To hire a nanny and offer her this set up?

[plplz]

A quick run down, five-month old DD and have had her nursery for a month or so, and she's not been doing as well as we would like, so looking at a nanny.

The dilemma is that it's only a few months before I think she would do a lot better in the nursery, and the costs of a nanny are eye-watering.

We interviewed a great nanny who isn’t working at the moment, and while I would love to have her in I don't want to mess her about.

Would it be unreasonable to ask her to work for us while she finds a suitable gig, and pay her cash (would probably meet her halfway between her gross and net rate as as sweetener).

Any warnings, advice or thoughts?

A nursery, as others have said, is not the ideal environment for such a young baby. They would be happiest at home with a parent. If that’s not possible, then a nanny would be better than nursery, but as you say, it’s expensive.
If it’s far too expensive to pay a nanny, would it actually make better financial sense for a parent to stay at home with her, until she is old enough to be ok at nursery. (At least another year at home?)

Regarding what would happen if a child was hurt, like had an accident in the park or something,

I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about what would happen if the child was seriously hurt through negligence or even deliberate harm and the OP needed to involve police.

By using a nanny unless they are registered you will not be able to pay with any of the childcare vouchers or tax scheme. I think you will also struggle to find someone for just a few months as they will then have to find employment again which is time consuming. Likewise moving to a childminder some are happy to offer short term contracts but charge more others don’t offer them and want a permanent income. I would also think about how all the change in childcare providers will affect your baby as they won’t have time to form a secure attachment to them. Why do you want to move her from nursery is she not settling?

Quite honestly? Through my time in nursery, the staff willing to Nanny on the side and did it for cash in hand - were not that great. Put children in danger, no probably not but what they would o is ditch the family paying cash at the last minute of a better offer came along. The two women who come to mind both left our nursery for cash in hand nanny jobs basically couldn’t hack nursery work and wanted it easy. I wouldn’t have trusted either of them. They could talk the the talk. They never got legitimate Nannying jobs, it was only ever cash payments from someone they were familiar with and they often disappointed people.

One of them, after leaving employment with us, was still collecting a child from nursery (parents, like you, had decided less nursery, more 1:1 and were doing it on the cheap). Parents sang her praises -until she crashed her car. Minor damage, child physically fine, she had a bad neck from it, but suddenly she wasn’t amazing anymore, and of course she had no business insurance on her car or proof of employment when she was now in need of sick pay. Parents were ranting how she had put their child in great danger, but at the end of the day they hadn’t employed legitimately and had therefore no insurance and had done no checks.

A good Nanny is costly for a reason. Pay a babysitter who sits in the living room for two hours watching tv and maybe gives baby a bottle cash. Properly employ someone who is actually going to care for your child on a long term basis.

@bananaskinsnomnom great post. All makes sense.

Nanny of 20y here - I wouldn't consider taking on a role where my tax wasn't being paid. It's really disrespectful, doesn't recognise me as a professional, what about my pension and applying for a mortgage. I'm in a few nanny groups and most nannies feel the same. There's also a lot who talk about how many parents are currently trying to take advantage of the poor job market to pay badly (£5/h anyone?), or offer poor contracts/working conditions/job security. They're not looked upon favourably.

@bananaskinsnomnom we have one of those in our nursery! I hope she leaves soon.