our relationship is suffering due to lack of “date nights” so we have just started to take her to a babysitter’s once a week and did some shift changes. I think we will all benefit.