Please come and talk to me about Mothers' Helps....

[MaitreKarlsson]

I have 2DCs, one toddler and a 3 month old baby. We've just moved house and it's all very chaotic. I've been lucky enough to have lots of relatives staying and helping out, but from September it will just be me and am thinking of getting a mothers help 3 days a week.
Does anyone have experience of them? I'm concerned they may be a bit young or inexperienced, but don't want to go down the nanny route. I would need to leave them alone with the baby while I picked up the toddler from playgroup. I would also want them to be good at entertaining the toddler and playing with them as well as helping with bathtime and doing light housework. Is there another option I haven't thought of? Or are some mothers' helps a bit older and with childcare experience? And what is the best way to recruit? Local nanny agencies fees are ridiculous...is gumtree a good option or too risky? Any advice/experience gratefully received...thanks.

How about advertising it as a Mothers Help / Nanny role. That way it may be clearer to applicants that you are wanting someone with some prior experience of young children.

Use internet sites like Gumtree and Childcare.co.uk - a lot cheaper than using an agency and may well get you a lot of responses at the moment as it seems to be an employers market at present.

Be as clear as you can be in adverts about your expectations. Tell them that you will leave your baby with them for short periods. That you will be around a lot of the time, that you want them to do housework.

Don't get too hung up over a job title... it's more about finding the right person to do the work you have on offer.

Really good advice, thanks nannynick