Thread: Baby Tech Talk

For the city folk...

A friend of ours started urbansitter.com which is similar to another service we've used called wondersitter.com

Basically, everyone is background checked and you book online.

As for a nanny, we just sucked it up and went through a nanny service that took our needs, background checked them, and gave us nannies to interview. It was expensive but we could not have happier with the person we found.

Preschool was a nightmare in SF. After applying to around 8 schools, we got into two. Kindegarten is even worse. Went to a kindegarten fair that was bigger than my college fair in high school. The only positive is that siblings generally get priority at most schools so our daughter shouldn't be an issue. Public school is pretty crappy in SF with only 2-3 decent ones. It's a lottery so doesn't matter where live and the liklihood of getting in the one you want is slim.

Parenting is so much fun!

Your post raises an interesting point; while one may think these types of decisions are the same across the country, the specifics of location do play a huge role. Our search for a day care (that runs through pre-school) was not near so involved.

Our number 1 is due in a few weeks... We only likely need daycare one day a week (wife is a night nurse), impossible to find a spot for the kid one day a week, now we are looking for a nanny situation.

Originally Posted by grskier

Our number 1 is due in a few weeks... We only likely need daycare one day a week (wife is a night nurse), impossible to find a spot for the kid one day a week, now we are looking for a nanny situation.

ask about crib-share at your local facility - some do, some don't but you might find a match, especially if you could take a friday. Buncha people at our old place in the bay did the monday-thursday thing and there were always less kids on Fridays.


edit: and welcome to a mixture of heaven and hell!!!

Originally Posted by grskier

Our number 1 is due in a few weeks... We only likely need daycare one day a week (wife is a night nurse), impossible to find a spot for the kid one day a week, now we are looking for a nanny situation.

Congrats, you'll have a blast. Are you looking at places down in C-Dale? I know the Yellow Brick up here has kids only doing one day a week. That drive could suck for the kiddo in the evenings, but when they're real young they'll sleep at the drop of a hat so it may not be too bad for one day a week.

If you can't find a PFD in a small enough size for your infant, running a bungee cord between the legs provides an extra measure of security.



He's so pissed.

Ah, vomit. How I've missed you. Somehow my shorts came out unscathed twice. First week in a new daycare probably.

Next up a big glass of bourbon.

Well, when my kid is older and someone asks her if she was dropped on her head as a baby, she can now say Yes. I'm claiming that it was her own damn fault though.

Just starting to really dig into nanny/day care options. If we are looking at full time, say 8-5:30 every weekday, what is a ballpark monthly nut people have experienced for either option?* I will find out soon enough, but curious as to others' experiences.

*obviously depends on locale, type of care, etc. Just want a ballpark range.

Originally Posted by Steven S. Dallas

If you can't find a PFD in a small enough size for your infant, running a bungee cord between the legs provides an extra measure of security.



He's so pissed.

You're doing it wrong. Ms. DJSapp disapproves.

Whoa, sweet fin. Those come in adult sizes?

As for daycare/nanny options- here in SF, daycare runs from $350-550 per week in the first year, then gets a little cheaper. Nanny/nanny share options are around that high end, I think, maybe a little more. There's a lot of variation in nanny rates depending on experience, qualifications, etc.

Originally Posted by commonlaw

Well, when my kid is older and someone asks her if she was dropped on her head as a baby, she can now say Yes. I'm claiming that it was her own damn fault though.

Just starting to really dig into nanny/day care options. If we are looking at full time, say 8-5:30 every weekday, what is a ballpark monthly nut people have experienced for either option?* I will find out soon enough, but curious as to others' experiences.

*obviously depends on locale, type of care, etc. Just want a ballpark range.

we're paying around $10/hr for an in-house nanny for 2 kids. that's in ut which i would guess would be a little less than some major cities?

Originally Posted by criscam

we're paying around $10/hr for an in-house nanny for 2 kids. that's in ut which i would guess would be a little less than some major cities?

Just an hourly pay situation or do you provide vacation time etc?
Full 40 hours a week?

