Nanny sharing in the north shore?

Many of you reading our blog know that I am a proud new Mom to an 8 month-old boy, George! And if you didn’t, now you do :)

As we set out upon this new parenting journey, it’s our intention to share with you what we learn about raising a family here on the North Shore.  

Micky and I are looking at childcare options.  Like many other families in our area, we’re thrilled to raise George here for many reasons; including our access to wonderful schools, recreation opportunities, and safe neighborhoods. 

But what happens when a dual income is required to cover housing costs, and adequate, affordable childcare isn’t always a breeze to find? 

Plus, according to the latest results from the 2016 StatsCan Census, our local population is only growing!
We wanted to find out how families in North Vancouver and West Vancouver are making it work.Here are some of their solutions:

Just as it sounds, some families share their nanny between 1-2 homes, often with the nanny looking after 2-4 children for 40-50 hours per week.  Cooking and cleaning tasks may also be part of the arrangement.  The benefits of nanny sharing are many: the kids can entertain each other, providing companionship, strengthening social skills, and allowing the Nanny to take on more household tasks. It’s less expensive than having a full-time nanny to yourself, and on days when your home is the ‘host’ home, you don’t have to wrangle the kids out the door!Plus, a Nanny sharing schedule could be flexible, too. However, it still is a more expensive option than traditional child-minding programs.  

How to get started? Families told us they consulted websites such as Global Nannies, Canadian Nanny or received referrals from Facebook, or directly from friends and family.

“When there’s two, what will you do?”  Often when you consider the costs of childcare (especially if you have more than one child) it simply doesn’t make sense for both parents to work.  That’s right – childcare can often equal the total or majority of one entire income!Sometimes we see our friends and clients opting to have one parent stay home with the children – but taking in another child or two. This can be a viable option; allowing the child to have the comfort of having a parent stay at home, with the added benefit of additional income.

Note: there are two types of childcare in our province – licensed and unlicensed. If you’re considering this option, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with the regulations in place. Click here for info on the BC gov’t website

Typically considered a more economical choice than having a full-time or shared nanny, there are plenty of programs offered in our communities.The benefits of these licensed operations are many: often they have to abide by stricter governmental regulations, and children will be exposed to a wide array of people, educational opportunities, and situations.   As well, kids can really benefit from the structure provided by many of these programs. However, having more children in the programs can result in less one-on-one attention for your child, and the programs can be popular with very limited capacity.

Above are just SOME of the innovative childcare solutions put to work by our local families.Can you help other parents - myself included -and join the conversation? Please leave your comments below!

In Lonsdale Life and Real Estate, you can count on me to keep you informed.

Sincerely, 

Karen Biffi

Proud mom & Realtor ®