Nanny with own child, would you hire?

Are you going to be working FT?

If not, personally I would be happy with a nursery option. DS is an only child & I feel his time at nursery was v helpful to his social development, sharing, etc. He wouldn't have got that from a nanny.

At DS's nursery, the workers in the baby room were my favourite of all the nursery, many were old, generally calm almost granny-like, they seemed to love the babies in their care.

Having said that, I only worked 2 days pw until he was 3, then rising to 3 days, so we had a lovely balance of 121 time and nursery time.

Sorry, just read your later posts. Ignore my comment

I wouldn't do it.

Even though £12 per hour gross is good value for London (£10 - 12p/h net is going rate for live out).

I wouldn't. Have you not been around your local CMs? A much better option.

We used a CM for our 10mo. She looked after him only during the day but had her own son (8uo) and another child before / after school. He loved it. So did we. He went on the school run. He learnt his colours from playing cars with her son. He learnt to play football too.

So I wouldn't dismiss all CMs out of hand. Just need to find one with fewer kids!
Good luck.

Annie , have you thought about a nanny share. This would work out cheaper.

Don't know if anyone raised this, but I thought ofsted said for childminders they can only have one under 12 months, unless it was twins. I haven't been a childminder since 2007 so haven't kept up with rules so I don't know if this has changed. Is there any kind of rule of nannies? I had my a 10 month old start as soon as my oldest turned 12 months. I didn't have any others to look after and they napped around the same times, it worked great.

I nannied with own child and no way did I favour my own child.
Having worked in nurseries thing it's much nicer for baby to be in their own home with their own things .

I would have no hesitation at nwoc. Looking after two babies..... Ummm those of us with twins or more have to do that with our own anyway. I was not a nanny but know lots as friends who work as nwoc and all of them are fab and have excellent bonds with charges and I think the more kids in the mix the better.

Your child won't get the benefit of a playmate for years as they don't socialise till then. There are only negatives for your child. All the loving nature that makes them a good nanny means that they will naturally favour their child and prioritise their needs. Your child will be getting less than half the attention of a regular nanny. Unless you are paying half the price, I wouldn't do it.

It's only the ages that bother me!!

I'm a nanny with own child and charge much less then she is charging! My ds is 5! And my charge is 18 months. It works great at this age but younger is too much hard work

I wouldn't go with a nanny with their own child. I did last time I went back to work. It was a complete disaster. She was an experienced nanny. She had looked after twins from 8mo until they started school but she struggled to look after my child and her child. They were very close in age but like I say it was a disaster.
I ended the arrangement after 3 weeks. It was a complete pain because I had just started back at work and I was seriously worried about my son's safely.

It turns out that whenever my DH or cleaner got to the house my child would be covered in vomit (he was never a vomiting child) and when it was suggested she might like to clean him up she just looked blank. Plus there was always a lot of crying and no response from her.

After the first week my child would start screaming as soon as she entered our property - it was truly awful.

By the time my mum told me I really had to get rid of her I was I na right state. Anyway. It was made easier because she managed to get my child badly sun burnt in early April. I have no idea how she managed it but I suspect she left him outside with no shade when he used to take his monumental nap of 2-3 hours. Bless him. His face has never been the same since and he is now at school! Serious sun damage incurred at 10mo and it is still noticeable in reception...? I will never forgive her.

To this day I don't understand how she managed to get such glowing references. How can a person change so much?!

Anyway. Good luck with your decision. We have used a mix of nannies, mature au pairs and Montessori nurseries and forest nurseries since. It's always a compromise. Whatever you do tho just follow your gut instinct. And if you don't have childcare in place then your employer will have to give you some extra time off. It's not the end of the world to wait a few extra weeks.

Not sure how old your child is but both mine were in nursery from 9 months and don't seem too traumatised by it! As long as you are comfortable with the baby room and get a good vibe I wouldn't be worried.

So you need 8w care until nursery space is free?

