*Curious* and in need of some shared thoughts... If you could hire a Nanny/Full Time Sitter would you say no to hiring someone that has a school-aged child of her own??? Any thoughts, comments, and questions welcomed! Thank you ladies...

Sophie - posted on 07/02/2012

our nanny has a 9 year old dd who is often present when she is caring for my 2 year old ds. at first i was unsure of how that would work out but I think its great since he is learning to interact with an older kid. they dont live with us but she comes at 8 and leaves at 6 every weekday so they do have a lot of interaction. the nanny takes my ds with her to drop off/pick up her daughter from school and they often go on errands together which i think is great. if we just put him in daycare he would never have that kind of real world interaction that i think is so great for him. also i think being around the school, (sometimes they play on the play structures at her dds elementary school after she gets out) is great because he is learning to interact with older kids and also i think hes getting a positive image of school in general when it comes time for him to attend. so no, i definitely would not rule someone out because they have a school aged child, in fact i think it can be a benefit of someone. hope this helps!

Kelly - posted on 07/02/2012

I had a very good experience with our nanny, and highly recommend a private nanny for those in situations that regular day cares do not accommodate.

Our nanny was childless, but I don't know that her having had a child would have immediately put her out of consideration. It would have created obstacles though. For one, our nanny lived with us and our home simply could not accommodate two more people. If you have a larger home, or if you are only hiring the nanny for the day, this might not be a problem. Second, I would require she had separate care for her own children--I was paying her to watch my child and my child only, and I wanted her completely focused on him, not pulled in three directions by several different kids. That said, if the school aged kid is an older kid, say 12 and up, I don't think it would be a problem having them around in the afternoons after school--they would probably just have a snack and work on homework, leaving her to focus on her duties. I'm not sure an elementary aged child would be okay though, because they still require a lot of hands on help with homework and such.

So in all, yes, I would consider a nanny with children, but there would be limitations and conditions.

Ashleigh - posted on 07/02/2012

Hi - I had a full time nanny and i just couldn't handle it.
I would come back from work during the day to do a check-up and my son would be screaming.
She used to just leave him in his cot all the time. Now he refuses to sleep in a cot. We had to buy a proper bed for him and he sleeps fine now. She would always tell me that things were fine, when i knew they were not. This nanny has 3 children of her own. I was just not happy and with her being older than me she thought that she was going to do things 'her way' even though I explained to her the way i wanted things to be done. If she wasn't in the mood to look after him or change his nappy she didn't. You never know what is happening behind closed doors. She always over heated my son with far too many blankets. I was worried everyday to leave him with her so I took him to a daycare where there are many ladies to look after him. There it is more public and they will always try their utmost best to make sure everything is perfect, now i do not worry and know that he is learning with a program set out for him everyday and there are other kids he can interact with. Hope this helps. :)