I'm a nanny with my own baby - what should I charge?

[Vizella]

Hi all,

I am a single mother of a 1.5 year old DS whom I've committed to looking after until he's 3 - I believe in prioritising his needs above my career, etc etc. I live with my parents at the moment, that's how I can afford it.

However, I am eating into my savings and would like to make some income as an after-school nanny so that I don't deplete all of my savings. Otherwise, I might have to go back to work and I don't want to do that.

My question is, would parents be okay with me looking after their children while I bring my DS along - he is well-behaved and bright, not the type to run around tearing things down - and also, should I charge slightly less or the same hourly rate?

So, in London, nannies charge about £15 net per hour, should I charge £10-12 per hour?

Thanks for your advice (and sorry if any of this offends some of you - no idea how lol, but you never know).

I think OP meant that is her personal choice and she’s not judging others for their choices.

Parenting your own two children is completely different to paying someone, who brings along their own kid.

It's hard enough looking after two as a mum - I would not trust someone to give my child adequate attention with their own toddler in tow.

Nope, nope.

Not to mention running around my house.

@SilverBirch4 so you would plan to pay LESS than the National M inimum Wage?

How would that work then?

A nanny with own child would still be doing all nanny stuff if they Nannied another Toddler in toddlers home. Just with own toddler. So like they would if family had two children. So parents still wouldn’t have to get own child up early and drop to nursery and collect, nanny would usually cook for child, child’s laundry.
So it seems fair parents pay about 30% less to account for nanny not 100% being own own child, but nanny would still be doing 100% of cooking/ taking to classes/ laundry/ naps/ baths during those hours.

I think for a few days not full 5 day week it would be nice also for only child to get playmate. And parents make savings. If average is now £17-18net, then £13net an he would be a huge annual saving still

I know lots too!

This is actually a thing in the Nanny world !

Also London based and people are desperate for after school Nannies, there aren’t enough post Brexit. I think it could work. Tbh I personally wouldn’t have been thrilled with the idea but I think if you offer a slightly discounted rate it could work.

We had a nanny with her own child who was the same age as my dc2. It worked really well and the kids loved each other - ready made playmates. I never worried about the nanny prioritising her kid - she was incentivised to plan lovely activities for both of them and if anything she prioritised my child as it was easier for her to tell her own to wait. Their needs were essentially the same so it was easy to keep them both happy.

We paid her 70% of the going rate but also provided all food for her child and paid for both of them to do activities that we wanted our dc to do.

I wouldn’t have wanted an after school nanny with a toddler though - too tricky managing different needs and a demanding toddler would always come before my primary aged kids. Plus we need our after school nanny to take the kids to their activities and that might not work well with a toddler. And I would absolutely expect the nanny to cook their dinner.

I think your expectations are unrealistic OP.

There’s no way I’d employ a nanny who brought her own child. I think you’ll have a very limited market. I don’t take my child to my office

It just seems so odd to me although I appreciate I don't live in London. How does it work practically as I said in terms of child proofing etc? A house with a school aged child in it is well past thestair gates and child lock stage for example.

You could be a childminder but you will need to register

When I was looking for a nanny , I didn’t recruit ones who wanted to bring their kid. From my point of view I expected them to focus on my child and provide age appropriate activities etc; looking after one child vs 2 is very different especially if different ages.
one of my friends recruited a lady who came with her kid and regretted is- she’d bring the kid sniffly etc as my friend’s baby was sick way too often. On top of the additional chaos (let’s be honest however well behaved your daughter is when you’re with her, if you don’t pay attention to her but to another child for hours, she’ll act up). Also in the case of an emergency who do you prioritise- your own child or your charge? As a mom, it didn’t make me comfortable if my nanny faced that choice.

If there's an accident or your kid gets into the unsecured cleaning cupboard etc then who is culpable? The employer?

Do they have to install stair gates etc for your child to be present?

My experience is that London primaries almost all have after school provision

The only people I know who want nannies instead fall into one of these categories:

They have more than 2 children so it's more cost effective

One or more of their children have SEN and benefit from a quieter environment

They work late and want nanny to be there past usual after school club hours

I don't think many fall into the category the OP is looking for - one child who would be ok with a toddler as well

The gap I do see in London is people who want to use school nurseries but who can't get wraparound and holiday care for that. That is a niche that might work for the OP as then the other child would be closer in age to hers and the parents may be less bothered about having a toddler rampaging round their house

That's why I suggested after school nannying - usually the parent has cooked food beforehand and I just need to heat it up. I help with homework and chat to the kids and then the parents arrive at 5.30-6pm

Why on earth would anyone pay for a nanny who wasn’t going to cook for their child and finish at a time when they could get after school clubs for a lot less cost?

If I was going to employ a nanny bringing their own child I would expect to pay the same as a nanny share, as that’s exactly what it is. So half the cost really. I don’t believe you are legally able to do this which is why it would be a no from me.

I suppose it depends on how the OP were to phrase things should the question arise.
However, you are right that it can be quite tricky to navigate and I'm not sure the Op got the tone quite right here.

