Too young for au pair?

[JFoster]

Our Nanny is currently working out her notice following a disagreement re DD's daily routine. DD is 18mo. We are strongly considering AP. I work 9-5x 4d per wk. My worry is that some say APs are not for minding under 3's. I would love to know other people's experience in this regard - should we go for AP option?

Depends on the individual aupair. They may be very experienced in childcare in their home country. They may know the country you are in quite well, so would know how to get help if it was needed, plus you could tell them what to do if an emergency situation arose. You may have friendly neighbours who could be called upon in a time of need.

Is it that much different to having any older teenager caring for a toddler?

I think 9-5 4 days a week would be too many hours for an AP

Why an au pair? So you can pay them a pittance to do the job of a nanny?

An au pair does about 25 hours a week. Usually before/after school care and a bit of laundry/household stuff. They have time during the day to attend college/language classes.

Maybe a live-in nanny would be better?

An au pair isn't a nanny. You need a nanny. An au pair would work if your child went to nursery 9-3 daily and they dropped off and had for an couple of hours after. An au pair isn't really suitable for such a young child and I doubt they would stick to the daily routine you want

I wouldn't expect an AP to stick to any "daily routine" for an infant, so if that's the cause of your problem with your nanny, an AP is unlikely to be the answer!

Plus, APs will not expect to work the hours you want.

Au pairs are not supposed to do full time child care. They do something like 22-25 hours a week, typically looking after children before and after school. Sounds like you need a nanny.

You're supposed to give them time to go to a language school and to study - that wouldn't work if she has full time care of an 18mo.

Maybe the nanny wasn't right for your family OP. it doesn't mean another nanny wouldn't work.
Can you tell us more about the routine problem?

Yes, that's too young for an au pair for that many hours. I had an au pair for DS around that age because I needed wraparound/closure/sickness cover for nursery, prior to that we had a nanny from when he was 4 months until we moved. The difference in quality of care was noticeable, and our AP was mature, had experience with children etc. DS was clean, fed and safe but tbh I'd expect more from FT childcare.

The AP was also a lot more work for us than a nanny and we didn't have a language barrier as she spoke one of our family languages. Had she not been able to use that langue with DS I'd have also worried shot the potential impact on his language development from hearing her mistakes.

Another thing to consider is most ESOL courses are during the day and the language element, rather than the childcare, is why most people come.

Why do you think another nanny wouldn't work?

That's far too many hours for an au pair - you need a professional childcarer for such a little child.
If you look at HMRC's definition of an au pair, unless your LO was going to nursery for a significant proportion of the day you wouldn't be fulfilling the au requirements and you would be subject to minimum wage and tax.
You just need a new nanny.