Creche vs Nanny

Just wanted to add that if you can find a realaly good and trustworthy nanny then that might be a good option.

Also some nannies cannot clean and look after baby so dont expect that from all nannies that look after a baby at home.

The teacher in K's baby class at crecre has eben with the creche for 28 years so when I weighed the pros and cons and looked at hthe 28 years experience that she had, I could not find a nanny that could fill her shoes.

I also struggled with the same decision when I was returning to work.

I found K a very nice creche in Claremont and I chose them for the following reason:

1. Loving and warm environment;
2. Very clean and hygienic;
3. Staff are trained;
4. Low staff-child ratio. There were 2 staff for 5 babies in the baby section;
5. Children looked happy.;
6. Lots of toys and age apparopriate stimulation;
7. Cooked meal (Halaal), snacks, juice and tea provided;
8. Open door policy (I can drop in at any time);
9. Director is on top of things and involved in the day-to-day running of the classes. He spends time with the kids everyday and they love him to bits.
10. No medication given to child unless parent has consented. They call me to ask if panado can be given when K has a fever at creche.
11. Creche goes up to grade R so no changing schools until big school.
12. I was allowed to spend 2 full weeks at the creche and ease K up into a routine at creche. In those 2 weeks I got to see how the creche is run, how the rooms are clean, their bathrooms, how is tea / meals/ bottles prepared, how do they deal with discipline etc.

K has joined them at 5 months and she has been progressing very well there. She loved her teachers and when I drop her off in the morning, I have the peace of mind that she is happy there and she is getting a lot of love and cuddles from the staff at the creche.

At home you wont really know what is happening when you close the doors and go to work. At least at creche there are a lot mroe staff around and parents that can pick up on things and let you know if something is wrong.

I am all for a nanny first and then day care! As most of you have already said, it's a personal choice and a very difficult choice to make. For me personally, i chose the nanny option as i didn't want my kids to have to "share" their caregiver with anyone else, yes i know that sounds selfish, but i couldn't wrap my mind around how they can get 100% attention if they with more babies. My son now 4 years started creche at 2 years old. My daughter 9 months is home with a nanny and will start creche at 2 years as well. On weekends we make an extra special effort to go visiting, go to fun parks etc to get the kids out and about.

Having my nanny Mavis has been a true blessing She not only cares for my LG, but also tidies up the house. Everything is spotless when i get home, no pressure, no stress. I have more time to spend with my kids playing on the floor when i get home, so nothing is a rush to get done. My food is going on the stove and within an hour all is done. My MIL and Mom is retired and they pop in during the week unannounced to check on baby, i always get good feedback that whenever they visit, K is happy and playing and the nanny takes good care of her. Oh another bonus is that if my son is sick and can't go to creche, he stays home with Mavis as well. He loves her too bits and often wants to play truant and stay home with K and her...too cute!

they really become part of our families and teach our kids so much.

I agree totally!
It is so comforting to me to know that my childs nanny loves him and cares for him like her own. Sometimes when I get home from work, I sneak in slowly so that they don't see or hear me and then I see them singing, dancing, playing and laughing. Sometimes my son does not even want to come to me when I get home, all he wants is goggo, that's what he calls the nanny!
I don't care because I know that she takes good care of him and then I deal with the 10 min rejection somedays!!!!!LOL

change in progress - these ladies become much more than domestic workers/employees in our homes, they really become part of the fabric of who we are.

I also grew up with nannies but I was in a black area so we had no such incidents. I remember that I would sit at the back of our house waiting for my nanny to come back from a visit to her house. I would see when when she was still a long way off and run to her just to hug her and update her on what happened while she was away. she came there while I was doing grade 1 and left just before I started grade 5 and I loved her with my whole heart.

I also have fond memories of my granny (nanny but I called her grany because she was old). she took great care of us. I will always miss her, she joined our family in 1997 and left in 2005 after my mom passed away. I remember how she loved my younger brother whom she took care of since his birth, how she stayed with my mom through out her whole sickness.

You just can't buy this kind of love and these memories, my eyes just filled with tears. I want this experience for my kids as well, these people contributed so much to who we are and providing us with stability in our young lives.