An au pair for just a month at short notice - is this possible?

[threeleftfeet]

I'm in the final 6 weeks of my degree. DP is also very stretched at the moment and can't take the slack.

My marks are in real danger of slipping and DS is fed up with being ignored.

We have a spare room and live in a pretty seaside town not unreasonably far from London.

We're miles away from family, and anyway I've asked them all for help (not something I do often) but I've left it too late, they're all busy!

An au pair seems like the perfect solution. Or someone who would swap rent for childcare. Or someone who fancies a month's holiday in return for childcare.
They wouldn't ever be expected to have sole charge of DS, just to cook him dinner and play with him in the evenings so I can get my work done.

But is this possible at short notice or am I clutching at straws?!

How do you go about finding an au pair anyway?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

if you put an ad on gumtree i am sure you will get replies! there are always people looking to make a move asap. you can also try greataupair.com and aupairworld.net.

Does it specifically have to be an Au-pair... I am a nanny currently looking for a temp job starting a.s.a.p.... Feel free to message me.

Thanks catepilarr :) I'll have a look.

Sadly we can't afford to pay nanny rates!

We're looking for someone who'd be happy to swap maybe 12-15 hours childcare (while DP or I are in the house) for rent, or an au pair arrangement.

(I'm a skint student!)

If that sounds like something you'd be interested in, please feel free to message me!

How much is the going rate for au pairs these days?

And how many hours woud they be expected they usually do? (This is all new to me!)

Au pairs will do 25ish hours for £75ish BUT I don't know whether you have the time or energy to 'break in' an au pair and bring them up to scratch, unless you strike lucky and get someone very competent from the off.

How much can you afford to pay?

How hard can it be to entertain a (mostly) happy 3 yo and cook some fishfingers when I'm on hand anyway?!

Am I being naive about this?!

Wasn't sure how much to pay - but we only want about 15 hours a week. Could provide all meals (and DP used to be a chef so it's good food!) and a very friendly, happy home.

Most au pairs haven't really looked after children that age or cooked though.... You would be expected to provide lodging, all meals, a mobile if they don't have one, a certain amount of introduction to the local area do they aren't hugely homesick, possibly contacts/ideas for how they can meet other people and so on. It's usually not as simple as bringing someone in to help every evening and them getting on with their life the rest of the time. Your family life becomes the au pairs life. They need to do something during the day.

Try a childcare student - you could pay £5/hour for 3 hours every evening which keeps you under doing PAYE and NMW under 18 is £3.68/hour so you're above that.

Finding a good one can be quite an intense vetting process as there's an awful lot of dross out there. I have 20 odd on my favourites list for the summer and those are the ones who fit our very strict profile (can do dates, speak Eng and some French, not asking megabucks, seem enthusiastic) out of 50 odd that have favourites us in the 2 days our profile has been live. I'm talking to 6 via email.

Remember that for most coming to the UK this is a big experience/venture. If you can pay £75 for 15 you'll probably attract better candidates but it's not a great time of year as far as English classes go, most school/university exams haven't finished so the market is limited too. If you're getting someone already in the UK it's less of a venture but you still need to check they're not wanting to move and ready at short notice because they're flaky or being fired.

That sounds very doom and gloom but I speak from experience when I say you don't want to be trying to focus on your course/work if you don't trust your childcarer.

You may of course be able to find someone. Just be careful and thorough!

What about a babysitter? I don't know what they charge these days but I think you can get them through an agency.

I don't think an au-pair is a good idea under you get a kind of pretend one - someone already based in the UK.

Hmm yes I think it probably isn't worth it for the time period.

I can't afford any time to help them settle in really, it'd defeat the purpose. But' that's not really going to work is it?

Bugger! Back to the drawing board!

Why are my family all so busy all of a sudden?! I never ask for favours, but the one time I do they've got plans already. Typical!

I don't think an au pair would work as you'll spend so much time finding one, vetting them, training them up, showing the round etc that you may as well be studying!

Do you have any friends that have a nanny? Or does your DS have any friends that have nannies? I think asking one of them to have your DS for a few hours each day while they're working with the other family would be your best bet. You wouldn't need to pay a full nanny wage as it would be a share, you know they're vetted etc. I work in an area where there are lots of nannies and this sort of thing happens loads. If one of the nannies is unwell/on holiday or if a family who don't normally have childcare need some short term, one of the other nannies takes on the other child no problem.

Great idea, thanks for the thought, but none of DS's friends have a nanny. We've not been here very long, so don't know many families here. The ones we do know either send their DCs to nursery or are SAHMs.

3leftfeet, yes there are plenty of girls out there who want to come for short stays. Go on aupairworld.com.

Advice:

1. don't even consider anyone who approaches you first.
2. don't consider anyone from outside the EU
3. ask for references from previous employer
4. interview over skype, several times if possible
5. favour a girl (or boy) with a strong life plan- the more motivated the better- you will find them more willing to fit in with you because they know why they are there.
6. ask about their previous childcare experience but don't discount them entirely if they haven't any. Their attitude is more important I feel.
7. don't employ a person because you feel sorry for them
8. go with your gut feeling about the person. It's usually worked for me

Good luck!

don't even consider anyone who approaches you first.

Yikes - why? This time I actually waited for people to approach me. I got way too tired of emailing and then never hearing back. It really cut down on the time wasters.

But I would be curious to hear why you say this...

Otherwise I totally agree with what you say.