It's not the same thing but I remember discussing about doing some project work in a nursery setting. I said I was free to do sessions in the mornings ( my child was in pre-school then) They said they would like to alternate with afternoons. I said that that didn't work for me but made the mistake of specifying that it was because my child was at home. They then preceded in telling me that I could just bring my child along with me.
I understand that had I been needing the income it would have very helpful but it sort of ended up with me having to spell out that I valued the time with my child more than the extra hours. It didn't go down well because one of the women made a pursed lipped face and walked out, leaving me with the second owner.
Needless to say we didn't work together.

We had a wonderful nanny with her own child. She started when our younger one was about 10 months and hers was six months. Our older one was 5 and had just started school a few months prior.

It's been a really positive experience for both of us and really good for all the kids.

What helped was trust and a bit of flexibility on both sides. She also had a lot of experience, having previously worked as a nanny and in a nursery.

Otherwise I will have to go back to work and I don't want that

Erm what is nannying then? It's a job

For many like myself who was a nanny for 20yrs and now been a mn for 14yrs - it is a career

Which means I trained for 2yrs at college - then have first aid - dbs - pli plus all the training and development courses I did to become a mn - and countless ref from families I have WORKED for

Sounds like you think it will be a doodle to look after another child

If you managed to get a job then Yes you should charge less or hopefully a family will pay you less then the going rate

Professional nannies talk in gross. Not nett

With no experience I would expect you to be paid nmw so £12gross tops !!!

You can't just decide to slip into nannying so that you can look after your own child and not work

I have a nanny and many other parents around here do too. No chance I would have a nanny who wants to bring their child, I'm certain that many people I know wouldn't either. Can your baby stay with the GP while you work?

Ah page hadnt refreshed so hasn't seen your last reply

Ok. So you were a nanny once for 4yrs so gathering you have the quals and dbs first aid etx

Did you stop nannying /teacher bit when got preg?

What do you intend to return to as a job when your child is 3

Yea after school nannies are in high demand as basically most professional nannies don't want to work 3/4hrs a day as need 9/12hrs paid work as it's their career

After school means child may have homework and clubs and your child will be ignored /less attention while you help the child uou are paid to look after

As you have a little nannying exp and I assume 1-2 refs why don't you look for a same age child nanny job for 2/3 days

Be much easier on your child and will have a playmate for them rather then being in a house that may have nothing suitable for them to play with

OP you’re getting a lot of negativity - I would LOVE this as a solution in the past, especially for a single child family who doesn’t get that interaction with siblings. NWOC (Nanny With Own Child!)s are few and far between.

The suggestions I’ve seen online before are 15-20% lower than the going rate. One thing I would say (may have been said earlier, haven’t read ALL the comments!) is £15ph is on the low side for even full time nannies! When I was looking for one, it was around £20-22 for after school only - so maybe around £16/17ph and I’m sure some lucky parent will consider they’ve found a bargain! Good luck.

Yes, I did this too. Lady with a 2 year old. She had a car though and picked mine up from primary school and took them back to her house. I picked them up from her around 5.30pm. It worked well for a number of years, until my youngest finally went off to secondary.

Well it came across as very judgemental. Why mention it otherwise.

I think it's fine. Many parents are desperate for flexible childcare and won't mind if your little one has to come with you. Of course it's not 'ideal', in the sense that they would probably prefer someone who could focus entirely on their own kids without being distracted by a toddler. But in reality kids need ok care, not the best, and parents are limited by what's available/affordable.

I'd have a think about how you would occupy your kids during after-school activities etc. though. A lot of after-school nannies will ferry kids to activities/ do the swimming lesson and that might be tricky if you have a little one to entertain as well. I certainly find it tricky with my own DC!

I think the expectations of an after school nanny are a bit higher than your suggesting tbh. If I was paying for a nanny over and above school wrap-around I’d want them to be taking the kids to activities, helping with homework sorting dinner and being available beyond 6pm which maybe harder with your toddler re bedtime.

I think you are also going to be better value for someone with more than one child. So, for me, wrap around 3-6 is £16 per kid so £32 for two. A nanny would be more expensive but better value for two or more children but if I was going for a nanny id want 3-7 so I didn’t have to rush home and I’d want my life to be easier for the extra money over and above wrap-around.

There's been a lady offering the same service on a local FB group.
A lot of replies have been along the lines of they wouldn't use as they feel she'd be getting paid by them for looking after her own DC and concerns that they'd be priority.

She's also asked local nursery schools but it's also a no.

Maybe childminding would be the better option.

Go to an agency and see what they have on offer, op. You have plenty of experience and, presumably, good references and are sure of what you want, ie one primary school aged child. They will also advise you about how much to charge.

I know a nanny who too her own baby with her when she returned to work, for the same family who had employed her before she had her child. They and she were very happy with, and had a high regard for, each other.

A woman for whom I worked had a nanny for a few years for her three children though the eldest two, twins, did not need the same amount of attention after a while. The younger one still did. She had a baby and came back to work for them - full time- and it worked out very well. She was an excellent nanny

There will be people happy to pay for a nanny with your experience, to look after their child after school, and will not mind you having your baby with you. After all, you know how to care for children.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.