Is a Nanny for us? Or rather are we for a Nanny?

[ghoulelocks]

Looking at childcare options, previously used Nursery but wondering if with a baby and toddler a nanny is a viable option.

Cost: Nursery is about £90 a day here, which is about the top end of our budget, say £500 a week if f/t

House: 3 bed semi in East London suburb, bit tatty but clean and safe. Still being done up. Could have live-in potentially but box room and nowt fancy

Kids: baby girl and boy toddler (lively! not naughty, think labrador...)

Working hours: hopefully part time, or full time. Both teachers, so longish days.

Person we want: Down to earth, just caring and loving. Not as bothered about the rest, though we're eastern european and polish,russian or ukrainian speaking is a bonus

The reason I'm asking is I seem to find lots on very fancy agencies/ nannies. Particularly in London. I'm happy to teach my own kids and am not fussed about second langages etc, just want a safe caring pair of hands with some experience! Do people want to nanny for families like us in London? Or is it all use of car required etc? Is the budget realistic or is nursery our option?

Thanks, it's a whole new whole for me so any input is appreciated.

As a general rule I would say that a nanny is usually a little more expensive than nursery/childminder for care of 2 children. A nanny is cheaper when you have 3 or more children.

So look at the pros/cons of havi.g childcare at your home vs taking your children to nursery/childminder.

Live-in nanny will be lower salary but you lose more privacy and having a teenager/20's person living in your home may not be your idea of fun. If there are good transport links to central city then it could appeal to people and you may well find someone who speaks one/more of the languages you speak.

We're fine with live in, spare room has been in use nearly constantly with family staying, young cousins etc. We're used to company and not private massively. Think one bathroom and a box room is realisitically off putting. We are though 20/30 min from central London and in an area with colleges. We'd be happy with non-english speaker if she spoke one of the above languages.

If you're happy to have someone living in and someone who doesn't speak English then I think you'll definitely get someone for £500 pw.

However, do you really want someone who can't speak English? Fine at home and with the children, but what if there is an accident/emergency and they can't communicate with a doctor/paramedic? What about making friends with other mums/nannies at playgroup/in the park? What about when your DS starts nursery or pre-school and she needs to communicate with the staff? How will she ask for directions if she gets lost taking the children somewhere new?

An English speaking nanny probably wouldn't want to live-in with a box room and shared bathroom. You may still be able to find someone within budget though, depending on the hours you want. It won't be a very qualified/experienced nanny, but you say you don't need that. Your best bet it to put an ad on Gumtree or Childcare.co.uk, state what you can afford and see what sort of applicants you get.

What do you plan to do about the school holidays?

at nursery we have to pay for holidays anyway, it's open to negotiation I guess.

There is a significant eastern european community her for social contact. DS is already bi/ tri lingual. We found with thr elder sdc they picked up english VERY quickly at school, as have friends. Many carers here have limited english, plus I'm on the end of a phone. A limited vocabularly for emergencies is quick to accquire, we'd offer english lessons if the person wanted them. Have done this before. Few people abroad have so little english they will get lost, even my MIL got to central london and back in her first week and she has about three words of english and a note with key place names! I guess I'm more relaxed as DH, I and friends have all coped fine in england in the early days ourselves.

I used a CM for my 3 year old DS. She charged £50 per day and when I had my DD last year, I started looking at alternatives as £100 a day for both kids was going to cost a bomb.

I never thought we'd be able to afford a nanny but as I work from home 5 mornings a week, I looked into getting a mother's help instead.

I advertised the post on www.findababysitter.com and I've found a lovely lady with 17 years experience as a nanny. She'll come to the house for 4 hours a day, 4 days a week and we're paying her £30 per morning (I expect it would be more in London).

Her daughter goes to the school just round the corner so it's convenient for her and I've said she can bring her in the school holidays when she's not at her holiday club or with her dad so hopefully it will work out for both of us.

I'd have a look on the website and get an idea for the sort of people in your area and how much they charge.