Unusual need?

[pugh]

At the moment DC 3&DC 1 are in nursery. We are considering private schooling for them. The school we are looking at has a nursery from 3y up. If DD1 goes to kindergarten/preschool next year we would need to do two drop offs:baby at a local nursery&DD at kindergarten which is 20min drive.

I don't think we need a nanny-but might be wrong and advice welcome. Main worry would be rush/husband & myself being able to achieve drop off&pick up especially as school involves commute& we both work. I potentially work 3-4 day/wk with some evening/weekend work.

I've heard of people hired purely for dropoffs&pickups and after school care. We don't really have space for an u pair.

What options do we have or any suggestions welcome.

Thank you!

It's not really clear what hours you'll need? Is nursery a full day or half day? Do you need childcare for after school/school holidays?

Eg 8am take kids to kindergarten & nursery.pick them up at1530. Give dinner.we get back at 1800. Would need help w school holidays.

there is a childminder at our school gate who drops of 2 children who are dropped at her house at 8am. She collect 2 or 3 after school too, takes them to her house and then parents pick up at 5:30

I think that is quite common, but this childminder does it on foot, not sure if someone like her would be able/willing to do a car commute for your school

In my experience, not many childminders take/collect from private schools. That may just be my area and my personal experience at one private school - so it could well depend on the particular school in question. Maybe ask the receptionist at the school, they may know if any childminders collect from the school. In my experience it was mostly SAHMs, AuPairs and the occasional Nanny who did the school runs.

"baby at a local nursery&DD at kindergarten which is 20min drive."
Why would baby need to go to nursery? Maybe if they went to a childminder instead that same childminder would be prepared to pick up your DD. However a 20 min drive may mean it's quite some distance away and the childminder may already be picking up other children.

Probably the best thing is a nanny, caring for baby full time and having DD before/after school and during school holidays. Live out nanny could work just the regular weekdays... if your working days vary then your nanny may be working on a day you are also at home, but that could give you 1:1 time with one of your children, time to get things done that you need to do alone, time to do some studying, or whatever.

Look at costings over a 1 year period, so you can better compare the cost of various options. A childminder is only going to be an option if you can find someone who would collect from that particular school.

Thank you so much for your replies! It is very much appreciated. A very good point re baby not needing nursery then. So maybe a nanny with bubs for 3-4 days a week to allow for some admin/unpredictable work time. Essentials to do drop off&pick ups at least 3 d/wk.

She would probably need to be at ours at 730 ish and finish at 1800 3 days a week and half day one day a week.

What's the cost for this? Would nannies be willing to cover for bank/summer holidays?

As background: I've been considering a nanny for ages but was v happy w the nursery they attend. My husband and I agreed to 'review' things approx 3mo after i returned to work from mat leave-round about now.However, the nursery has had lots of staff changeovers & now thinking of where eldest will go to school changes matters.

I have my reservations about employing someone and rumours re employers having to pay nannies pensions etc. unknown territory for us!

If you can make the days (and hours) as fixed as possible then it will be easier to recruit a nanny I feel. Whilst some people can be flexible in the days/hours they work, others will be doing other work on the other days.

Bank holiday cover may be tricky but it depends on the person. Personally I don't mind working on a bank holiday - I used to work in retail and had to work almost all bank holidays as those were busy trading days.

Summer holidays are not a problem. Though you need to keep in mind that your nanny would get paid holiday which they need to take during the year, but you can co-ordinate that with when you are able to get time off work. If need be you can dictate all the times when your nanny takes holiday - though it's nicer if you can let your nanny decide 1/2 of the days and you decide the other 1/2. How much paid holiday they would get will vary depending on the days/hours worked - if it was whole day periods, then it's 5.6 x number of working days per week. So for example, working 3 days per week it's 16.8 days, and 4 days a week it's, 22.4 days.

Nanny Cost Example, 3 Days a Week - may help you get a feel for the cost. You will be wanting someone quite experienced I expect as you have a baby and someone who will do the days you need, so their pay rate may need to be quite high to get the right person.

The pension thing does not start until 2016 I think... and from what I understand it will be a contribution into NEST. It's something all employers will have to do, so it's going to be a bit like the Employers NI which all employers pay... so just another tax. For now, keep in mind that cost will increase later on by whatever percentage the pension contribution is (think around 3% contribution is planned for 2017?). It's unknown territory for everyone - I expect by that time the nanny payroll companies will be able to make it easy in some way - can always hope

I'd go with a nanny. They can have baby all day, older one before/after school and during holidays. A nanny will also take care of the children's laundry, keep playroom/bedrooms tidy, change kids beds and run errands (shopping/pick stuff up from dry cleaners/wrap birthday presents/sew in name labels etc).

I think you're right: nanny will simplify things enormously. Would avoid the umpteen lunchbox prep every night, every morning stress to get out the house and add to commute. The days I routinely don't work I could do the drop off or maybe add in a morning nursery session for baby-I say baby: he is a massive 14mo! It would also avoid me having to take leave when husband needs to travel as my finish time at work can be unpredictable and I can (with advance notice) organise babysitting.

Next question: where do I start? I've looked at childcare website-is that best? Don't think I know of anyone with recommendation at the moment.