I'm a nanny with my own baby - what should I charge?

Why would you consider charging £10-£12 p.h. when the min wage is £11.44 ?
and being self employed you need to allow for NI. tax and pension.
Or do you intend being employed ?

Don't count on just heating up food, expect to cook.

and it could easily be from end of school ie. anytime from 3pm until 7pm - ish and allow for parents to be late home due to their commute.

Do you drive ?
would you be expecting to use a family car or provide your own - are you insured to accept work children ?

I went back to nannying when my dd was 3 months old and had no trouble finding work, I did this until she was about 4 and then changed career.
I joined a couple of agencies and I’m pretty sure it was asked on the registration form of I had children, likewise I think the parents had to state if they were happy to have a NWOC.
All I’m saying is don’t restrict yourself by only thinking after school club will work out for you. Good luck 🤞

@Vizella

I was just wondering what the solution to this might be, OP.

While you are dipping a toe back in the water re work, could your parents look after your little boy for a few hours while you fulfil bookings outside of the home?

I see that you have experience as a nanny and I was wondering whether there was a reputable agency with which you could register. They could handle enquiries for you and arrange your bookings. That way, there would always be bookings on offer; my concern is that trying to run yourself as a business at this particular moment could be quite hard.

Having said that, something else occurred to me as I was typing this out and I wondered whether there were other options for you which would work while your little boy is very small.

I chipped in on a thread recently which was about two teenagers travelling alone to the US. They were actually old enough to navigate everything and the outcome was very positive all round. I did wonder, though, what would happen if they had been younger and so looked up what was available.

I read years ago that there were adults who accompanied children to airports, say, for instance, if the children were at school here and were returning to their expat families for the summer in places like Hong Kong etc.

I discovered that there's a company now called Airport Angels which offers this kind of service and I wonder whether that would work for you, as the bookings would work well for you while you spend most of your time with your son.

If I asked Airport Angels to escort my children and they had an experienced Nanny such as yourself available, I would see that as a bonus.

It's always worth having more than one string to your bow and this could work well for you, I think.

https://www.airportangels.net/chaperone-care/

In London people really struggle to recruit after school nannies so lots of people employ nannies who bring their own child along.
You probably wouldn't be working until 5.30-6pm though as families who can get home at that time will tend to use after school clubs. It is usually families who need a bit more flexibility and might not be home until gone 7. I think it is unlikely that you would just be heating up meals too. Parents would usually expect an after school nannies to cook a healthy meal.
When my first born was younger I worked as an after school nanny 3-7 and brought my DC with me. I was paid £15ph, 4 days a week and took home around £1k a month.

This

I think I’d be fine with this set up. Not the same but my ds went to a childminder from 10 months and she would go and pick up her own son plus others from primary school. DS loved having the bigger ones around. Lots of childminders have their own child in the mix, so why not a nanny?

Childminders often care for children alongside their own child. I would guess if you charged a little more than a childminder but less than a nanny, someone would be very happy to pay a bit extra if it meant their children were cared for at home and/or taken to activities.

I’m pretty rural and the kids got a school bus home. So she would just meet them off it and stay till four till six. It worked really well for a year till she moved. Managed to get a work from home job and dc got older so can now manage without help.

Honestly OP lots of people need flexible childcare and would be ok for you to bring your DC along. I’d probably advertise on the regular babysitting sites too. Lots of parents need ad hoc childcare for small children when they need to go to a hairdresser or hospital appointment for example and many babysitters are only available in the evening so you could probably get some work that way too.

I've had 2 Nannies who brought their own children with them. It worked well with the first nanny who had a son the same age as mine. The second nanny had a 2 year old when mine were in primary school and she just couldn't give my children the kind of after school attention I wanted. As others suggested, she found it hard to get them to do their homework and play games with 2 boys aged 7 and 9 when she had her own 2 year old daughter to look after as well.

I think you would be best looking at part time nanny work for someone with a child the same age as yours.

It's usually suggested that someone employing a nanny with own child (NWOC) offer about 20 - 25% less than the going rate, and make the option to bring their own child reviewable at 3 months and then every 6 months.

We have a nanny. NWOC are quite common in my experience and aren’t paid any less.

Go to an agency and see what they have on offer, op. You have plenty of experience and, presumably, good references and are sure of what you want, ie one primary school aged child. They will also advise you about how much to charge.

I know a nanny who too her own baby with her when she returned to work, for the same family who had employed her before she had her child. They and she were very happy with, and had a high regard for, each other.

A woman for whom I worked had a nanny for a few years for her three children though the eldest two, twins, did not need the same amount of attention after a while. The younger one still did. She had a baby and came back to work for them - full time- and it worked out very well. She was an excellent nanny

There will be people happy to pay for a nanny with your experience, to look after their child after school, and will not mind you having your baby with you. After all, you know how to care for children.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

There's been a lady offering the same service on a local FB group.
A lot of replies have been along the lines of they wouldn't use as they feel she'd be getting paid by them for looking after her own DC and concerns that they'd be priority.

She's also asked local nursery schools but it's also a no.

Maybe childminding would be the better option.

I think the expectations of an after school nanny are a bit higher than your suggesting tbh. If I was paying for a nanny over and above school wrap-around I’d want them to be taking the kids to activities, helping with homework sorting dinner and being available beyond 6pm which maybe harder with your toddler re bedtime.

