Finding quality child care that meets your family’s needs can be a challenge. Many families, especially in New York, are using a new model of child care such as a shared nanny or in-home early childhood educator. If you are considering sharing in-home child care costs, working out the details can be pretty complex. It is crucial to make sure that the family you are potentially sharing with shares the same goals and ideals as your family.
Nanny sharing arrangements can be very helpful but there are a few things to keep in mind. We’ll look at some essential questions to ask the other family when you are considering partnering on in-home child care costs.
What is Shared In-Home Child Care?
Shared in-home child care is when two families agree to nanny sharing or early childhood educator sharing and have their children cared for simultaneously by the same person. Sometimes it works where two different families will split different hours of a nanny’s work week, depending on their needs. Often the care takes place in one family’s home, or they can split the time between the two houses. This method makes hiring a nanny more affordable by splitting the cost between two families.
Navigating an In-Home Child Care Share: What to Do Before Making a Decision
Before you decide on whether in-home shared child care is suitable for your family, here are a few things you should keep in mind.
Find A Family You Trust
Experts recommend that you find a family to partner with before approaching a nanny. This ensures that you partner with a family you trust and that shares your childcare philosophy and management style. It can be much easier to find the right nanny once you’ve found a family to partner with.
That being said, if you have a nanny that you love, other families may be happy to join in too.
Budget
You also want to determine your budget and what you can afford to pay. This shared budget is essential as both families will be paying the same amount for the childcare costs. Hire a nanny or educator that fits both families’ budgets comfortably to ensure there is no conflict in the future.
Location
Figure out where the childcare will take place. Will it be 100% at one home, or will you split the location 50/50? If you run a home based business and can’t have children cared for in your own home, this will factor into which family you can partner with.
Determine Your Schedule
Are you looking for full time child care, 9-5 during the week, or do you require later hours or evening care? It is essential to know what kind of hours you are looking for to match up with a family looking for the same type of care.
Top Questions You Should Be Asking the Other Family
Once you’ve determined that sharing in-home child care with another family is the way to go, it is essential to ask a lot of questions to find the right match for shared care.
1. Logistic Questions
These will help you determine if it makes sense logistically to partner with this family.
- Where do you live?
If a family lives a long distance away, it may not make sense to travel to drop off the kids for shared care.
- How old are your kids?
It helps to have kids around the same age so they can play together and share the same interests.
- What are your regular work hours?
You want to make sure that your schedules match up and fit in with your nanny’s workweek.
- Where do you want the care to take place?
2. Personality Questions
These questions will help you determine if you are a good match in terms of parenting style or management style. It is essential because you will both be sharing an employee and need to be able to communicate effectively together.
- What is your parenting style?
- How would you describe your family?
- What is your discipline style?
- How do you like to communicate?
- How do you like to handle disputes?
3. Management Questions
It’s important to be on the same page regarding unexpected costs or situations or what to do if someone gets sick.
- How would you like to cover additional costs?
- How would you like to deal with the situation if a child gets sick? Or the nanny gets sick?
- How to deal with vacation coverage?
- How to handle a repeated issue?
When finding a family to share in-home child care with, it is vital to find someone you trust, and that shares your parenting philosophy and management style. After all, you are sharing the care of your children. These questions can help you get a deeper understanding of a family that might be a good match.
Vivvi: Making In-Home Child Care Affordable for Families
At Vivvi, we provide quality child care for families in-home and at our child care centers. Our in-home service is available in cities across the U.S. Our fees for in-home child care are scaled to the hours of care you need and the experience level of your educator. We offer care from 12 to 40+ hours a week and half days, and flexible schedules are available. We will work with your family’s needs and make sure we can provide the best experience for your family.
At Vivvi, our in-home care can be shared with another family on a 2:1 child ratio, so if you’ve got a family in mind to partner with, contact us today to set up an appointment.