having a nightmare finding a nanny, back to square one...

[silverfrog]

right, well we are back to searching for a nanny.

we thought we'd found someone, but as she didn't notice dd1 wandering off to play on the driveway (dd1 is ASD - I found her playing there when I came out of the garage), and nearly lost dd2 3 times on a weekend away, she wasn't exactly someone we felt we could trust.

we have been working with an agency, but they are getting ever more ridiculous (inisting that we must offer £9/hour as a starting wage for inexperienced live-ins, with no prior nannying experience, and precious little SN experience either!).

so, where to look?

have scoured nannyjob, and sent off a few enquiring emails.

ditto childcare.co.uk

we need a live-in (ideally) - good accomodation on offer (own room/bathroom/study-sitting room). happy to pay a good wage, but don't want to be taken for a ride.

we have 2 girls, 6 and 3. 6 year old is ASD, and so needs sensible handling. nothing too rocket-sciency, tbh, and her SN school is ver happy to help train/offer advice etc. we also have a consultant on hand to offer advice too - very happy to provide any training necessary.

6 year old at school full time, 3 year old starting pre-school in Sept. Need a nanny as will have separate school runs, different timings, etc. ideally want a live in as then can have babysitting with continuity of care. have no real issues/wants as to what nanny does with the girls in the day - obviously fairly stimulating better than watching CBeebies all day. girls are reasonably happy, well behaved etc.

are we wanting the moon on a stick?

how hard do you think it will be to find a nanny willing to take on SN, outside of using an agency specialising in this?

with out using agency....did you try www.gumtree.co.uk ?

Location? I may have someone for you.

hire me, hire me.... where are you?

experienced childcare worker looking for her next live in role here...city and guilds early years certified, crb, ace refs etc

have tried gumtree, veronikaash, but can be hard to find people for my area.

strix - am in Surrey - near Kent border (which is why it can be hard sifting through for areas - we are a bit betwixt and between, iyswim)

confident driver essential, btw - school run is on country lanes. car not essential, as can use mine.

dd1 is fairly delayed (think 3 year old, rather than 6 year old) but a lively, happy girl on the whole.

oh, cross posts, liveinnanny - CAT me, or email on silverfrog 13 @ gmail.com with some details, if you are still interested.

we are in Surrey - 2 mins outside a commuter town - 35 mins on train to London. Kent border, easy access to M25 for transport, etc.

We are downsizing from full time live-in nanny to au pair in two weeks... OMG I can't believe it's only two weeks. Anyway, I love our nanny to bits and will miss here dearly. But, both kids are in school full time now an di simply can't justify the cost of a full time nanny when kids are in school 6 hours a day. She concientious, dutiful, punctual, hard working, an EU citizen, and generally lovely in a million other ways. She also has a masters in physiotherapy, if that any use to you. She is... oh i can't remember... 25ish?

Oh, and she is very tidy. Her room is the cleanest spot in the house.

She does drive, but could possibly use a quick refresher just to get used to the other side of the road.

You will never ever ask her to do anything twice.

sounds interesting, strix -

is she happy to travel with us? extra weekends (paid as extra, mutually agreed, etc)

a lot of the time what we need is an extra pair of hands, as with dd1 being ASD she needs someone keeping an eye permanently, iyswim? not a runner as such, but still needs a hand on her - bit like a 3 year old really.

on top of that, we are an ABA household - just a behavioural approach to dealing with dd1. she is also at an ABA school - who are absoutely more than happy to train up - sessions at home with teachers, sessions at school for nanny, etc.

