Nanny for three (long) days per week - realistic option?

[Dozer]

Any advice would really be appreciated.

We have only ever used nurseries before but never been happy with them.

Am currently on maternity leave, returning to work part-time, three days per week (Tuesday to Thursday), at the end of September. DD1 will be 3 1/2 and DD2 13 months. DD1 goes to a local nursery three mornings a week for her free EYFS hours.

DH and I will both be commuting to work from Surrey to central London, so we'll need childcare from 7.45am until maybe 6pm for the three days I work. We'd ideally like to use childcare vouchers, as have been saving them up, think these can only be used for Ofsted-registered nannies.

I would love to find a nanny, as feel that personal care in our home would be best for both our girls, especially the little one, but don't think many nannies will want part-time work.

Am hoping that those with more experience on here can tell me this assumption is wrong and that there are nice nannies out there wishing to work part-time!

There are definitely nannies who want to work part time. The hours you're looking for are not especially long (8am-6:30 is pretty standard and you are slightly less than that) and most of the nannies I know want 3 or 4 days ideally. As lomg as you are paying in the right ball park I'd imagine you'd find someone wanting part time work.

we have a nanny who is contracted for 7.30am to 6.45pm 4 dpw. she has a friend who is contracted for 8am to 6pm 3 dpw. so it is definitely possible.

I'm a 3 day a week nanny - 7.30am - 6pm, pretty standard nanny hours.

Good luck with your search

This is similar to the hours our nanny did in her previous job. 3 consecutive days should be fine, if you have any problems finding a nanny Tues-Thurs would it be possible for you to change your days to Mon-Weds or Weds-Fri?

Also, can you really get back home to Surrey from central London by 6pm every day? How reliable is your commute? Better to set the nanny finish a bit later if you might be later a fair amount, or at least make sure you talk about flexibility and any overtime arrangements upfront to manage expectations.

Thank you all, this stuff is really helpful. Lots to think about, but good that it seems like an option worth exploring further. Thanks!

Having done a 3-day a week job in the past, I can say that I found it hard to find work for the other days, ended up doing a bit of nursery temping as and when it became available. So if you can make the days as long as possible that will help reduce someone's need to do extra work, thus then possibly get more applicants. Ultimately it falls down to money - nanny has bills to pay and your job has to pay those bills plus a bit extra for fun, savings, pension etc.

When it said long day in the title, I was expecting 12 hours or more. So 7.30-6 (10.5 hours) isn't that long for a nanny. Though saying that I do like it when I work my short days (8 hours)... better than my 12 hour days.

I nanny in West Surrey (just outside the M25). Commute to London can be reasonable, though problems do occur - for example this morning there was a problem at Clapham Junction which affected many train services. If that sort of problem occurs in the afternoon, then it can have serious affect on the journey time. Consider building in some overlap at end of the day and possibly beginning as well, so you are not rushing out of the door, or that nanny is rushing off as soon as you return home. I know it adds to the cost but that extra 20-30 minutes at each end of the day could be that bit of time that means your nanny doesn't do overtime on a frequent basis, that it does give you a chance to have a shower without the children being in it with you, or just a mad panic in the morning trying to get ready for work.
You may have already included that in the hours you have given on here... you may not have done so. Consider it, factor in the costs, is it a cost worth paying?

Yes, they need to be Ofsted Registered to accept Childcare Vouchers. I would suggest asking for a nanny who is already registered... see if you get any applicants - would be easier than if they are not registered and need to do courses first. Check with your voucher provider regarding if the vouchers you have stockpiled have an expiry date.

3 long days tues - thur would be many nannies dream job.

Live out nanny jobs are typically 8 - 6 anyway, so in the scheme of nanny hours your days really arnt that long anyway.

im sure you wont have a problem finding a nanny to work those hours, and for many nannies it will be an "ideal" job

My lovely nanny works 3.5 days a week - Tues to Fri lunchtime. She works long days on Tues-Thurs and says she loves it as she makes enough money to live on and has a long weekend every week. She occasionally does short term casual work (acting, odd days covering for other nannies). I also worried I wouldn't be able to find a PT nanny when I went back to work but it was no problem at all.

This sounds like just what we may be looking for too. Can anyone tell me the best place to find a p/t nanny? Is there a good website or something? We are in the midlands.

Tues-thurs maybe 7.30-6.30 would be ideal for a nanny without the neccesity to find another job but could temp if needed to on the other 2 days.

Fannypriceless in the midlands you have tinies an agency which covers all of midlands, kidsmatteruk based in east midlands but cover all of uk and tinkers childcare in leicestershire covering east midlands.

Website wise for private recruitment try www.nannyjob.co.uk, www.childcare.co.uk, www.netmums.co.uk and gumtree

as others have said, they are not that ong for nanny hours

i work 3 days a week, love it, and i ad hoc/temp/have pub lunchs on my days off

agree mon to wed may attract more nannies - as if they need to work 5 days a thur/fri job is much easier to find then a mon/fri one