I think you are also going to be better value for someone with more than one child. So, for me, wrap around 3-6 is £16 per kid so £32 for two. A nanny would be more expensive but better value for two or more children but if I was going for a nanny id want 3-7 so I didn’t have to rush home and I’d want my life to be easier for the extra money over and above wrap-around.

I think it's fine. Many parents are desperate for flexible childcare and won't mind if your little one has to come with you. Of course it's not 'ideal', in the sense that they would probably prefer someone who could focus entirely on their own kids without being distracted by a toddler. But in reality kids need ok care, not the best, and parents are limited by what's available/affordable.

I'd have a think about how you would occupy your kids during after-school activities etc. though. A lot of after-school nannies will ferry kids to activities/ do the swimming lesson and that might be tricky if you have a little one to entertain as well. I certainly find it tricky with my own DC!

Well it came across as very judgemental. Why mention it otherwise.

Yes, I did this too. Lady with a 2 year old. She had a car though and picked mine up from primary school and took them back to her house. I picked them up from her around 5.30pm. It worked well for a number of years, until my youngest finally went off to secondary.

OP you’re getting a lot of negativity - I would LOVE this as a solution in the past, especially for a single child family who doesn’t get that interaction with siblings. NWOC (Nanny With Own Child!)s are few and far between.

The suggestions I’ve seen online before are 15-20% lower than the going rate. One thing I would say (may have been said earlier, haven’t read ALL the comments!) is £15ph is on the low side for even full time nannies! When I was looking for one, it was around £20-22 for after school only - so maybe around £16/17ph and I’m sure some lucky parent will consider they’ve found a bargain! Good luck.

Ah page hadnt refreshed so hasn't seen your last reply

Ok. So you were a nanny once for 4yrs so gathering you have the quals and dbs first aid etx

Did you stop nannying /teacher bit when got preg?

What do you intend to return to as a job when your child is 3

Yea after school nannies are in high demand as basically most professional nannies don't want to work 3/4hrs a day as need 9/12hrs paid work as it's their career

After school means child may have homework and clubs and your child will be ignored /less attention while you help the child uou are paid to look after

As you have a little nannying exp and I assume 1-2 refs why don't you look for a same age child nanny job for 2/3 days

Be much easier on your child and will have a playmate for them rather then being in a house that may have nothing suitable for them to play with

I have a nanny and many other parents around here do too. No chance I would have a nanny who wants to bring their child, I'm certain that many people I know wouldn't either. Can your baby stay with the GP while you work?

Otherwise I will have to go back to work and I don't want that

Erm what is nannying then? It's a job

For many like myself who was a nanny for 20yrs and now been a mn for 14yrs - it is a career

Which means I trained for 2yrs at college - then have first aid - dbs - pli plus all the training and development courses I did to become a mn - and countless ref from families I have WORKED for

Sounds like you think it will be a doodle to look after another child

If you managed to get a job then Yes you should charge less or hopefully a family will pay you less then the going rate

Professional nannies talk in gross. Not nett

With no experience I would expect you to be paid nmw so £12gross tops !!!

You can't just decide to slip into nannying so that you can look after your own child and not work

We had a wonderful nanny with her own child. She started when our younger one was about 10 months and hers was six months. Our older one was 5 and had just started school a few months prior.

It's been a really positive experience for both of us and really good for all the kids.

What helped was trust and a bit of flexibility on both sides. She also had a lot of experience, having previously worked as a nanny and in a nursery.

I suppose it depends on how the OP were to phrase things should the question arise.
However, you are right that it can be quite tricky to navigate and I'm not sure the Op got the tone quite right here.

It's not the same thing but I remember discussing about doing some project work in a nursery setting. I said I was free to do sessions in the mornings ( my child was in pre-school then) They said they would like to alternate with afternoons. I said that that didn't work for me but made the mistake of specifying that it was because my child was at home. They then preceded in telling me that I could just bring my child along with me.
I understand that had I been needing the income it would have very helpful but it sort of ended up with me having to spell out that I valued the time with my child more than the extra hours. It didn't go down well because one of the women made a pursed lipped face and walked out, leaving me with the second owner.
Needless to say we didn't work together.

That's why I suggested after school nannying - usually the parent has cooked food beforehand and I just need to heat it up. I help with homework and chat to the kids and then the parents arrive at 5.30-6pm

Why on earth would anyone pay for a nanny who wasn’t going to cook for their child and finish at a time when they could get after school clubs for a lot less cost?

If I was going to employ a nanny bringing their own child I would expect to pay the same as a nanny share, as that’s exactly what it is. So half the cost really. I don’t believe you are legally able to do this which is why it would be a no from me.

My experience is that London primaries almost all have after school provision

The only people I know who want nannies instead fall into one of these categories:

They have more than 2 children so it's more cost effective

One or more of their children have SEN and benefit from a quieter environment

They work late and want nanny to be there past usual after school club hours

I don't think many fall into the category the OP is looking for - one child who would be ok with a toddler as well

The gap I do see in London is people who want to use school nurseries but who can't get wraparound and holiday care for that. That is a niche that might work for the OP as then the other child would be closer in age to hers and the parents may be less bothered about having a toddler rampaging round their house