how do i sort childcare for 11, 9 and 3 year old if we both work??

[lu9months]

I need advice please - both me and my husband work. up til now we have had a full time nanny, but my 3 year old starts nursery in sept - 3 hours each afternoon. I need someone to take my 8 year old to school, look after the 3 year old, give her lunch and take her to nursery, then pick 8 and 3 year old up at 3.30, and be around for my 11 year old when he gets back from secondary school! I cant think of a way to do this, except to keep on a full time nanny, who will then have 3 hours every afternoon to do very little while they are all out. that costs so much. has anyone found any other solutions? thanks

Hello, would a childminder be able to take the 3 yo to nursery? Is that joined to the 8yr olds school?

What do the school provide in before and after school care?

If it were me I would have a mixture of cm and nursery (full days) for the 3 yo.

Before and after school care for the 8yo

The 11 yo is a bit more tricky, is he able to get himself to school? I think when my dd starts secondary she will be getting herself to school and will have a key to let herself in after school or have after school clubs.

thanks, yes a childminder could have the 3 and 8 year old, but I don't have anyone to take the 8 year old to school (we start early ) though I could probably find someone easily enough. I am just worried about my 11 yr old DS. its his first year at secondary school, and we don't get in til 6 - I am not that happy with the idea of him being on his own at home for 2 hours a night.

Most people I know keep the nanny on through the nursery year because once you factor in school holidays, illnesses, snow days, inset days, strike days etc and then think they're only at nursery for 3 hours a day anyway, it's just easier and in some cases cheaper to stick with one consistent carer.

You could look into getting an au pair plus maybe if you have room for someone to live in.

You could use a childminder full-time for 3 year old and before/after school for 8 year old and maybe 11 year old. I'm not sure how much cheaper that would be though.

I agree that it would be horrible for the 11 year old to come home to an empty house every night.

Has the nanny been with you long?

Our nanny has been with us 18months and she and my youngest adore each other. I would love her to stay on but its just the financial side of things causing problems. But I think we will need a nanny to look after everyone . We don't have room for a live-in au pair

Keep the nanny until they are all at school. Would your nanny do any house keeping tasks in the 3 hours? Although its not really 3 hours 'spare' by the time you include travel time to drop off and collect.

Would be much nicer for the 11 year old to have someone at home when he gets in from school.

Once at school there is a similar problem, the children will be older so the 13 year old may be more able to get home from school themselves but may not want to be home alone for several hours. The 10 year old may feel they are too old to go to a childminder.

Then there are the school holidays to cover.

Some nannies do before and afterschool care, so you may find some will do before and after pre-school care. Not everyone wants to work a 10-12 hour day, so some may like a couple of hours off but would they be on call? Would an oncall allowance need to be negotiated?
Then different work hours during school holidays.