Nanny vs Daycare for Twins: What Are The Pros and Cons?

What’s the best childcare options for your twins? Nanny or Daycare

Choosing childcare for one baby is hard let alone twins.

It can quickly add up. So what childcare route do you choose? do you get a nanny for your twins or do you choose daycare for your twins?

Which is option is better?

Because you have twins the cost of any childcare will be expensive. You’re paying for two.

So instead of giving you prices, we are going to talk about the benefits and drawbacks of choosing a nanny vs daycare for your twins.

So that way you can put both options on a balance and figure out what’s best for YOU and your family.

This post is going to be broken down into 2 sections:

• Benefits and cons of getting a nanny for your twins

• Pros and cons of choosing a daycare

You know what’s best

Before we get into discussing the pros and cons of each. I want you to know that in the end, you know what best for your family and your lifestyle.

So look at this list to help you and give you some guidance. But you have the final decision.

Whatever decision you choose. Will the best one for your twins. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.

Whether you need to choose childcare because you can’t afford to stay home, or because you’re not ready to leave the job that you love so much behind.

Whatever the reason is… Just do what best for you and your family.

We all like to judge and have our two cents about childcare which I don’t know why.

But only you know your struggles so do you boo.

Benefits of nanny

Convenient

This is probably the number #1 factor why so many families choose a nanny over daycare.

The fact that is flexible and convenient. You get to create the rules and regulations.

• No need to get up earlier and get everyone ready to leave the house

• You get to choose the hours they work, how often, when you need them, etc

Control

You get to decide what goes and what doesn’t. You can create the activities and the schedule that your twins do day today.

If you rather than play with a certain type of toy, learn certain skills, etc. You can do that.

If you use cloth diapers instead of disposables you can do that. And the list goes on and on.

Schedules

Part of surviving twins is getting them on as scheduled.

If you already have a specific schedule then all you need to do is discuss it with the nanny and boom they follow it as directed.

No need to disrupt their naps, play, meals, etc. Because they are right in the comfort of their home. Everything gets to function just as plan.

The only difference is that now is a nanny doing the job instead of you.

One on one

With a nanny, you don’t have to worry about if your twins are getting the attention that they need.

No need to share a teacher or resources with anyone else. They get the one-on-one attention that they need.

Additional responsibilities

Besides taking care of the twins you can assign an additional task for your nanny to do:

• Help with meal preparations
• Cleaning
• Laundry
• School pick up and drop-offs

This might be an extra cost but is something you could discuss and probably one less thing you will need to add to your never-ending to-do list.

Germs are better contained

Your twins aren’t leaving the house. The only person they are in contact with is the nanny and the rest of the family that lives in the home.

Let’s be real children are pretty nasty and they don’t know boundaries. So with them being at home.

No need to worry about so many germs spreading by another child coughing in their face, sneezing, or the constant touching that little people like to do.

Cons of hiring a nanny for your twins

No backup

If you have a nanny and she gets sick what do you do?

What about if she moves? doesn’t show up?

You have no backup plan and you’re left high and dry.

Many employers aren’t very flexible and they only allow you to called in so many times.

What if you don’t live close to friends or family? What do you do?

Call ghostbusters?

So hiring a nanny can be a bit unreliable because at times you never know what might happen to her.

Even something as simple as car problems. What do you do?

Cost

You have twins which means childcare is going to cost more period. And at times a nanny can be more expensive than a daycare.

Yes, you don’t have to have a nanny 5 days a week for 8 hours but still do the math.

Because you might end up paying the same amount as a daycare but with fewer hours.

Remember the cost varies by location too. And they also charge more if you’re farther from them.

When I was looking for a nanny for my twins the cheapest I found was $20/hr and I needed someone 4 days a week for 8 hours.

So that was going to cost me roughly $640 a week.

I think the daycare for my kids which is the route we ended choosing was $420 a week for 5 days a week and their hours were 6 AM-6 PM.

So make sure you’re doing your math and calculations.

Remember you’re paying a premium price for convenience. You’re always going to pay more in order to have things right at your fingertips.

Screening process

Finding the right candidate can take a long time. The screening process can be pretty lengthy and plus if you do a test-out period that can also be time-consuming.

Even if you go through a website as care.com or sittercity.com you still need to do your homework.

Privacy

This is why lengthy screening is crucial because you’re allowing someone into your sacred spot AKA your home.

So say bye-bye to privacy. These people are going to know a lot about your private life so you need to be careful who you let in.

Not trying to scare you but as much as you install cameras everywhere they will still know what’s inside those 4 walls.

Benefits of daycare

Socialization

Your twins get to be amongst other children which in turn will help them in their developmental journey.

Being around other kids their age will force them to pick up on language, interact, speak much sooner, etc.

Structure

If you don’t have a schedule at home with your twins. Then daycare is perfect for that.

They have schedules they follow depending on their developmental age. So if you want more structure for your twins then daycare will be good for that.

