Working part-time?

I am reluctantly going back to work part-time 3 days a week and i am looking for someone to watch my one year old daughter. Do you think a sitter/nanny that has experience, good refferals and a good background check, cpr certified would be good or do you think day care is better. I just feel bad putting her in day care because all of the kids look soooo tired at the end of the day. I am thinking that someone watchng her at home would be less disruptive for her because at least she is in her own element. My husband will be staying home with her 1-2 days a week depending on the week. Also does anyone know of a good website or agency to use for finding a sitter or nanny? So far i am going with word of mouth and trying out sittercity.com.

Please no rude reply's i am already wound up about this.

You know i was in the same situtaion, but I ended up opting for daycare, and my son (16 months old) really seems to like it. For one it helps to socialize him with other children; sharing and playing together in groups. Also they do activities with kids that I might not do at home with him, that he loves as well. . .like circle singing time, and fingerpainting, etc. You just have to find the "right" place with the right caregivers. My son has really become attached to his Miss Jessica to where he runs up to give her hugs when he gets there in the morning. He only goes twice a week, so its not overkill, but I really think it has helped him. He has friends that I now get together with on some weekends so they can play, and I think it has been a positive experience for him. So look into it. Whatever you choose it just needs to be whats right for you and more importantly your child. GOOD LUCK

I think a daycare is better because it lets your child interact with other children and it will really help them in the long run it will help with speech and learning to share with other children it just better for there learning and will help when she starts school

i think day care is better personally. i just couldnt afford a nanny as its like a personal one on one sitter. i am not sure of the costs involved with a nanny. You have to weigh up if its worth the nanny cost and your wages for working 3 days a week. if your breaking even then ,personally i dont see the point in it.
I think day care is affordable and its subsidised. you can find many great places to find. they have great meals and sleep time. your daughter will be in babies room, up until 2 yrs of age then they go into toddler rooms. my son is in daycare 3 days a week in kindy now.Hes 3.
I hope you will find a nanny or day care soon / Good luck!

How old is your child? I think a younger child would benefit from in-home care, whereas an older child might enjoy a group care setting. Also, is your child on track developmentally? Let me explain:

I have toddler twins. I had a live-in nanny for the first year and a half. The past 6 months I had a part-time nanny. I began working when my kids were 18 months. I only work a couple of days a week and it's right in the neighborhood, so I could spot-check my part-time nanny if needed. I felt in-home care was appropriate at early in their lives. However, after the kids turned 2, I realized they were lagging developmentally because neither one of them talk. They also do not have special twin language. Before that time, I had looked at day cares in my area, but most of them had waiting lists with fees which is a policy I don't agree with. The one that "all" the moms in our neighborhood go to struck me as unsuitable - the rooms were not much larger than my children's bedrooms. Even though kids are smaller and see things on a different scale, the rooms were unsatisfactorily small to me.

A new child care center called Kids R Kids recently opened up near me. I was very impressed with the large rooms, the new building, and the enthusiastic staff. I have signed up my kids full time because I felt it may assist them with their talking and other things they lag behind in developmentally. We have been going there about a month. I believe Kids R Kids is a franchise so check if there's one in your area. I highly recommend it, so far.

If you select in-home care, I cannot recommend South Americans highly enough. Both my live-in nannies were South American, one was from Peru and one from Colombia. The Peruvian lady, we actually paid for her to fly back the second time (she has family here anyway so it wasn't a tough decision for her to come back to us). She was in her 50's. We found her by posting fliers at Hispanic stores.

The Colombian girl was in her late 20's. The Colombian girl was from a well-to-do family. That is the fashionable thing for girls from such families to do - work as nannies in the US if they want to emigrate or stay long enough to qualify for student aid at a college. Their families are relieved they are staying with a family where someone will look out for them, and are relieved that their daughters are not picking tomatos or slaving away at a dry cleaner's. Most of such girls are educated so they would rather work in the home than slave away picking vegetables or work at a meat packing plant. The Colombian's sister had also been a nanny when she first came to this country. We found her through an ad in a local publication.

