To nanny or not to nanny, that is the question. Because I am a sahm I felt it was being cheeky & lazy having a nanny for 1 child. Yes we had an au pair for Tristan from 3 months but it was part time and more to help stimulate him. We also had a cleaner twice a week and for me that was enough.
2 kids
Bring on 2 kids and my mind has been swinging back and forth a lot. Our domestic started working for us full time when Grayson was just a couple of weeks old. I was initially reluctant to allow her to look after Grayson, he was so small and needed me 100% as he’s exclusively breastfed. Tristan however took it upon himself to claim her as his playmate. I’d often find the 2 of them playing happily in his room. I didn’t mind this at all as long as the house work was done by the end of the day.
Grayson reached 3 months
As Grayson reached 3 months I started to allow our nanny to look after him for short stretches, like if I wanted to shower or have breakfast. With Tristan at school until around 3pm most days she had time to to get everything done before T got home and then still take him to the park before 5pm.
Today, as I sit here typing this post, Tristan has been on school holidays for 2 weeks. It’s been full on! Grayson is 4 months tomorrow and is going through a leap AND the start of the 4 month sleep regression. I feel exhausted to my bones. So, for the first time I have sent both boys to the park with our nanny. I just needed some time without them here. Even if Tristan is out, I’m always with Grayson or listening for him to wake up. It’s relentless.
Nanny, yes or no
I will still take Grayson with me wherever I go but it’s really nice to know that should I need to leave him at home for an hour or 2 our nanny is 100% capable & confident to look after him. She’s had practise putting him to sleep while I’ve been at home, played with him while I’ve showered. She’s done first aid & a nanny course, she has 2 boys of her own.
So no, we don’t have a full time nanny. No, we don’t have a full time domestic. What we do have is a wonderful woman who can do both with confidence. It feels like she’s part of the family.
It’s a very personal choice whether to have a nanny or not. As mentioned in the beginning of this post, I never wanted a nanny. I’m the mom and I want to raise my children. But with the relentlessness of having 2 kids (don’t get me wrong, I love having 2 kids) you need an extra set of hands and, if you can afford it, why not?
Competency
I needed to know she was competent with kids. She came from someone who had kids and she was a full time nanny prior to that. But I needed to see for myself. I used to watch her interact with Tristan, see how he responded to her, treated her. I needed to see her interact with Grayson, how she held him, stimulated him, put him to sleep, bottle fed him. I’m a control freak and I’m particularly fussy when it comes to my kids.
All I can say, is having someone you trust to help out when you need a break, is something that I have warmed to and I really appreciate her offering to help out when she can see I’m taking strain.
Do you have a nanny? Is it something you are considering? Pop me a message if you’d like to ask any questions.
Much love xxx