Baby the Nanny

Personally I think that people who hire a live-in-nanny and then dont spend any time with there kids at all shouldent have had kids at all. I am a mom of 4 and I love being arround my kids. I thought the point of having a live-in-nanny was to to have someone there to watch the kids while the parents worked and when the parents got home from work they would be the ones to take over and give the nanny a break not to just let the nanny take care of everything all the time. I know the roll of a nanny is to care for the kids and the house hold while the parents are away at work but they are not there to be the parents just to help the parents. I dont like people who take advantage of the nanny. It is not right.

I would take a live in maid in a heart beat!! But no way on the live in nanny. I already feel I don't have enough time with my son. I hate doing housework and other things that force me to be away from meaningful activities with him. The highlight of my week is when we go to Gymboree type activities..... I wouldn't give that up for anything.

I would be rather um...afraid to trust a nanny that cheap. Here in the states anyway. Ok, I admit it! I'm a control freak that has never trusted anyone with my kids! wow, it feels good to finally let that out. hehe I have three kid's and my husband and I have rarely left them with a sitter. When they were little, I didn't even trust our family members to watch them! It's easier now that they are teenagers, I trust them (a little bit) to care for themselves. I hope we've taught them enough to be safe at any rate. I'm so jaded, I view all childcare workers as potential abuser's. Sad huh? The bad one's splashed all over the media, really give the entire profession a bad reputation. I feel for those in the childcare business that are good and honest people. It must be hard for them.

I have actually worked as a live in nanny. I was paid $200 a month, not because I come cheap but because that was all she could afford and she needed the help. She had 3 children and even though she didn't work she still had a hard time keeping after the 3 of them, keeping the house in order and doing her school work. I had no problem helping her out and she didn't rely on me for everything either. If she was awake and wasn't busy with school or taking care of the house then it was her responsibility to take care of the kids. I kept after them when she went and ran to the store or into town so she didn't have to take them with her each time. After 6pm it was my time, I was off work because her husband was home at that time. Sure I still did things for the kids after that time, but not becasue I had to, because I wanted to.

Honestly, it's not the quantity time that you spend with your child is important. But the QUALITY TIME you spend with your child. It really doesn't matter if you spend your whole life with them if you won't be able to teach them what life is. While if you spend even not as much as you want to but be able to share life with them, that is important. In having a child, the mother would definitely SACRIFICE a lot. Having a nanny is not a threat to motherhood or parenthood. They're there to help you around. Even if a parent is a bit dependent to the nannies, it's up to the parents how they spend their time with their kids. As I've mentioned earlier it is IMPORTANT TO HAVE A QUALITY TIME WITH YOUR KIDS. Because you're still the parent not the nannies. Even if they spend more time with their nannies, as long as you let them know who the parent is, your kid will know the boundaries and limitations with their nannies.

I am a senior now but when my two were little I enjoyed 'them too much to have a nannie if I could have afforded one.Kids need their moms not their nannies at all. I am glad I had nobody to nanny my kids as I had fun with them myself.

I do not feel that it is a situtaion of the spending less time with your child. But if you have a nanny, you can get more done around the house. You can tend to the laundry or the other things you need to do as an at home mom. For me with just one child it is not that big of a deal, I can handle raising one child easily without a need of a nanny. but two kids or more I think is a huge help. If I could get someone to watch my kids for really cheap, then I would take advantage of it. Not because I would want to spend less time with my kids but because maybe I need to go grocery shopping and do it in peace, maybe I need to get some laundry done and do not want to torture my children by having them sit in front of a video or feel like I have to stop mid stream because I have to deal with a tantrum. I mean, trust me, I hire a moms helper to play with my kids while I do housework, I can do some housework but I always get interrupted because maybe my 3 year old will want to read a book, so I stop to read a book with her, sometimes my 1 year old is really cranky and needs to be held. I can not do even the simple part of putting dishes away while I am holding her. I always stop what I am doing and realize that I will never have this chance again in the future and I am grateful that I have children as at one point in time I did not think I could have any (we went through some fertility issues). For me it is nice to have a person here to play with my kids, I play with them too but we need to have time for ourselves too! Nothing wrong with that, I am not doing the things that i want to do all the time, I would love to spend ALL DAY on the computer, working, making money online needless to say, I do not do that but if I did not have kids that is probably what I would do.... I just think that nannies are very helpful and I love that some are willing to work for very little. Where I live it is expensive....same with Housecleaning. I use to live where housecleaning was really cheap, but I can not afford to pay for housekeeping at what it is here where I live now, I would rather pay the money to have someone play with my children and clean the house myself.

