Nanny share

[Jo15]

I am due to go back to work in a few months. I have a 3 month old and a 3 year old and have been thinking about the best childcare option. When I went back to work after my first daughter was born she was looked after by grandparents which worked brilliantly. However, they now do not want to look after two little ones and want to spend some time travelling so I have to look at other childcare options.

My eldest daughter currently goes to nursery one day a week and loves it. She also regularly attends playschool so I think nursery would be good for her. However, I am not sure about the baby as the nursery does not seem to have many babies and I am not sure she would get the attention she needs.

This led me to think about a nanny share. Can anyone give me any ideas regarding cost. I have found a childminder who would look after both children for £6.00 an hour but ideally I would love someone to come to our home. Is it an option to have a term-time only nanny share. If this has worked for any of you I would love to hear. I am going back to work initially for two days a week.

Hi Jo15. where abouts are you? I am a nanny (currently out of work), soon to be childminder in Herts. The going rate for a nanny depends on experience but varies between £6-£8 per hour, but then tax is paid on top of this by the employer....

I am in south Oxfordshire. I have seen a website which matches nannies to families who are looking for a nanny share which I might sign up to.

I work term-time only and my nanny job was supposed to be a share initially (the other family pulled out, so I only work for one family).

Cost wise, I would expect that you would need to budget for £18,000-£20,000 (if having a nanny for 5-days per week, term-time only). This should be sufficent to cover the additional costs of employing a term-time nanny: Nannies Wage, Employers NI, On-Duty Travel Costs such as nursery/preschool run, Trips Out/Toddler Groups, nannies food, additional heating/lighting usage.

I used to work for a family 3-days per week... then do nursery work the other two days. That worked out well - didn't involve a nanny share, so no tax issues. If you need care from say 7.30am-5.30pm, budget for around £100 per day.

A childminder will be the lower cost option I expect... some may offer you a term-time only contract with no retainer fee (if you are very lucky), while others will want paying all year, regardless of if the children attend, or not (as you are using up two of their places).