What do to about a nanny whilst on M/L

[Nightsdrawingin]

We have a great nanny after several false starts (cm got pregnant and couldn't carry on, first nanny left suddenly) who we have now had for 8 months 2.5 days a week. It took several months for ds to really seem relaxed about my leaving for work but he is now really happy and even gets excited when she rings the doorbell. The 'problem' is that I am expecting no.2 on June and so will be on M/L. I'm concerned that if we stop employing our nanny we will not be able to get her back after my M/L, and also that it took us so long to find the right person the first time round. However, she costs over £1,000 month once we've paid tax etc, and I really don't think we can afford it (although dh is very gung ho about it, I think he's delusional!), plus I'm not sure how I'll feel about having her around when I am at home too. She doesn't do any housework apart from cooking for and tidying up after ds - I have always felt that I wanted her to prioritise his care and he is very demanding. I have thought about asking her to reduce her hours a bit but I know she lives on the income, as she is doing a course the rest of the time, and it doesn't feel fair to even ask.
Am I worrying needlessly? I know I need to talk to her properly but I am anxious about it, plus it's hard to know what she is thinking sometimes.

Also another bit of me feels I am being very spoilt even considering paying a nanny whilst on M/L - my mum brought up 4 of us with no childcare ever...
Sorry for the long post.

I will definitely be keeping my nanny whilst on m/l, not pregnant with no.2 yet but hoping to be soon.

In some ways it does seem difficult to justify but on the other hand when I put it into context, I will be off for less than a year (only took 7 months with no.1, my choice) she is a wonderful nanny who I hope will be with us for several more years so I'd be mad to let her go for the sake of a few months whilst I'm off.

I'm lucky that we can afford it (just!). My advice would be to talk to her about it and see what she thinks, but have some suggestions ready beforehand. Don't forget that you are talking about her livelihood so obviously you need to be absolutely clear about what your plans are - from an employees point of view it's pretty worrying to know that your employer is considering possibly having to make you redundant!

Could she manage if you reduced her hours a little? Could she perhaps pick up another job one/two days a week? I know things are tough for nannies seeking work at the moment so that might be difficult. Do you/she know any other nannies who are pregnant whose employers might need maternity cover so she could work elsewhere whilst you are on m/l? The problem is of course that if she takes another job, a couple of days a week or maternity cover, she will be under no obligation to come back to you but that's the risk you have to take I guess.

Thanks Mrs Teddy, it's so helpful to hear that someone else is considering doing the same thing. I was planning to take a whole year but it now looks as if I might lose my public sector job and so might have to start looking sooner, also was hoping to start working a bit in the second six months and really like the idea of baby getting to know her from the beginning and so the transition being less difficult. She doesn't have many nanny friends though, she's Spanish and only worked as a nanny before in Spain so isn't really networked in.

I think if we reduced her hours she'd probably look for some other kind of work but I've heard that even things like bar work are hard to find at the moment, that might work in our favour. I know I have been avoiding talking to her about it because I'm just not sure how I will feel once the baby is actually here, nor what the financial situation will be should I lose my job.