Daycare or Nanny

I advise contacting the northside parenting network. They may have resources to help.

You can look into nanny sharing.

There are pros and cons both ways. Nice to have one on one care with a newborn but as they get older, it's nice to have them socialize.

Nanny's are harder to keep tabs on so the trust has to be there. Do background checks. Check referrals.

Daycare can be in-home which is what I prefer. There is no staff turnover in home daycare and it's more personable. They are usually licensed.

Again, whatever you choose. Check referrals, do surprise visits, and trust your instincts.

You should be looking now! A lot of places have wait lists

Good luck!

Hi L.,

There is nothing more difficult than being a working mom. I have worked part-time with two and am working full-time now that we have three.

I have also used a home day-care, which was very affordable and the woman was so loving. She would let my baby fall asleep on her shoulder. She had a lot of children and her daughter-in-law worked with her. This provided the socialization for my oldest daughter. The problem was my baby kept getting ear infections, so I ended up taking a lot of sick days.

We have had full-time and part-time nannies and all were wonderful in their own way. It is more expensive, but the convenience of having the baby at home and not having to pack up and drive in bad weather was so wonderful. The baby's schedule could be maintained and if the baby is sleeping there is no need to wake because the baby is in their crib, safe and sound.

This year is the first year I have had a nanny part-time, three days a week. We found her through Mamasource and she is terrific. She actually has no formal background, but she is a mom of a high schooler and she is fantanstic. Our children love her, she is affordable and our kids are homebased. I do not need an extra half-hour to drive them to daycare and if they don't feel good they get to hang out at home. They also invite their friends home to play. It has worked out the best for us.

You can find part-time and it is doable. Ask any mom and they will say that their little one got sick quite a bit in a daycare environment, home or center based. Keep that fact in mind! Good luck to you and remember to give yourself some time to adjust in the beginning. It is overwhelming when you begin the balancing act. It gets better and better. Just keep positive and enjoy your little bundle.

God Bless

Hi there,

Sometimes you have to wait and see what will work best once the baby comes. I am also a working new mom and I thought I would use daycare as well, just for the sake of cost. However, when my DS arrived, he was so fussy/colicky that he had to be held ALL day or he just screamed, which no daycare center could accomodate. We ended up w/a nanny because we had a definite need for 1:1 care. I'm not saying this will happen to you, but I DO know that once your baby comes you'll totally know what s/he needs and what you need to do - it will fall into place. If you decide on a nanny option I agree with the other poster that northside parents network is a great place to find a nanny share. Best of luck!!!

I think the problem with Nanny's is that they are hard to trust. It is also very hard to find a well established Nanny agency that will send quality people for your child. I also think that child care is good, if you get a place that is attentive to your child. I also like child care because of the interaction they receive from other children along with the teachers. Kindercare on I think it's Wells is good. I think that a daycare you can pop in anytime you want, with a Nanny, they pretty much have control on when you see what is going on. Even in your own home. I am not sure if you remember Maury, had a episode many years ago where the nanny was recorded and she was smacking the baby. If you get a Nanny, I suggest you record them like my best friend did.

Good luck, and Congrats

We too needed part-time childcare and I found it very overwhelming as well. We found our first nanny by posting at the local colleges/universities - Erikson Institute, DePaul and Loyola. We found our second nanny by posting on Secondcitynanny.com

Good luck!