An au pair in a caravan?

Certainly not overnight care of a toddler and small baby. Aupairs should be like a ‘big sister’ of the family. Light help basically. Things like picking up a child from school and giving them tea/helping with their homework, taking the child out to the park, or helping the child learn a different language. Absolutely not overnight care of small babies. Or really any sole care of babies.

I can see your POV...

You can’t leave a young woman in a foreign country living outside the front of your house in a caravan. Think how vulnerable she would be. Not to mention being either too cold or too hot most of the time.

The OP would have to look after both her children by herself at night. The au pair could hardly run between house and caravan at night.

Presumably Op's husband will do that?

Can Au Pairs be hired just for childcare though?

Caravans...baking hot in summer, freezing and damp in winter. If she has the heater on overnight then carbon monoxide is an issue. Will your neighbours be happy with a heater/ electric fan whirring all night.
Are you going to empty the toilet or are you expecting her to do that. Are you going to ban her from pooing in the caravan. Or will you expect her to walk from caravan to house in the middle of the night.

Well that’s the problem see. She can’t afford it. She wants to try to do it on the cheap, hiring an aupair to provide childcare cheaply when she can’t even provide proper housing for the aupair.

Your eldest could go to nursery. I had to send my dd as I was too ill to care for her.

I had severe chronic fatigue and regular migraines. I was a single parent to a four year old and six year old at the time. I managed and I'm sure you can too.

Can you not just put the older one in nursery?

Is it childcare or more the running of the house you need help with?
Are au pairs not restricted to the number of hours they work as they're meant to be at a language course or something too?

Doesn’t sound like a great idea,plus your neighbours may not appreciate it.

I can imagine issues like the wifi not reaching the caravan. Au Pair having to come into the house to need the loo which would be grim in the night.
freezing cold in the winter?

your best bet would be to employ a live out nanny. Presumably if you can’t afford to move to a bigger house then you may not be able to afford a nanny.

your other option is a local student/older teen who could do a few hours a day? You can have a look on Childcare.co.uk

Lots of people will be looking for adhoc work. It will cost a lot more than an Au Pair though.

Most mums of young children suffer headaches and "low energy" don't they? It's part of the job description.

This is a wind up isn't it? You must be aware how exploitative this comes across.

A 2 year-old could be placed in a nursery during the week if you couldn't cope during the first few weeks with a new born.
Your husband will also be on paternity leave. He could step up rather than hiring cheap labour.

At 19 I imagine I would definitely have been up for this, as long as electricity water heating was sorted. However times have changed and somehow I can’t imagine this would go down well today, let alone legal issues.

OP I don't think sticking your au pair in a caravan is nice. You'll need to think of something else. good luck x

Hi there,

Rizatriptan really helped me with migraines. I've been taking GP prescribed iron supplements and feel like I have normal energy levels for the first time in about 8 months! My migraines have also halved in frequency.

Look into this and good luck.

Because she just wants help? Should there be another "valid" reason?

I'm surprised at how many people are asking this tbh.

You think if i could afford it i wouldn't get help even though I have just one DC?

Probably should have thought of that before now
But no, you can’t do this for quite a few reasons

People saying they grew up in caravans- presumably you were travelling with your family, not living on your own on someone’s drive. It’s completely inappropriate.

OP, I’d suggest a live-out mother’s help. Uni students or an older person might be suitable.

No- that’s completely inappropriate.

Also just to add migraines aside maybe that needs to be dealt with medically before having more kids if they'll be too much and "low energy" who doesn't with small kids that just sounds like an excuse. Won't go into my health issues as it's irrelevant but we all just work it out and do what we can without excuses...

Why will you need help at home with 2 children? Lots of people do it

Absolutely. Mine were 18 months apart to the day and never had help nor did it ever cross my mind to need it??

They were my kids, I wasn't working so I just did it. Or I wouldn't have had them... This line of thinking is puzzling....

But no I think it would be unacceptable to have your help, since two kids are too much, living in a caravan. Perhaps it would be better to reassess if having the second is the right choice since you will be overwhelmed and unable to cope.

No. Try a live-out nanny?

It might be frowned upon, but ultimately the only way to know is to ask. If people are too snobbish then ask people who are less snobbish. I know many women who would bite your arm off for the chance, but I can't recommend them because of racist undertones in society.

Is this a veiled way to say ‘have you considered exploiting people from poorer countries? It’s much easier than exploiting the snobby people who want appropriate working conditions!’

It isn't about being snobbish.
An aupair is a well defined position, with quite clear legal definitions about how they need to be treated.
They need their own separate room while being treated as part of the family.
A caravan does not meet those requirements.

It is also unpleasantly exploitative to try and set this situation.
OP may be able to find live in childcare happy to live in a caravan but they will not be an aupair, she would therefore need to pay them the minimum wage.