Originally Posted by XtrPickels

Just an hourly pay situation or do you provide vacation time etc?
Full 40 hours a week?

provide 2 weeks vaca (one of which is coinciding w a fam trip back east in 2 weeks). 40 hr work week. some flexibility on both ends as my wife works from home.
i think if we had both kids at daycare it'd work out to about the same per week ($400) but could leave the kids at daycare as long as 12 hrs/day w no extra charge.

bay area: was $18/hr for 2 kids nannyshare (our friends) and $900/mo for daycare 3 days a week 1 kid. (ours) Full time daycare was $1700-ish for the >1 y/o room, but gets cheaper as the kid moves to the older rooms with higher kid:teacher ratios.

reno: $1200 for 2 kids 3 days per week daycare (most expensive in town), $15/hr for private nanny 2 kids (friends)

I discovered last weekend that a bike tube with a presta valve can provide hours of entertainment for a 2 year old...

Boulder: $1500/month for full-time infant daycare, $1700/month for full-time nanny coming to our house. Now that our daughter is 2, we have her in a home daycare that's much cheaper, $50/day (roughly $1000/month).

Keep in mind that if you have a nanny coming to your house for more than a day a week or so, you are required to pay nanny taxes (i.e. withhold and pay her FUTA and FICA), state unemployment insurance (which is a bitch because it's usually required to be reported and paid quarterly), and if she's full time your state may also require workman's comp insurance. These are non-negotiable as far as the state and IRS are concerned; you can argue that the nanny is an independent contractor (not an employee) until you're blue in the face, it won't matter. If you get audited, you'll have to pay (plus penalties and interest). I know a lot of people don't bother with it and just take the risk, but you should at least know that you run the risk. (I paid mine - it's only for a year or so, I was able to negotiate the nanny's price down a little because of it, and I'm terrified of getting audited.)

as pegleg says, $1500/mo or so for FT daycare. There are some a little cheaper, but not much (cheapest we encountered was $1400). They vary in when they go down in price (ours goes to $13xx/mo when she turns 2, some go down before that age) and they vary in what they provide. Some make you provide all your diapers, wipes, food, others make you provide just some of that while places like ours provide all of it.

We pay $22/hr for our very experienced nanny, plus all the taxes, monies to insurance, vacation, surcharge for mileage, etc. worth every penny. She gets a raise when number two comes along.

^^^^

As far as making the nanny taxes/employment a bit easier to handle I use http://www.mybreedlove.com/

They handle the direct deposit, quarterly taxes, send in tax payments, etc etc etc. Of course, there's fees but well worth it so I have more time to go skiing...that's the ultimate plan with a nanny RIGHT????

Originally Posted by skinnyskier

We pay $22/hr for our very experienced nanny, plus all the taxes, monies to insurance, vacation, surcharge for mileage, etc. worth every penny. She gets a raise when number two comes along.

$22/hr? Please tell me that there are blowjobs involved. That's insane. How many hours per week do you use her?

Originally Posted by Pegleg

$22/hr? Please tell me that there are blowjobs involved. That's insane. How many hours per week do you use her?

I suppose you could leave your kid with just anyone else for less, but if she's damn good she should get paid damn well. She's only grooming your kid during their most impressionable years, no big deal.

My wife and I are planning our first. Theres no way we will be paying anything close to the 22 bucks above, as we have decided to have one of us play stay at home parent than spend the money for someone else to watch your kid.

Some of those quotes for monthly daycare only confirm this position. $1700 a month! Man, that would mean my wife would be working for like 2 bucks an hour if we had to pay that and keep her working. Just not worth it if you ask me.

Personally, I think my kid's day care adds tremendous value to her life and education that I can't. So I don't bother doing the math to figure out an hourly wage. I just make sure I send her to a super awesome school.

But yeah, if the second wage earner makes $25k/yr, then you don't pay for day care.

Originally Posted by Danno

Personally, I think my kid's day care adds tremendous value to her life and education that I can't. So I don't bother doing the math to figure out an hourly wage. I just make sure I send her to a super awesome school.

But yeah, if the second wage earner makes $25k/yr, then you don't pay for day care.

agreed on both. was a little bummed we had to pull our 2 yr old out of daycare when our new one was born but financially it was the only way to go. they'll both be going back at some point.

^ you have to ask yourself if you are as trained up and qualified as the daycare to provide early childhood education. Since most of us waste time on here, and care primarily about skiing, we are not good candidates to raise kids at home.

Originally Posted by jfost

^ you have to ask yourself if you are as trained up and qualified as the daycare to provide early childhood education. Since most of us waste time on here, and care primarily about skiing, we are not good candidates to raise kids at home.

this and the fact that they get to interact and develop social skills w/ kids their own age on a daily basis.