We have an 8 week old and are working through childcare for when we go back to work. How are people affording Nannys??! It’s looking like ~$4k/mo where we live and rearranging our finances to make it work is daunting, especially, since both of us make really good money.

Nannies are too expensive. We found a great in home daycare ran by a lady who was a teacher for 20 years and now has conditioned her house for that. I don't pay over 1k per month and my daughter who is 3 has learnt to color within the lines, and has learnt all the colors and count from 1-5. There's a lot of stigma around these arrangements but I consider myself lucky to have found this unicorn

Isn’t it weird how everyone talks about how you have to save money to send your kid to college but no one warns you that you will spend nearly as much on their first 4 years of childcare?
With 3 kids we have spent around $400k on childcare and still 2 years to go and we aren’t doing the cheapest options but we are certainly not doing the most expensive.

Honestly, once I stopped worrying about the Nanny cost, I was able to focus on my job and my salary exploded.

If that’s a lot, do daycare. People do Nannies who are wealthy enough to do Nannies. It’s a choice and there are options.

Consider an au pair, nanny share, or daycare

Obviously everyone has their own opinions and experiences but personally my daughter absolutely loves her daycare - started at 5 months. She gets to watch the big kids and they love her. Plus it feels more stable not having to worry if a nanny is sick.

Can relate - the financial adjustment after my husband and I both went back to work after parent leave ended was a rough transition. Our daycare is $2600 / mo. We stacked our leave to maximize the time not needing to pay for child care and then basically just accepted we needed to live on college budget and not travel / spend money enjoying life / save as much.

We both make good money (husband works at Citi). We’ve gotten budgeting down now - our daughter is almost 2

Shoot...for 4k a month I'll watch some kids!!

We have done the nanny thing with my oldest and daycare with our youngest. Team daycare. Reliable, structured, regulated, etc.

I would be working just to pay childcare so we decided I just stay home with my kids. It’s really hard to budget money for basic needs let alone chil care.

We did a nanny share with my first but with my second we opted for daycare. Still in touch with both of my son’s nannies and they are amazing humans! We lucked out with them. I honestly prefer daycares though for working parents because it’s always open. Nanny would get sick from one of the two kids and call out occasionally leaving us scrambling (after also being home with a sick kiddo for a few days) It became a lot to manage

Welp, reality is tough. People always encourage having a family, but never share the true costs for childcare. While people play the corporate game; someone is raising a child through the formative years. Feeding, changing, emotional support for 8+ hours a day 5 days a week. Perhaps performing cost-benefit analysis: Time, payments, tax write-offs, and peace of mind of a person taking care of your loved-one; then I think you will understand the benefit a little better.

Confused by this post. If you make really good money, then you should be able to afford a nanny ?
(I have a nanny and while I did consider daycare, I am very happy with my decision ). I make average money and the majority of my income goes to the nanny . So it should be much easier for you to afford one ?

I would recommend one parent staying home with the kids. If a big chunk of your money or if most of your money is going to childcare, then might as well not work - working just to pay for childcare sucks. If you can find a remote job then you can be a stay at home parent who works from home. I know several people who take care of their kids while also working from home.

... what about quitting your job and stay home to raise your kid?

I have my child in an in-home daycare. When I was laid off recently, I spent two months with them and while I absolutely was torn having to go back to work, I know my child is thriving in daycare. They learn so much more from other children about social skills than I could ever teach them. I have gotten a lot of comments over the years from people who can afford to stay home with their children (or, to be honest, some who quit and went on welfare so they could) but as a solo parent I have to work. A nanny wasn't possible since most of them want more than I make. The in-home daycare has been great. The only downside is sick days. I'm not exactly sure how many days I can take off when my child is sick before I get terminated... My previous job was WFH.

Ive been a mom and for over 30 years and a grandma for 12 years . Kids are remarkable but costly. And they are born already with the mentality of a teenager by 3 lol. 8weeks old and they want to charge you like they are watching 2 teens a preteen a toddler and a newborn lol. I will do it for half the price lmao. Its no easy task but wow people I guess dont believe in helping a family and in return gaining a bigger family . Good luck on you search. If your ever near Fresno Ca for vacation I will be available ......lol

$28 an hour for a nanny where I live, which is very expensive. We use a daycare

Is there any way one of you could stay home for a year? That's what we did when we saw how less expensive daycare gets once they are 1 and/or potty trained.

How is it daunting if you both make really good money?