kimmygo and Adonis, sorry for not getting a chance to thank you for your info. That was definitely helpful and did give me a great deal of idea in terms of nanny pricing in the area, although it is still quite overwhelming. Once again, thank you!

I also messaged you.

JC-er, sent you a message to your inbox

My wife found a babysitter through care.com in early 2013 for our twin children. The babysitter's regular hours are Monday through Friday 9am through 6pm (9 hours). Everyday she is paid 8 hours at the regular hourly rate and 1 hour at time-and-a-half. Normal weekly hours are therefore 45 hours with 40 hrs regular hourly pay and 5 hrs at time-and-half. Her current hourly rate is $13.00 for regular time and $19.50 for O/T. Sometimes we have her come at 8 am and sometimes she stays later if we need her to. If she comes earlier or stays later then same hourly pay rules apply to the extra hours worked. The babysitter gets 10 working days of paid vacation - 5 days are decided by us and the other 5 are decided by the babysitter. Plus she has off on normal holidays for which we pay her as if she worked 8 hours for the day.

From January 1, 2014 through July 11, 2014 we have paid her $17,440.81 for 1,260.40 hours worked which works out to $13.84 per hour. Also through that same time frame we have to pay about $2,000.00 of employment taxes. So the total out of pocket to us for employing the babysitter for the period January 1, 2014 through July 11, 2014 is about $19,440.81. Divide that by the hours she has been paid for of 1,260.40 and it works out to a total hourly cost of $15.42. Keep in mind that is for her to babysit 2 children that were 2 months old when she started working for us and are now 19 months old.

Hope that helps you for your pricing comparisons.

We send my son to the Growing Tree II, which is downtown and have had a very good experience. He has been going there since he was about 2.5 months old.

Thank you so much for your response, lolo & jcdd! That's a great idea to join the support group so I can get a lot of information from other mommies or moms-to-be in the area given the fact that we are quite new to JC. I definitely will look into that.

I did think about looking into the daycare centers near my work but both my husband and I work in Manhattan, and we use public transporation to commute to work most of the time, we don't quite like the idea of commuting with the infant everyday.

jcdd - please excuse my ignorance, I am not quite sure how to PM you for the daycare names. I would love to get the info from you if you could instruct me how to send you a private message.

lolo - if you could let me know the name of daycare that you send your daughter to, that would be great too!

Once again, thank you both for the help!

I do have some recs for daycare in the downtown area if you want to PM me. I also have a rec for an in home daycare that is very reasonable in DT.
Also, if you have the space in your home, you could consider a live in au pair. A lot of my coworkers who live in the suburbs (and have the space) go this route. It is significantly less expensive that a nanny or daycare, but you must have the space to accommodate the au pair.

I second the JCmoms recommendation. A nanny is very expensive (think over 40K per year), especially if you do it properly on the books as you should. You might be able to link up with another family on JCmoms with a nanny share. Daycare is a "less" expensive option, though the cost in Jersey City is astronomical compared to the burbs. Also, there are waitlists, so you will want to start exploring options now. DO you work in JC? If not, perhaps explore daycares in the area where you work as well. I do this. Though I live in JC, I actually bring my child to the area of NJ where I work, as it is significantly less expensive than the options here.

And congratulations on your bundle of joy!

My daughter goes to a really great daycare located downtown. The cost will make your eyes bug out, especially if you hire a nanny.

I highly recommend you join the Jersey City Moms Meetup group. You can ask questions like this to an audience of experienced moms, meet other pregnant ladies, and find great play dates for after your baby is born.

Search for Jersey City Moms Meetup on meetup.com.

I am a first time mom-to-be living in the Heights area. Our baby is arriving in October and due to both me and my husband are working parents, we will need to find a babysitter to watch our baby. That will be for Monday to Friday, from 8:30 to 5:30/6:30 (9-10 hours a day). We have 2 options, either hiring a private nanny or bringing the baby to a daycare center. What I would like to ask here is what is the rate for hiring a nanny, or if there is any recommendations on the daycare center in the area. Many thanks and it is much appreciated!