Nannies- would you take on this role?

[Dev9aug]

We have two dc with additional needs. Ds1(3.5) has been diagnosed with ASD and ds2(14 months) has got mild CP. we want a live-in nanny to look after dc with mum during day time. The work will involve cooking for dc, cleaning after them, developnental stuff and looking after their additional needs such as driving them to nursery/ appointments etc , physio for ds2.

Both dc are very well behaved, ds1 is non verbal and we are working on a therapy programme to improve his communication skills. Training would be provided to the nanny in this so everybody at home is consistent. Similarly ds2 physio will show her how to do stretches, exercises etc.

I know I could go down the SN nanny route but I wanted to explore other options first. Ideally I want a candidate who is experienced in childcare, lots of energy, motivated and committed to making a difference in our children's lives. The position will be in SW london.

Before wasting my time advertising for this position with agencies, I wanted to ask nannies on here, if you were looking for a position and this came up, would you be interested? And what salary would you be expecting for say a 7-7 role 5 days a week. TIA.

Sounds a very interesting job, although most nannies I know prefer complete sole charge. Is it a daily position? Generally, for qualified and experienced child carer it'd be £10 plus an hr net. Tax an NI covered by employer. If you think you can go with an Au Pair (since you will be home) around £7-8 per hr. if live in I think you could offer around £350/£400 pw with 2 nights babysitting included in pay. If your happy to train someone to assist your DC with their additional needs then SN nanny not necessarily a requirement. If you go down SN route there is a very good London SN nanny agency (don't want to name, although no affiliation, but will be first in google search I'm sure).

Good luck!!

Thanks for replying. agree sole charge can be a sticking point in getting decent candidates as it was our experience previously. I thinks know the agency you are talking about.

It would be a daily position. Is the £350-400 net or gross?

It's definitely a position I would look at, but there again I generally work in positions with children who have sn. Having a stay at home parent wouldn't be an issue either, though I would want to talk through parental expectations wrt how it would work.
For a daily position in London I would want £13 an hour gross.
Remember.to talk gross with candidates.

Have you spoken to SNAP (nanny agency dealing exclusively with SN placements)? They are fab IMO, and will be able to advise. Whilst I'm happy to recruit PAs for my dd, I always use SNAP for sole charge roles as I want to get a nanny who really 'gets it'.

I have named them :o

If it was shared care all the time then No I would not do it. I would want some independence to do things the children and I wanted to do without constantly having to refer to mum.

Having two adults around all day would make it tricky to know who does what, when. If both in the kitchen at the same time, even doing different things, you get in the way of each other.

I would have to get on extremely well with mum and the role would have to be extremely well defined.

7-7 in SW London, Live-out, £12 gross per hour /£144 gross per day. www.mranchovy.com/calc/ will give you figures for things like Employers NI and employee tax/NI deductions.

Is 7-7 x 5 days per week needed if mum is around all the time? That is very full on and I'm not sure how many people want to work a 60 hour week.

You say Live-in, why? I have worked with children on the autistic spectrum and being able to go home at the end of a tough day is a big positive in my view. Some days go great, others not so plus children change over time. Many children on the spectrum do not sleep well, so a quiet evening is not something the nanny may get.

How about considering a more sole charge role for a short time period, such as 3 or 4 days a week. Keep your options open and offer both perhaps, but I feel that something like this may appeal to a part-time nanny more than it might appeal to someone wanting to do 60 hours a week live-in. Just my view though... Perhaps it's my old age wanting more of a less-stress life!

Thanks to everyone who replied.

nannynick we have no problem with the nanny having a bit of independence, infact it is one of the reasons why we want a nanny so we could get out and about. Our lives have revolved around dc for the last 3.5 years and now we want to get a little bit of break and start focusing on work. If I could get a sole charge who I can trust the dc with, we would both be over the moon.

Let me explain the current arrangement and why we want to change it.

We hired a maternity nurse last year for ds2 as he was so high maintenance and we needed to focus on ds1 who as recently diagnosed. she was good so she just stayed on. Ds2 needs are much more developmental now rather than nursing so we want a change of personnel. The current nanny only looks after ds2 as that what she was hired to do and now we want somebody who can look after both of them.

Live-in think came about because we have always had room, I suppose. Also, we are out and about so much for therapies for one ds or another that the current role is effectively sole charge anyway, for eg, we left for an OT session for ds1 at 1.30 and didn't get back till 6, so there are plenty of days when the nanny will have a lot of time to socialize which I want it as it will be good for the dc as well.

Thanks drinkyourmilk and peggy, they were what I had in mind too.

In one post you say it would be daily, in another you say live in.

for that role, live in, would be 7-7 350-400 net

Sorry, I meant live-in working daily as in 5 days a week, I realise now 'daily' meant 'live-out'

it would def be an interesting job, but as most experienced nannies they want sole charge, but from what you say once you have trust with the nanny/and children bond with her or him (nick) then seems it would be more sole charge

7-7 5days a week are very long days, and if you could make shorter esp as you are about then this will expand your candidates - 4 days at 12hrs is nicer or 5 say 10hr days - obv sometimes you may need nanny to stay later if appointments but that can be arranged

salary wise i would want £13 gross - other younger/less experiences may be happy with say £10gross

I'm one of those 'really keen on sole charge' nannies and I'd definitely consider it if I was in the job market. It sounds like potential nanny could learn a lot of new skills and thats quite appealing . Whereabouts in SW London are you? That's where I work, if I hear of any of my friends looking would you like me to pass on the job info?

Superduper Yes please, we are in Barnes. You are right about the bit about gaining experience as well. We have some of the best experts in the field working with us to help ds1 and ds2.

It would be 10 an hr after tax and NI. Sorry, just back on.

Ooh I love Barnes!!

Ooh I like Barnes too, used to work in E Sheen years ago, which I was less keen on! My friend works for Snap,so obviously I'm biased, but I think they're a really good agency (was registered with them in the past too).