Struggling to find a nanny- am I doing something wrong?

Maybe nanny with baby/toddler :) I was looking for job like that where I can still enjoy my toddler during the day and just do few hours school runs:) I ended up with full time job at the end-but this was ideal

In the same boat. We're going for a combination childminder and a 3-day nanny.

You really do have to consider what it is you offer that is attractive to the nanny, when they could get a full time, fully paid job elsewhere.

It is difficult to fill in the salary gap left created by the 10-2 gap, which is the reality after one job finished and the next one could start. If you both work long hours in senior roles, then perhaps you need to offer an attractive salary and see how the job description fits that. Make the position work for everyone. Don't sell it as a part-time job, just flex the hours so that there is an early start, late finish and time off during the day. Throw in a gym membership and add house admin, family calendar management, food shopping, holiday booking, present buying, party planning to the job description (but not cleaning!!). Taking care to reduce these tasks during the holidays if you expect your nanny to organise activities rather than ferry them between activities organised by other people. Then, it back and enjoy the time you have with your children and possibly even the odd night away with your husband.

Generous holiday allowances only work if the pay is also generous as this can often be seen as way of reducing nanny pay.

You also need to think about what a nanny does and whether this is a job that is attractive to them. Some career nannies want to look after young children. Nannies with their own children are already super busy in the hours you need them before and after school and managing activities, homework and food becomes challenging. Older people, perhaps looking to reduce their hours, are not necessarily looking for early starts and late finishes which still results in a long day, even if there is room for downtime in the middle.

We were lucky in that we had a childminder for the mornings and then found a lovely nanny who would work from 3.30 as she had a job in a cafe before that. She is know leaving.

I'm in the same position but only need someone 2 days a week. I thought there might be someone out there, a NWOC, an older person who might want a more housekeeper role. We can be generous with holidays - we only need 8 full days per year. Unfortunately the eldest has special needs so I don't think we are attractive as a proposition . I have looked at Koru kids and they seem a possibility.

Did koru kids cover your area?
Nanny’s local to me have hiked their rates by nearly 100% over the last 5years and there appears to be a cartel thing going where even new nannies with minimal experience want £15 net at 50+ hours/wk.

Koru kids have all but taken over the after school/holiday nanny business over the last year or so. £13 gross all in. All admin and search done by the company. Total no brainier.

Before / after school roles are more suited to a childminder in the home counties as people there tend to pay quite well for full time live in Nanny positions (hence why you’re struggling to fill the role). In the home counties a lot of childminders offer school pick up / drop off and even late pick ups depending on whether the childminder is used to dealing with parents who are London commuters.

It also depends on where you are - in Bucks for example you will probably struggle to get a variety of childcare options if you don’t live in Milton Keynes / Buckingham.

Maybe look for an older Nanny.
I'm 48 and have been Nannying full time for 30 years.
In my current position I look after G12 B10.
I work 8-9am &1-6pm term time (Tue-Fri)
Then 8-6 in the school holidays.
I cover sick days and inset days.
My hours are averaged out over the year and I get paid the same amount every month.
I like having time off during the day,and I still have plenty of time to do laundry,cooking etc before the children get home.
Have worked for family for 5 years (used to be one half of a Nanny share,now I only work with one family)
Had the choice of finding another family for share or changing hours and after 6 months of new hours I'm glad I chose this option!(wages went down less than £200 per month with new hours)
First time looking after just older children,and I love it!! Prob more nanny/housekeeper role now,but suits me.(Prob helps that I only live 1 1/2 miles away).

Nanny share can be a good option.

I've done several shares were one job is before/after school only and the other is all day.

I've had 4 school age children from one family and one baby from another and it worked brilliantly, so it can work even for bigger families! The key is how much input the older children need. In an ideal situation you would find someone who only wants term time (teachers!). That way it's a win win win for everyone!

Ive been able to find afterschool and school hol nannys and we do average out the monthly wage. We never do nanny shares as we have 3 kids. It is tough though to find them and we dont get brilliant nannies. We often have to spend a long time tidying up after them

People I know who do this are post grad students (mostly for older primary kids) or au pairs who want to stay longer in UK and have a friend / boyfriend to live with. Most of these friends with this type of nanny expect to and do change nannies at least once per year and don't all use for all holiday care. I also know of quite a few shares where part of the share is after school. Normally these are neighbours etc and it is a way for the nanny to make a little extra cash.

I've looked in to this as an option as my youngest is at preschool, and starting school in September. I don't live somewhere were Nannies are used much. But there are some out there.
To attract a Nanny for what I currently need (7am-8.30pm minus the hours in between for school - 2 days per week) I pay for the whole day and advertised as a Nanny/housekeeper role.

Another option I am considering for the future should I need it is using breakfast club so I'd just need an afterschool Nanny (gives more options for the Nanny to do other work).

Before after school is hard to fill as often it’s the money issue

A nanny not working 9-3 ish means they are losing half a days pay

Sometimes offering 2 full days so can batch cook - clean children’s rooms and do washing etc may help

Plus if the nanny did have a 10-2 job for example then come holidays they couldn’t do it

Sometimes worth advertising as a term only job and find different children for holidays

Or a nwoc often works. They can do their own thing with own child while yours are at school

We pay the nanny from 7am -7pm and the kids are in school from 9-3pm. Nanny then does laundry , cleaning, errands. Basically she's my wife can't imagine the job would be so appealing if we weren't paying her for half the day!

Would the job be negotiable such that if a nanny did not want to work full days in the holidays, could that be arranged, such as by using a holiday club some of the time? The more can be flexible with the job requirements the better as it opens it to more candidates.

So perhaps putting something like "full time in school holidays (10 hours per day, 4 days per week) but could use a combination of holiday club and nanny if that suited our nanny better."

With regard to payment, be flexible about that as some nannies would want 12 equal monthly payments but others quite like having varying amounts. Which goes to show that no one thing fits all, the more you can adapt the job to the candidate the better.

A nanny has suggested you use the following phase on your advert/profile as it is something they look for:

wrap around care nanny

@nannynick yes it was costly!

When I go back to work we won’t go back to that arrangement. Probably before school clubs and CM or after school nanny if we can find one.

Why cheeky? Because it’s assuming that they’ll be able to cover sickness without providing formal commitment. All nannies I’ve known don’t like it at all, which is fair enough.

My dcs were rarely ill but it was invaluable to have that peace of mind that if something came up, our nanny could cover. She also did things around the house as well.

@Iggly Some nannies have said about being paid all day... it's a costly option though. Did your nanny do any household tasks during the day?

@satsumagirl Yes, the more things you can write on the profile the better. Be clear on how it would be paid. Be clear that you would cover illness but if it suited the nanny could also provide them with extra work in that situation.

It's the hours, a professional nanny will expect to work 8-10 hours per day, possibly more. You need to look for semi retired or a cleaner who maybe is looking for something slightly less backbreaking. It might be easier if you could use breakfast club before school, just afternoon would appeal more for a part time nanny

A nanny whose own child/children go to the same school as your children. So have you tried asking at school? Would you be have a nanny who brought their own children with them before/after school?