Childcare for a trolley dolly!

Trolleydolley pm me if you want ap advice, i'm cabin crew and have an au pair.

I read your original thread thinking no way, however, then got to the fact that your DD is 12 years old. My DD is 10 years I work long hours including nights and weekends. For a whole variety of reasons earlier this year I had to get an au pair and deliberate choose a slightly older girl aged 24 with plenty of driving experience.
They get on really well together go shopping, paint nails like big sister and little sister. In addition to childcare my au pair keeps on top of the tidiness in the house and does my ironing ( I do the washing). My home is much tidier as a result of her arrival and she is a big help. I hope your experience is he same.

OP, you've said you are part time.

I have no idea how it works in your industry, but could you up your hours a bit? If you are going to be paying for childcare for the whole month whether you need it or not, would it be possible to do some more hours to make the finances tip more in your favour?

(if you can find someone to do only the hours that you need, then ignore me)

au pair = £70 a week

Nanny = £70 a night

Au pair is alot easier and will probably work out cheaper with the added bonus of the AP
being able to help out at other times or when you just need to get things done, or she can do chores while ulyou spend time with your child

That's really fantastic news!!! Good luck with it all :-) x

can your parents stay at yours when you go away? then can do the school run

Hi Trolley - I live in wimbledon. work odd hours and I often use a company called Safe Sitters - it is set up by an ex wimbledon High school girl and all the sitters are from the sixth form at wimbledon high . We have used 2 or 3 and they are lovely. We have one at the moment we use a lot. They are always reliable - and are usually raising money for some trek/ gap year etc so keen to work. They usually finish their classes by 4.30 so could get out in time to do the pick up. They may be a little young -(17/18) but I think it might be worth meeting some to see how you get on, I found them all very mature - and great with encouraging my daughter in home work etc - I haven't used them overnight - or even asked them to - and I think you would need to negotiate on the rate as it might be too pricey: [email protected]
I think it also might be worth you putting an advert in some of the primary school newsletters as ours often has adverts for au pairs looking for extra hours./ or people offering childcare options.
Good luck !

Just to chip in that our Au Pair happily works occasional weekends - it was all agreed in advance.

Perhaps you could at least look for an AP (Au Pair World is great). You might be surprised at who you can find and I also (unexpectedly) enjoy having the company of another adult around the house which I can imagine might be extra valuable as a single parent... If you don't find one you've lost nothing as there don't have to be agency fees. You could simultaneously look for a nanny/childminder through a free website and see which one brings results first.

Given that we now know your daughter is 12, I think an aupair would be fine - and still cheapest! A childminder would have to have your daughter stay at her house which is probably not ideal for an almost-teenager. A nanny is going to be way too expensive and that level of experience is not needed.

However, one problem which remains is that I presume your flights could extend over a weekend and an aupair may not want to work weekends, particularly if she doesn't know well in advance what the requirements might be.

An alternative might be to see if you can provide accommodation for a local student in return for some money and a commitment to be available overnight on the days you are away and there for breakfast in the morning. Isn't there a teacher-training college in Twickenham for example?

It is a tricky situation though.

Can you not just sell those flights to collegues and ask your employer for less long haul?

Have you just recently split up then? I would think about a change of career/airline - if her dad has just left and then she is left with new people overnight it could all be a bit much at a very tricky age.

I know it's not as simple as 'just' getting a new job but for what you earn it just doesn't seem worth it. Could you switch to more local flights? Or look for another job?

Hmm. Can she stay with your parents on those days also?

Even a nursery nurse/ new nanny/ childminder who only charged very little would still be around 100 a day. If your abroad and child gets taken to hospital they will also need to be able to be there as sole carer in charge. I think £100 a day is still your min tbh. That's only £2.40 an hour also

Other option is a combination of her staying at friends and family. You could have their child over in exchange also

There are older au pairs - mine was a sensible 26 year old Hungarian who I certainly wouldn't have hesitated to leave with a 12 year old.

I actually think it might be the ideal job for someone.

I'd see if there are any colleges around you who teach childcare etc who can help.

It will entirely depend on how comfortable you are with certain things. My DC are nowhere near that age but I think at 12, if DC are sensible, I'd be just as happy with someone who seemed sensible sleeping over in the house.

Sorry, I knew the numbers were on the heavy side but I think it's good to start with worst case scenario then get better from there!

Although an AP isn't strictly meant to have sole charge I don't feel you can say that's true for every situation. There are some very well qualified APs out there at the moment, particularly from Spain, who are old enough to have that level of responsibility. Our current one is a 24 year old teacher who I would trust overnight if I had to.

I also work strange hours and childcare has been an ongoing headache for us but we have managed. There are probably more people than you think who would be happy to work those hours as they happen to fit quite nicely with their own lives and responsibilities.

And I don't mean to pry but shouldn't your ex partner be paying for some of the childcare costs too?

I think an older au pair would work here, as your child isn't tiny so doesn't need ' care' as such. Ie a 12 year old can cope with most emergencies or can call someone else if needed etc.

An au pair in Wimbledon would like these hours IMO as could fit in long courses at uni learning English for example as 9-4 free at min. I would offer £100 a week plus travel card for zone 1-2. So around £500 ish a month. Remember some days she might actually have child full time in day if your child's off school during holiday etc. So can take child places then.

A nanny would probably charge min £10 net (£13 ish gross an hour) so 3 days would be £620 net