Of nannies and babysitters

How do you find someone to fill in your shoes as far as baby is concerned? M&B lends you a hand

A woman in today’s world has multiple roles to fill—mother, daughter, wife, breadwinner, chief fire starter and chief fire extinguisher. We women need to be at the helm of things, directing the way our lives are going. But having a baby will momentarily hit the pause button on everything else in life but the baby. How, then, do you un-pause life as you knew it? How do you get back to work? How do you get back to socialising? How do you get some alone time? You find help. That’s how you do it.

If you’re in a joint family, consider yourself lucky. You’re going to have a mother-in-law, maybe a sister-in-law or cousins who will help you with the baby. But relying totally on relatives to take care of your baby while you’re at work or away from the house is not a very practical thing to do. If you’re going back to work, then you need a permanent solution, and imposing on your relatives on a daily basis is soon going to lose its charm—for you and for them. How do you manage then? There are only two options available—both with their pitfalls and advantages. Let’s take a look at them.

FINDING NANNY

The most obvious solution for finding help with your baby is to hire a full-time nanny. Not only will you be able to get back to work, but you can also go for that night out with friends while your baby is in the nanny’s familiar, capable hands. But that sounds like the best-case scenario. The reality is slightly different.