Try it. If it doesn't work out then carry on with nursery

Say to the nanny you want to give it a trial of 6w and 2w notice either side

I would lower the pay as Nwoc usually get less ph as 1) they have their own child with them so yours won't get 100% 2) she doesn't have to pay any childcare costs

It can work out well. It can as others said not work

Only time will tell

I'm a nwoc, I started my job when my son was 5 months old after the family I worked for previously for 7 years decided they didn't want me to take him with me (all fine it was their choice) my new boss was very clear that she wanted the children treated equally and didn't expect her child to take priority and that helps because just like with siblings sometimes my son needs seen to first other times her daughter does and I don't feel guilty if my charge has to wait 5mins whilst I change my son's nappy because I know my boss is great. It's great for both children as they have learnt to be patient and have a friend to play with. I love my charge and there certainly isn't any issues with her being upset that my son has his mummy there because they are both loved and treated the same and if I ever heard my son say anything along the lines of "that's my mummy not yours" he would be told off, it works both ways though as he might have his mummy but he isn't in his house or playing with his toys they belong to someone else who could easily say "That's mine".

I am about to go on maternity leave with my second child and fully expected to have to give up working but my boss is adiment she wants me to return with both my children as she knows my charge won't be treated any differently, the routine may need to be altered and it means all children sharing my time but that's not a bad thing if handled right.

I keep a travel cot, highchair, nappies and wipes at work so I'm not having to drag things backwards and forwards each day which makes life easier.

I do agree that she is charging too much though, I used to earn £12 per hour and now earn £8 (net I can't remember the gross amount off the top of my head) and I'm in kent just outside london

I'm a nanny with own child. She's now a year and my charge is a month younger. I still breastfeed, one or two feeds a day at the moment at work. 8.30am-7pm with a half hour commute each way. My charge comes first for everything while at work eg his meals served first, his naps seen too while my daughter waits, my daughter is woken from naps, put in buggy last, at groups I concentrate on my charge while just making sure my daughter is safe. It's really difficult as I feel like my daughter is missing out what I don't want my employer thinking I'm prioritising my daughter. I find it easy looking after both and keep things organised. I'd really consider it.

That salary looks like a FT sole charge salary to me. Agree with a previous poster who suggest a cut of about 25% if nanny brings her own child, though you have to pay minimum wage.

DS was also an IVF baby and we had a nanny share for the first year - with NCT parents. This was great for the kids and also saved on childcare costs for us. DS and his friend had the most amazing strong bond for years afterwards.

We did this and it worked really well, we started at about 9 or 10 months until 3 when DS went to nursery.

She was experienced and managed the children well, they were close in age so did the same activities, and it saved us money: she didn't ask for the full rate as she was providing childcare for herself, as well.

We talked about lots of things: like if she was off because her child was ill.

We talked about expectations in lots of circumstances and then got on with it.

I did this when my ds was 10 months (Nanny's child was 3 months older) and it was brilliant. A friend for him as he grew older and she was brilliant with both! I paid less than normal nanny rates though to compensate but sounds like she is still looking for full pay?

I never post only read, but I had to respond to this. I had just the concerns that you do, but hired my wonderful nanny who brought her little boy with her. She is amazing, everyone who sees her with them comments on how lovely she is with my little one. My point is, if you get a good feeling about her then don't let the fact that she wants to bring her chicks put you off. She's been a life changer for us!

When I went back when my son was 10 months old I used a childminder who had a child 4 months older. Tbh it was one of the things that "clinched" it for me. The toys were of the right age and stage for them both, they very quickly had the same routine. I used her for 2 years (until he went to nursery) and never had a moments regret. He was happy and settled I actually think I should have kept him there longer.

My friend has a nanny who brings her own child. It's worked out well - I think one advantage is that the nanny will find it harder to get another job (as demonstrated by this thread) which will make her very loyal. My friend's nanny has been with them for 6 years now.

Don't do it.

Her responsibilities (charges) will never be equal in her eyes.

She is too expensive considering she won't be focused 1:1, your basically paying for her child's childcare too.

If her child is sick she will be more likely just to bring them along anyway , exposing your child to it.