I can answer that simple and without a second thought. No, I would not have a nanny at all. (I couldn't afford one at any price!) I have been a full time mum for the best part of the past 7 and a half years. I enjoy the time I spend with my kids. I am very firm in my traditional belief that it is up to parents to look after their kids. I agree with the first answer here, if parents want to use a nanny, why did they have kids? Yes, there are times when it can be hard to cope and another person being on hand would help but I think having someone there all the time would just get on my nerves more than anything. Although I wouldn't mind a housekeeper or something! Someone to do my housework while I spend extra time with my kids but I wouldn't want anyone who wasn't family to live in my house.

No I don't think I would want a Nanny for each child I would prefer to put the money together and have a housekeeper so that I could spend more time with my kids. I hated it when I went back to work and had to leave my kids for 8 hours, even though they were either with their father or their grandmother. Why have them to start with if you are going to let someone else in effect raise them.

Well I am a working mom. I have to have somebody look after my child at home. I do not send him to school yet as there they just pick up all the germs that is going round and he tends to be sick all the time when he goes to school/creche. So I have had many years of a full time nanny looking after him for me. Only sometimes in the evenings do I have her looking after him for me if I have something on, but that is so very seldom. Nanny's do not come cheap here in our country and so it is an expensive thing to do. But sometimes we have not choice when we find ourselves in a situation where both parents have to work in order just to make it through the month. It is the hardest thing ever being a working mom...

If i have my work means job and it is very important then i have to think about nanny...if i am a stay-at-home mom then i am not going to have a nanny for however cheap it may be...i like children and i think my time passes in the fastest way when i am with the kids...so i love to interact with them more and more....

I would still rather have the $150 a month. I had my childern because I enjoy being with my childern. All my entertainment and activities are child related. Before you know it they will be out on their own building their own lives and I will miss them. At least we have this time together to enjoy and create great memories. Vicki

I agree with you, it is very tempting, but I would never like to lose my bond with my children, I would feel that apart of me is empty and to share the responsibility with a nanny is not for me. I love to spend quality time with my children cause it makes me feel happy and content, I would'nt think of having a nanny mind my children even tho it does look good and alot of parents do have nannies, but no I dont think that would be me.

I think about it at times but I would feel guilty it I had someone else taking care of my children. I feel like I would be neglecting my son if someone did all the things I do for him and I think I would miss it. I don't mind doing all of the crappy parts of being a parent for all of the wonderful things I get back. I love seeing my son smile every morning when he wakes up, or watching him splash in the tub and I would cry if I didn't get all of the hugs and kisses I get now.

for as long as you don't need one, it is not necessary to have a nanny. i grew up in the philippines where nannies and housemaids receive cheap salaries. most can afford them. but if you can spend time with your kids and that you aren't too busy, then, no need for nannies. if you are a working mom, atleast see if someone of your relatives can take care of your kid. atleast you'll be sure that somehow relatives can really put soe love in your child's life. and if you have no other option but to get a nanny, atleast spend time with your kid when you're not working and not busy... anne

I would have to say NO, definantly not, I enjoy every precious moment with my children..If anything I would only so that they could cook dinner each night, that way I get to spend more time with the kids..

I don't know if I could pass up an offer like that either! I work almost full time and I'm always busy with volunteer stuff so it'd be nice to have someone that "lived in" and could help take care of the kids while I worked and stuff. Not too mention the help with the housework! As far as pawning all responsibility off on a nanny though, forget it. If you are fortunate enough to be able to have one you should be able to find balance. Give the nanny a few days off a week, or make it clear that you tuck your kids in at night, etc.. And don't feel guilty for getting tempted to just go out and have fun, I'd be pretty tempted too.

That would all depend entirely on whether I could handle on my own taking care of more than one child. The only time I had help was when both of us were working and I had a family member take care of my son while we worked. We paid her $100 tala a week (as well as food, a room and clothing), which was way more higher than the norm. I still had a lot of hands on with my son and she was more or less responsible for the household chores and taking care of him during the day (from about the age of 9 months - 3 years). Now that I am a stay at home mom, I get to do all sorts with him in terms of play and do activities outside the home. Sometimes my husband envys me because he misses out on the little things that makes my son so happy. Each family is different though and even though we may think parents miss out on their childrens upbringing, there are certain situations where parents need extra help, I know I would if I had more than a few kids to take care of.