I am an absolute beginner to the world of nannies. Please help.

[bluetrampolines]

I am investigating the possibility of hiring a nanny. I'm a single parent. 3 young children. What are your tips? Experiences? Anything helpful you can share with me? Please.

I know a few au pairs and as long as you provide them with use of a car, being rural won’t be an issue. Contact an agency - and just keep in mind at the start you’re likely to have someone who’s English is not great and is probably quite young so you would need to be gentle at first. It does sounds like this is your best option but you may get through a few if you don’t need them during holidays. Maybe put an ad on childcare.co.uk specifying exactly what you need and see who replies, I bet you will have some responses but you may have to make a few compromises with retainers etc. It is tricky but unfortunately if you want home childcare it does come at a price.

The higher hourly rate versus lower annual salary argument will only work if the amount you are paying the nanny is sufficient overall to allow the nanny to take the risks and uncertainty associated with casual work during the school holidays.

You could perhaps offer annualised hours and a monthly salary rather like a teacher's salary.

Yeah. That is a good idea. Its all quite daunting. The right person would be worth every penny. But the wrong person would be a nightmare.

Au pairs sounds a big risk for your kind of situation.

Yes. I think so too. Especially with a divorce drama in the combo. I'm going to write a list of all of the tips on this thread and have another look at all I can find his google. I do run a tight ship and i would be more than happy to communicate and play fair but i guess that only means anything if the other person does too.

It will be a real shift for all of us, me becoming a career woman instead of a stay at home mum.

Better than being a sad, lonely, unhappy and demeaned wife though.Fkng almost anything would be better than that.

You can’t use tax credits to pay for a nanny. The childcare element can only be used for nurseries, childminders and after school clubs.

You need full time nursery and to do work at home once the dcs have gone to bed.

Yes you can sevendown. See screenshot provided. This is from the wtc5 factsheet.