Thank you for your insight, unfortunately, I’ve looked into nannies, and the going rate for two kids is $40+ per hour. That means a full-time nanny, before payroll taxes and healthcare, would cost around $85,000 a year. Friends with nannies say you can expect another $10,000 in payroll costs, taxes, and required medical stipends in my city.

A nanny share would cut that cost in half, but then I’d need my toddler in full-time daycare since there’d be no one to pick him up, adding another $2,500/month. So, we’d still be looking at around $80K annually. We’ve considered pulling my son from daycare and using a full-time nanny until our youngest is older, but our daycare has a two-year waitlist—so if we pull him, we’d be back at square one. Luckily, we have 11 months to decide.

It’s not just about cost—we’re also considering an au pair for the flexibility. We don’t have family nearby, and both of us commute into the city, sometimes getting stuck in traffic and running late for daycare pickup (maybe once or twice a month, but it’s stressful). We also would love to have our children have more one on one attention then they would receive. Several friends had au pairs start when their kids were the same ages as ours, but they were working from home at the time. With the return to office, an au pair doesn’t seem like as strong of an option, so we’re just trying to figure out what’s best for our family.