I don't currently work, so am able to be flexible on these sessions too.

we need soemone who is mature, willing to learn, and who doesn't mind soemtimes being the centre of (unwanted) attention when out and about

oh, just to add. I may not be at work, but am not really interested in a shared care thing. Time with nanny is absolutely with nanny. I am sure I will be able to find something to occupy myself

I have e-mailed you. Probably better to chat specifics on e-mail rather than here.

thanks, have replied

im suprised that agencys are saying £9 for someone with no/little exp

sorry you are on the hunt again,tho thank god you are replacing her now, losing your dd several times over the weekend is dsgraceful!!!

must the nanny be live in - you may find somemore candinates if you look for live out?

other thing that may put some nannys off is that in a years time both children are going to be at school, co the nanny may feel that they dont want to have a job for a year and possibly risk losing it, or have to do cleaning iyswim

"im suprised that agencys are saying £9 for someone with no/little exp"

Their commission is based on his/her rate of pay. So, of course, they want to push it up.

Blondes - she didn't quite manage to lose dd2, but we were at a music festival, so even coming close was too much for us! dd1, on the other hand, did manage to walk away from where nanny was playing with them both, open the front door (and leave it open) and be playing with the gravel for a few minutes before I found her. took her back inside, and nanny was reading to dd2, sitting in sight of the open front door, oblivious to the fact that dd1 had gone... the mind boggles.

and yes, agency being worse than useless at the moment. they sent details of an 18 year old (as in just turned 18, not nearly 19) with no nannying experience at all. In fact, no au pairing/mother's help either. lots of volunteer stuff with church/guides though, which is something. But anyway, no sole charge experience, and not a driver (driving essential) - when we pointed out not suitable, agency threw al the toys out of the pram, and have now said that if we want more than a mother's help type person we will have to pay more than £9/hour.

nanny doesn't have to eb live in, but would certainly help us with continuity for babysitting etc for dd1 - gives us all a bit more flexibility.

and job will be for more than a year, definitely. yes, both girls in school from next year, but we will still need someone more than au pair level, due to responsibility involved. wouldn't expect any more cleaning/housework than children make either - so next year, once girls are in school, as long as all home duties are done then time is nanny's own, tbh. that is just a price we will have to pay for decent, continuous care for eg school holidays etc. we can't just take on people for those times, as need the build up of experience with dd1 and her needs, iyswim?

i do swym

still at agencys salary guide and sending non drivers and then wondereing why you dont want to employ them

£9 an hr seems shocking for someone with no experience and especially first nanny job.

I had experience as a qualified childrens nurse and for my first maternity nanny job (only 8yrs ago) I was paid £5 an hr as no "nanny" experience and also wanted a maternity nanny job on my cv so knew I needed to do it for less.

Glad to see you let the nanny go after the issues so many people carry on and then a few months down the line the issues get bigger and obv for you these were safety issues and cant believe that anyone would let any child wander off especially a child who has additional needs.

Hopefully Strix's nanny will be suitable for you.

I can recommend www.kidsmatter.uk.com as they are a national agency but dont know of any local ones to you sorry.

Keep hunting and you will find a fab nanny suitable for your family.

If you are able to pay £9 an hr make sure you get an experienced nanny for that amount.

Strix, is your nanny still available? She sounds lovely. How much did she charge?

I haven't needed to hire a nanny for 3 years but when I did a lot of the cvs from KiwiOz nannies included SN experience, if you're still looking.

Almost all of their candidates were really good, actually.

Strix I would also be interested in your nanny should your original suggestion to Silverfrog not work out.

fridayschild where did you source the KiwiOz nannies from - I can't seem to locate any of them? Thanks

Silverfrog, would you consider a nanny with own child? I may be looking to bring my child to work with me (my partner is pregnant, so not mat leave needed ) from about June-ish of next year, until then it would be just me!

I have some special needs exp, my e-mail is nanny . sarah @ live . com if you'd like to chat further, happy to send CV through. I live on the Surrey/Kent border too. I'd be looking for live-out but very flexible on babysitting, etc. and sounds like we're in the same area.

good luck we hare having this same issue.

Have you tried the SNAP agency? I worked for them a few years ago, they were great

SNAP

Have you contacted Deearnas although she is a maternity agency she also supplied mothers helps night nannies and nannies-- if she cant help she will put you intouch with her colleague which also runs the same business under a different name .Good luck

We have used Deearnas for ages and so have many of our colleagues.

Google Deearnas maternity agency