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My husband and I are international pilots and are trying to find child care for our newborn that would be 24 hours a day for anywhere from 7-15 days in a month. Does anyone have any suggestions on how or where we can look for child care? What are our options?
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Would it be possible for you guys set up your work schedule to where you weren't working at the same time? That seems like an awful long time for a newborn to be in daycare
I don't know of any daycares that do 24 hour care. I know they exist though
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Your best bet would probably be a live-in nanny.
I think it would be the best choice. That way your baby would be with someone they know well, someone they see on a regular basis and can bond with. This would also allow your baby to remain in your home, in its own crib and familiar surroundings when you are gone.
I really don't think even a 24 hour center could do extended care like you're looking for legally.Comment
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I figure my choices are a live in nanny or someone I REALLY trusted who's home she could go to, I just don't know where to look other than Care.com. We would try to stager our schedules but we are both fairly Jr at our companies and therefore don't have much control over our schedules.Comment
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a nanny or relative is probably your only option.It:
: will waitComment
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I think when you become a parent you are sometimes faced with difficult situations but the bottom line is you always have to do what is best for your child. Not seeing your baby 15 days per month is just not a good decision in my opinion. Isn't there some way you can alternate your work schedules? I had to make decisions like this as well and chose to leave my job to be there for my son. Yes, financially it was tough but we worked through it and found a way. Above all else my son was my priority, not my job. I hope you can find a way to put your family first...Comment
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Where are you located at? Perhaps a member here offers those type of services or knows someone who does....
I would definitely recommend a nanny as well. It seems it would be a more viable solution for your child since they are spending a good deal of time away from both parents, at least the home environment would be consistent if you had a nanny.
Hoping someone here can help....
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If you live in a large high populated city you might be able to find a facility that provides 24 hour child care however it might be very difficult. Depending on the state that you live in the regulations might be very lax or they might be very strict about how many consecutive hours a facility can keep a child. For example some states only allow a child to be in daycare for 10-24 hours in a row. Even family child care (when a child care provider provides child care in her own home) may or may need a special license to provide overnight child care extending beyond 24 hours.
Your best solution would probably be to leave your child with family or close friends and offer them pay to cover necessities and a little for their time. If you have close relatives or friends where one spouse stays home with their own children this would be ideal. If they both work then you could offer to find a child care provider close to their home, pay the provider as well and have your friend/family member drop and pick up your child from daycare.
If you do not have friends or family that can help you then your next best option would be to hire a full-time live-in nanny. Around the clock care will be expensive as nanny's are generally already the most costly child care option but you will have one-on one attention on your child and the nanny can live in your home. The more perks the nanny has the lower the nanny's rate can be negotiated. The nanny will need his/her own room if they are live-in but you can negotiate a reduction in the nanny's rates to cover housing and utility costs which is the norm for live-in nanny's.
Other "perks" that can help reduce the rates are things like allowing the nanny full use of common areas of the home, internet and phone priveleges, if you have a computer at your home you can offer her computer use, access to your vehicle to transport herself and your child, a gas card with limitations that you will only cover gas costs if the driving is related to something for your child such (trips to grocery store, baby store etc.). You can also reduce the amount of housework you expect her to do for you and the household. Typically nanny's have light household responsibilities such as light cooking duties not only for children but also for the family, laundry, dusting, vacuuming etc. You can reduce these chores to only include things related directly to your child such as your child's laundry, a quick wipe/rinse down of the bathroom or baby tub after baths, vacuuming only the areas that your child will play on and only if needed etc.
Most nanny's are young and in school so most likely you'll be looking at an older woman. Or you may even find some luck with a single mother of a young child, that might work for the both of you. I would require that they take CPR classes, be tested for Hep and TB and have a background check done from the Department of Justice. I would interview candidates and get to them fairly soon so that you can get to know them better before leaving them alone with your child. I would also ask a neighbor or friend that you are close with to drop by every few days to check in on things and give your nanny their number as well in case they need anything. I hope this helps.Comment
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another option is an Au Pair they come from other countries and live in your house They are screened by the company you go through to hire one. Often they are students that need a place to live to cut expensesIt:: will waitComment
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Call your local family child care providers. I'd do it. I often do 24-hour care for the parents I have.Comment
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In the OP the parent says that it would be 24 hour care for several weeks at a time. I know that in some states the regulations are different and do allow more than 24 hours of consecutive care given but it's very difficult to find these types of providers. By any means they should look and ask around but I think that at this point it'll be easier and faster to find a nanny than to call around trying to find a provider that will be willing to care for their child for 2 weeks straight while the parents are both working in other states/countries KWIM?
I even thought of the Au-pair option but didn't mention it earlier because I was under the impression that Au-pairs are students that come from abroad to study here while taking up residency as a part-time nanny in a persons home. I think Au-pairs need to be given time to go to school and study and that would be difficult to do if they have to care for a child for weeks at a time while the parents were away for work. This will be a regular occurrence so I do not see how an Au-pair will work for them.
Edit: My family researched having an au-pair and in the 2 organizations that they contacted each one had the requirements that the au-pair had to be given time off weekly (like once a week minimum) for him/herself, they couldn't work more than a certain hours each day and the au-pair had to be enrolled at least part-time in school. There are many organizations out there so I'm sure may be different in other organizations but most Au-pair organizations accept only people that are between the ages of late-teens (like 17) to mid 20's that are students so that they can get student visas since work visas are harder to obtain in the US.Comment
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I can't imagine this being legal anywhere.
In my state, "24-hour childcare" means the center/fcc can operate around the clock. No one child can be there for a full 24 hour period. Let alone possibly two consecutive weeks.Comment
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Thank you for your comments. I am of course trying to work with my company to get a reduced schedule and maybe job share but I want to try and plan for a worse case scenario. A live in nanny is my first choice. What I have found in Au Pair services they can only work 45hrs a week. It is not going to be any easy task but I am sure I will find someone who will fit in with our family.Comment
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I think you need to rethink your career. It's not conducive to raising a child. You need to study infant development. You will seriously mess this child up if you think you can hire a chick to replace you on that level. Plain cruel! I wouldn't let a dog from me let alone suggest having a child. Try a house plant. They don't require being the most important thing in your life. Asking for a stranger to raise your child, make sacrifices and commit that level of time and love is outrageous.
I edited this tring to be more polite but you can't really be polite in the face of such selfishness.~AmandaG~Comment
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