Are Grandparents Better Than Nannies?

It was just the other day that one of my friends was telling me that her husband and she had come to New York to assist their daughter in looking after her one year old kid; this made me think over the various advantages and disadvantages of children being cared for by grandparents that I had overheard a group of young mothers discussing. I thought sharing this information would be of great help to my friends in Indiapulse.

Advantages of grandparents as caregivers: 

• Grandparents consider their grandchildren as their own flesh and blood and would care for their grandchildren as well as parents did or even better; this is due to their experience in child –rearing in bringing up their own children. They are definitely better than nannies that jut do the job allotted to them.  

• Next grandparents are a cheaper or even free means of care giving, as compared to nannies or babysitters; the expenses that you would incur on elders like grandparents living at home are negligible. You would as a parent not only get quality care for your children, but would also be assured of safe care. Grandparents would not only look to the safe pick up and drop of your children, but would also encourage your children to play with other children at home. If your parents stay with you, you are also saved of the labor of dropping and picking up your children from the various classes that are close by.  

• One of the predominant advantage of engaging grandparents as caregiver is that grandchildren and grandparents come to know each other better; since they spend more time with each other, this would help develop strong bond for life and they would love and cherish each other. 

However care giving by grandparents may also have their own disadvantages: 

• Some parents are of the opinion that grandparents may not be well-versed with the modern methods of parenting or may have forgotten how they parented their children.

• Again grandparents may find it physically demanding to look after grandchildren; this is because of their age.

• Next it is possible that grandparents already have other commitments that make it difficult for them to care give to their grandchildren.

• Also grandparents may at times live far away from grandchildren. So it may be difficult to transport toys and other equipments of the grandchildren. 

However it should be realized that grandparents could play a vital role in the care giving of their grandchildren. However it is important to consider some important point; the first point is whether grandparents are fit enough to run after grandchildren. Next it is important to consider if their house is childproof to leave your children and if looking after grandchildren fits into the grandparent’s commitment. 

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