It’s a blessing if you have a grandparent nearby or family who could help you with taking care of your child. If there is none, the two most popular choices for childcare are nanny and daycare.
Choosing the right childcare strategy can be a bit challenging especially for new parents. To help you, we have rounded up some of the major differences between hiring a nanny and daycare so that you can make an informed decision based on your needs and budget.
Nanny vs Daycare | What’s the Difference
Nanny
A nanny is a person who is experienced and trained to take care of children in a family setting. This means that they typically work within the home where the children live. They can either work on a live-in or live-out basis, depending on your arrangements.
The essential tasks of a nanny involve taking care of the kids and providing them with what they need especially when the parents are not around. It’s a nanny’s responsibility to create a daily schedule of activities that can help the kids improve their physical, mental and emotional health.
Aside from taking care of the kids, most if not all nannies can also handle basic household chores such as cleaning and cooking and laundry for the child.
Pros:
- A nanny is highly skilled in taking care of kids including a newly born.
- Works in your home, which means that your kids will be in a familiar and safe environment.
- You could structure the hours of the nanny to fit your schedule. You could hire part-time, full-time, live in or live out.
- A nanny is typically more flexible to cater to your unscheduled needs especially if you have a full-time nanny. For example, if you need to work overtime, you can simply call your nanny and inform her that you will be going home late. Of course, it’s a good idea to compensate the nanny for the extra hours she will be working while you work overtime.
- Can do other household duties such as cleaning, cooking, doing the dishes and other light housework. Of course, you need to clearly communicate this before hiring.
- A nanny offers customized care and attention. As the nanny will solely take care of your kids, she can customize the care and attention she provides based on your expectations and instructions.
- If you have a single child, a nanny can be expensive. But if you have two or multiple kids, it can be a budget saver as opposed to paying individual tuition fees in a daycare center.
Cons:
- When both parents are working, there is no oversight, and you can’t really tell what exactly your kid’s day looked like. Of course, many parents now resort to installing nanny cams for their peace of mind.
- Expensive if you have a single-kid household.
- Tedious hiring process and lots of paperwork which can be a headache. However, if you hire from providers like Kiidu, the process is a bit easy and seamless as the company takes care of everything for you from background checks, training, and processing of the needed paperwork.
Daycare
A daycare center is a facility that provides scheduled care for kids while their parents work. There are daycare facilities that provide care to kids as young as one month old to as old as twelve years old.
A typical daycare center incorporates art, music, PE, water play, cooking and science in the daily activities of kids. Of course, the activities vary depending on the age of the kids.
Pros:
- Daycare provides an avenue where kids can learn to socialize and make friends with other children.
- They offer a wide variety of resources including books, arts and crafts materials, toys and other equipment which are helpful in the learning development of kids.
- Some daycare centers also invite personalities or special instructors for other fun activities such as local artists, yoga teachers, and more.
- It is a cost-effective option if you have one kid since you will be sharing the childcare cost with other families.
Cons:
- The ratio is typically one teacher to several other students. It’s a drawback when a teacher is in charge of handling five or more kids as the teacher may find it difficult to keep an eye on all children. This in turn puts your child at risk of accidents that are common in daycare.
- Less flexible in schedule. Daycare centers operate on specific hours of the day, so you can’t simply call the daycare center that you will be late for several hours to pick up your kid because you have to work overtime. This is not allowed especially if it’s already closing time.
- Daycare centers have strict sick policies, which means that if your kid is sick, you have to find an alternative childcare arrangement or take a leave from work for as long as your child is sick.
- Your kid’s development may be affected by other kids’ behavior because kids tend to copy or emulate what they see.
We understand the big challenge associated with choosing a childcare provider for your children. You are not alone in this as there are also other parents who are in the same situation. Knowing the pros and cons associated with getting a nanny or sending your child to daycare is already a good starting point.
Final Thoughts
The best choice is really up to your specific needs. You need to consider your schedule, budget and preferred learning environment of your child, among other things.
Should you decide to hire a nanny, we at Kiidu are here to help. Our nannies are trained and experienced to take care of kids of all ages. They can do other household chores and even help your kids with their homework. Feel free to contact us so we can help you find the right nanny who meets your qualifications.
