Babysitters, Nannies & Day Care-Coppell??

I am a mom of a 17 month old and we recently had to put our baby in daycare for the 1st time. I chose Discover and Share on the corner of Beltline and MacArthur in Coppell. I love it. They have webcams so you can watch at work. They are around 190.00 per week for our child, but I work for Verizon and they offer corporate discounts. Call them and ask if there are any discounts for the company you or your husband work for. They are wonderful. I looked at the peanut gallery too and thought it was too much.

Nannies are expensive unless you have more than one child to care for. I've heard of some families "sharing" a nanny to make it affordable, yet keep their kids in a home environment. A "babysitter" or in-home childcare is usually cheaper than traditional daycare, but I would want LOTS of good referrals and make sure the person meets state requirements for in-home care -- especially if there are more than 4 kids in the house. The only exception to that would be if the sitter was a personal friend. Good luck.

i just asked mamasource about info on daycare for my son, and a woman responded to me and gave me a wonderul link. it has a wealth of info on all that you were inquiring about, and you can search by zip code. i hope this link is helpful. good luck! - J.

http://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Child_Care/Search_Texas_Child...

Hi, M.!

These are the descriptions I've seen:

A Sitter's primary responsibility is to care for the child, including entertaining the child, making sure the child is fed according to parents' instructions, and generally providing for the well-being of the child/children. Unlike a nanny, a Sitter's responsibilities typically do not extend to other household and extensive child-related responsibilities (e.g., there is usually no light housekeeping, meal preparation, transporting children, running errands, etc. involved). Such additional responsibilities may certainly be negotiated with a Sitter, but are not typically part of their job description.
Typical Salary - Pay for Sitters may vary anywhere from minimum wage to $10/hour or more and depend on the Sitter's experience, number of children to be cared for, region of the country, etc.

Nannies are professional, in-home childcare providers. They can often be an affordable alternative to daycare/childcare facilities, depending on the salary range being offered and especially if there is more than one child to be cared for. Additionally, having a nanny provide individual and experienced attention and caring to their child/children in the comfort and safety of their own home can offer many families a greater peace of mind than with daycare.

Job Description - The main role of a nanny is to provide a safe, caring, nurturing and stimulating environment in which a child (children) can develop. General responsibilities include caring for a child/children and most things related to that child's care. Each nanny position may have slightly different responsibilities depending on the family requirements, the age(s) of the child/children, and other factors, but typically include such responsibilities as helping children get dressed, administering meals, cleaning up after children, helping children with schoolwork, organizing and engaging in activities with children, etc. Other requirements may or may not include light housekeeping (beyond picking up after children), transporting children to and from school/activities, preparing meals for children and/or family, grocery shopping, running errands, child and/or parents laundry, etc.

A nanny may work anywhere from a few hours/week up to 12 hours/day depending on the requirements of the family.

Typical Salary - Salary ranges for Nannies are typically from $7/hour to $20/hour or $200/week to $800/week and depend on whether it's a live-in or live-out position, the number of hours per day or week, the nanny's experience and education level, the number of children to be cared for, region of the country, responsibilities, and a family's affordability level.

Day Cares will provide a structured environment for your child and many more. They will also have a structured curriculum.

You may want to check out gonannies.com. You can search their database to see how many meet your requirements, and then decide if you want to join, which will allow you to post your requirements and get in contact with people who are looking for positions. I have done this, and have gotten a lot of responses. I'm having a harder time because I only need someone 10 hrs/week and most of them want a full time position.

I hope this helps!

Judy

Hello,

I live in Valley Ranch and also have a 6 month old boy. Right now I have had Bodi in Kindercare, but he keeps getting sick and has not gained weight in 2 months so the doc recommended I pull him out and get a nanny. So far everything has been more expensive than daycare. I take it nannys are more permanent, and babysitters are classified as more one time services, or sporadic. I have checked out the Babysitters Club. They do background checks on their employees, but they charge $10/hr plus $10/visit. Nannys seem to run about $300/wk on the low end as well.

Thus, I am considering quitting my job to stay home and take in another child if I cannot find anything suitable in 2 weeks. I will let you know if I do this in case you are interested. I have a MA in Education and was a preschool and adult ed teacher for about 4 years although have been in IT the last 6 because it made financial ends meet better. I always wanted to go back to teaching and now might just be the time.

K. D. ###-###-####

In my experience, day care is less expensive. I am a SAHM, but do work from home. I was looking for part-time care for my 7mos-old twins. Day care facilities, even the best ones in my area (Flower Mound) were less expensive than the nanny/babysitting services I priced. However, I could not get my boys in day-care for the two half-days or one full day/week that I wanted, so I ended up hiring a nanny couple to care for the kids in my home.

One thing to think about... I like the idea of there being two nannies with my children. Likewise, I like the idea that in a child care facility there is more than one adult present. I think that with multiple adults, they keep each other accountable, therefore, decreasing the chances that questionable behavior on the caretaker's part is occuring. The other day I heard another story about a babysitter shaking an infant, and I think if more than one adult were present, that probably would not have occured.

M., A babysitter is just someone who comes to your home a watches your kids, with little or some interaction. A nannie is someone that comes to your home and does house chores and errands for you as well as watching your kids. A childcare center is one that watches and teaches your kids getting them ready for school. Helps make them a more rounded child. They learn to interact well with other children. My choice would be childcare. I have found in home care not to be dependable. Find a good center. I love Childtime in Plano on Hedgcoxe. They are clean,very caring, and the staff have all been there for 3 years or longer. Most of the staff are older. If you are close enough to go you would love it. This school is wonderful. Less expensive is not always best. Be really careful when it comes to your baby. At least with childcare centers you know they are being monitored or a regular basis by state. Good luck!