Prepare for “real” school

Being in a structured environment that follows a specific schedule is a great way to get your twins acclaimed with the school.

They start to get into that rhythm and routine then when it’s time for them to start kindergarten is not such a big transition.

They have already been submerging into that sort of structure.

You get to get things done

Whether you’re a stay-at-home mom or work from home putting your twins in daycare means that you actually get to focus on the things you need to get done at home.

If you work from home then you actually get to focus and do your job without interruptions.

If you work for the home then you get to do chores and run errands without being pull into many directions by twins.

This is all great because by the time you pick up your twins from daycare you get to give them your undivided attention.

Reliable

No need to worry about a nanny calling in sick. Daycare always has someone there.

So you can wake up every morning knowing that someone will be waiting to take your twins. No need to stress about unreliable care.

You know their exact hours of operation when they are open, close, etc.

Cons of daycare

Daycare hours

Daycare is not like a nanny that you can tell her when to come. For the most part, daycare is open within a certain window. like 6-6 OR 630-630.

I’m a nurse and thank god for my husband because I wasn’t able to drop off our kids.

I had to be at work by 630 and dropping my kids off meant I would be late to work every day.

So what do you do when you don’t have help? And you work wanky hours like myself? How do you drop off your kids without being late for work?

Holiday

The majority of daycares are closed for specific holidays.

But like I mentioned earlier I’m a nurse I had to work holidays.

What if you like me also need to work holiday and you don’t have a family to help you?

What do you do?

Strick policies

All daycare have policies and procedures. Some are stricter than others. And whether you agree with them or not. You can’t really change them.

There is no perfect daycare so all you can do is try to find the daycare that has the policies that best suit your family.

But trust me you will find some policies that you won’t be able to do anything about them.

Like what do they consider a sick child?

How much time do you have before picking up a sick kid?

Incident reports?

How do they deal with emergencies?

Paying for daycare when they are close?

What curriculum do they use to teach children?

How they hire teachers?

These are just a few of the many policies to consider before enrolling your little ones in a specific daycare center.

Sickness

One thing about enrolling your twins in daycare is to prepare for your child to get sick because it will come.

For some more than others but it will happen.

Children are nasty and they don’t know how to keep their hands to themselves.

So expect your twins to have cough and running noses a lot.

The silver lining is that it will build their immune system even after.

But this is a big reason why so many daycares have strong policies about kids being vaccinated as well as having a minimum age requirement.

A lot of them won’t take babies if they aren’t at least 6 weeks of age.

Why? Because of that reason.

Newborns have no immune systems and daycares are full of germs.

Can’t control other children

As much as daycare is great for socialization. You never know what type of influences your kids are coming into contact with.

Let’s be real without being judgemental. We each have our own way of parenting. It doesn’t make us better than another mother.

But we have certain things that we wouldn’t want our children to learn at such early age.

Like if they have screen time what type of shows are they watching?

What vocabulary are the other children using?

And the list goes on and on.

One thing you need to know about daycare and even school period is that you can’t control what other people do or don’t do with their children.

All you can do is try your best on your own.

FAQ about pros and cons of nanny vs daycare for twins

Is it better to have a nanny or daycare?

This is a personal choice. Look at the pros and cons above and decide what will be best for your family’s lifestyle.

Think about your family’s needs, flexibility, income, long-tern goals. To help you narrow down the choice.

For our family daycare was the best option.

• It was cheaper

• They were accomodating

• Provided us with a discount

• Our children were able to socialize with other kids

The best of all. We never had to worry about someone not showing up. We knew exactly when and for how long the daycare was open.

So again. Create a list of the pros and cons of both while also keeping in mind your family’s needs.

And remember there isn’t such a thing as a perfect situation. You might need to compromise on some things.

Figure out what are your must-haves and what are your deal-breakers. Creating a list will help with that.

Is a nanny cheaper than daycare?

This can vary based on location, hours, etc.

You need to figure out how much a nanny costs in your area. Plus they are also going to charge more for two kids.

Every time you pay for convenience you’re going to pay more. That’s for almost anything in life.

Do nurseries offer discount for twins?

You need to ask. Some offer sibling discounts. The only way to know is to ask the worst thing that will happen is that they say no.

We were able to get a discount by asking.

Even if it’s $5. When you have twins. Any discount can go a long way.

Last words for choosing a nanny or daycare for twins

The choice comes down to you but I hope that seeing the benefits and drawbacks of both will help you make the decision much easier.

Think about your lifestyle and what will fit your family’s needs the best and then make a selection.

Whatever you choose know that’s the right and best decision for your family.

Don’t let anyone ever make you feel otherwise. You’re the mama you know what’s best.

I’m just here to support you and your journey.

Would love to hear about your childcare experience. Did you choose a nanny or daycare? Drop a comment below.

Other twin related articles

• Preparing for twins checklist
• How to survive newborn twins
• How to take care of twins alone
• How to get twins on a schedule
• Cloth diapers vs disposable diapers

Childcare options for twins: Daycare vs nanny?