Type of accomodation for au pair / live in nanny

[charlottery]

we are starting to think having live in childcare might be a good option for us, but I'm not sure what type of accomodation is expected. We have a nice spare room, and a downstairs room that the nanny could maybe have as her own sitting room, but the bathroom and kitchen are shared - would this work?

Hi,
That same set up worked for us for a while now, first with a live in nanny and now an au pair so I can't see a problem with that.

Sounds good to me! Do you have two bathrooms (if you don't mind me asking) as that can make life a lot easier, especially if you leave one mainly for her use. I used to share a bathroom with the kids (the cheeky older boy used to use all of my lovely lush products!) but had my 'own' toilet, which the kids also used

Our au pair shares the kids' bathroom. It's nice if you can give her her own, but not required.

Is there more than one toilet in the house? If not, then that could be where problems may arise - such as someone stinking out the place!

It's not a problem, as long as you're upfront as to what is on offer! If a nanny/au pair doesn't like it then they won't take the job. Some won't like it, others wouldn't care at all.

Are self-contained flats really that common for live-in nannies? Would most really expect to have their own kitchen? I really can't see sharing a kitchen being at all out of the ordinary.

Overall set up very unlikely to be a problem for an au pair - they'll appreciate the extra living space provided by the living room. Bathroom not IDEAL but their time has a start and finish date - I'm sure they'd suck it up for a year. Put rules in place about long soaks though if there is no other loo - which will also apply to you!

I wonder if a live-in nanny, who might be expected to stay for an indefinite period of time, would find the shared bathroom a problem after a while though?

Are you otherwise in a good location.

Hi

We had an au pair for 4 months (that was all we needed and had agreed in advance) who had her own room and shared bathroom and kitchen. It worked but it was quite intense and cramped. It helped that DH was abroad most of the time. What I think was attractive for the au pair was that we live in very central London with the tube on our doorstep and we were upfront about the type of accommodation.

i was lucky enough to have my own bathroom or shared with the kids at most of my aupair/mh jobs. but never found it a problem where i had to share with the family. if there is rules about who uses it when and people leave it clean after use everyone should be fine.

It is much easier if you have two bathrooms, but not essential. Very unusual to have a separate kitchen.

Don't forget in many other countries a second bathroom is unuasual and a third one is over the top unless very rich and live in a villa in the country/coast.

In continent, proffessional families usually live in appartments so space is limited and it is very common to be very well off and live in a 2-3 bed apartment, no garden/study/playroom/multiple bathrooms.

It might be more problem for you and dh at least in the begining.

Oh unless she comes from Australia!

Hi, had same situation with family I nannied for to start with but became awkward at weekends as they politely asked me not to make myself lunch when they had guests over which was reasonable but it became every weekend and they arrived 11 ish and left evening ish so was constantly going out for food which cost me a fortune. They then put a small combi cooker thing in the utility room so I could do some cooking out of the way which was fine. I was often invited (later on) to join them for meals but it is nice to have the choice of cooking for myself. Had no prob sharing bathroom as just had nice soak when kids were in bed and it was good for them to see me brush my teeth etc.

i have to say that the family sound rude(above) Iexpect you werent making a 3 course meal for lunch were you? smacks of below stairs where the chamber maid would have got into trouble if spotted by the visiting guest. surely a nanny HAS to be one of the family to make it work,with obviously lots of tact and diplomacy on both sides of course..

personally i would have asked them to pay for my lunch then..

strange people imo

I agree with Laquitar if you are contemplating an Aussie! Sounds really odd, but it's one of the notable differences between Australian and UK houses.