We are still in touch with both of them and they love to see the kids. With the Peruvian lady, I really got a whole family, her niece has kids my kids' age, her son, daughter, and sister live in the area, we just went to a huge party of theirs at the beginning of August. They are all wonderful people.

My current cleaning lady/part-time babysitter is from Venezuela. Her 13- year old daughter was my mother's helper this summer. They are both wonderful and my kids love them.

South Americans are very hard-working and love kids. They are responsible and trustworthy and loyal. I can't say enough good things about them.

Hope this helps in your decision. Every parent needs to try and do what's best for their family. It isn't an easy decision but hopefully you can find something that works for you. Any questions let me know.

Do you not have any family members that you could leave her with on those days that your hubby won't be home and you have to work? A family member would be the best option. Otherwise, try word of mouth like you're doing. The best way to find a reliable sitter would be from someone who already knows one that is good. Don't get so uptight about them having to have references, background check, etc if it's someone that you found through someone who uses this person or has used them. If you don't feel comforable with this then maybe daycare would be better. She could be around other kids 3 days a week which would be good for her socialabilty(sp??). But i'm not sure how daycare works for part time care.....you'd have to look into that. But...at a year old, don't worry about where she goes. If she's good and playful around other kids, go ahead with the daycare. I'd say that it only being 3 days a week that the daycare would actually be better than having a stranger (to her) all alone on those days when she could be playing with other kids and having her mind off of you not being there. Good luck and try not to stress out so much. She'll be just fine and you're JUST FINE for having to go to work. Don't feel guilty! :-D

Isn't there anyone else who you know that can babysit for you? I would feel so so frightened to let a complete stranger watch my children. AT least the day care is a place where there is prolly one or more adults around, and its a place where other parents know and trust the daycare staff.

These are my thoughts.

I suggest in-home day care. It would seem more calm and the nanny can spend quality time w/ you child. If you do decide to do day care I would go with a Montessori school. I have worked at a typical day care and a Montessori school, and the Montessori school is far better!!!

It鈥檚 sad, but the really isn鈥檛 such a thing as quality commercial child care in most states, especially in Texas where I live. The best in the nation is actually in Minnesota of all places. You would think it would be in one of the wealthier states like either Texas or California, but Texas ranks at the bottom of the list in both child care and education. In my experience as a director, every 1 in 12 child care workers employed actually stayed with the job and loved it. Others were simply in it for the money, so the children received mediocre care at best. I literally spent more time babysitting employees than I did children. So, I resigned this past October and returned to the private sector. I now operate a licensed home child care and took most of my toddler class with me when I left. I was the only male lead toddler teacher in a network caring for 9000 children. I spent a great deal of my time training infant and toddler teachers. These candidates (primarily young women from the university) would tour the center and walk by the viewing window of my classroom and say, 鈥淥hhhh, they鈥檙e so adorable. This is where I want to work.鈥? But very few of them made it past the first day of training. In fact, some of them never even returned from their lunch breaks. There鈥檚 nothing like a room full of toddlers to weed out the cowards in a preschool setting.

In my 21 years of child care, and in my honest opinion, here鈥檚 the order of caregivers beginning with the best:

1.) Parents
2.) Relatives
3.) Private Nanny
4.) Nanny Share
5.) Licensed Child Care Home with degreed caregiver (certified for 12 children or less)
6.) Registered Child Care Home with caregiver who has at least a CDA (certified for 6 children or less)
7.) Listed Child Care Home (certified for 3 children or less)

The legal titles of the home daycares in your state will probably differ from what they are in mine. The key to finding quality home daycare is to check out the education of the permit holder. The higher the education, the better the care (for the most part), especially if the education is in a related field. I鈥檝e personally found that anyone investing in a 4-year degree to work specifically with young children generally loves their work. The best way to find a good nanny is word-of-mouth. Locating a good agency would be the second best, although some paint a brighter picture than is actually seen. Always check references and avoid nannies who have large gaps in their employment history. Perform independent background checks as well.