What help/support do you get?

[naturalbaby]

I'm in Switzerland and my husband's travel with work is increasing. I feel like I need some extra help with running the house and spending quality time doing activities with my kids. We also may put them back in UK schools one day so I'd like to keep up their English reading and writing etc.

I've been thinking about hired help options or whether I should try harder to build friendships with local families for support. Au pair, nanny, tutor, cleaner... what do other expat mums do?

[chloeb2002]

We have an au pair so I can work also. Love it. ... Most of the time.
It's more practical than daycare.

[naturalbaby]

I have a friend in a similar situation who uses au pairs - but she's pretty much had to find a new one every year!

[A10]

We lived in Geneva, Switzerland, live in home help (usually filippino or portugese) earn CHF3,000 net per month. It is extremely expensive. Often, the filipinos are illegal though, hard to hire one who is legal or to bring one from the Philippines.

You will find lots of au pairs who would love to live in Switzerland.

Most of my expat friends had either a local cleaner (Chf25 per hour) or an au pair. I had a cleaner who came 6 hours per week and she also was our babysitter on weekends, it worked out well.