Could I have a bit of childcare advice please?!

[Beccadugs]

I am currently 22 weeks pregnant with my first, and we are thinking about my return to work. I know this seems ludicrously early, but bear with me!

I currently have two jobs, one 35hrs a week term time only (within education at the LEA, not very well paid) the other is my own business tutoring children from home (I am a qualified teacher - please excuse any typos, grammatical errors etc, I'm on my phone!).

I have worked out that I can earn roughly the same doing my 10hours tutoring as I can doing my "day job". This would mean only really taking a 4-5 week break when the baby arrives (which is not ideal, but I don't want to loose my tutees as this business is very dependent on word of mouth etc.) so would need something in place with quite soon. Family have all said they are not willing to help. (which is fair enough!)

My questions are, a) how hard would it me to find childcare between 3.30 and 6.30 weeknights? b) what sort would be best to look for?

We did think about an au pair, but our house is probably a bit small, and we only have one bathroom.

Do you think this might be the sort of thing a nanny would be interested in? I would be in the house, so it would really be a question of playing with baby, and possibly a feed, althought I untend to BF so would try to do this before the kids arrive.

I hope I don't sound too hopelessly naive! Thanks in advance if anyone reads this mammoth post!

I would look at a mothers help or a nanny with little experience.
IMO three hours a day is not enough to live on and when baby is very small there will be nothing to do for the person working as bub will be asleep for a lot of the time.

As most pre-schools tend to finish around 3/3:30 you might consider approaching them & see if it's something one of their staff might consider? Or someone older whose own children have left home & wants a bit of extra money? A childminder could do the hours in their own home but may not want to waste a whole day's space for just 3 hours pay. Some nurseries let you do an afternoon session although finishing at 6:30 might be an issue.

It might depend where you live (as to what the local labour market is like).

But not that hard.

You basically just need someone to be in the house for 3 hours while you do your work. Your calculations re the two jobs sound sensible.

Small babies just eat, poo, sleep, cry and like a cuddle.

It could even be a trustworthy local teenager, frankly. Or a college student.

Have a look at Netmums which is a bit better for advertising this sort of thing (sorry MN) - it's more local.

Look up the local FE college or similar where they run childcare courses, see if anyone currently studying is interested.

Try posting on www.childcare.co.uk and see what response you get. I've found people can be willing to do all kinds of odd hours for the right pay. You might need to pay more than the standard hourly rate to make up for the short time period, and you might also look at longer hours to allow for the fact that you don't want a nanny turning up at the same time as your pupils and you will want time for a proper handover at the end of the day, particularly as you will be in bedtime routine time.

Presumably you are also looking into private pension arrangements if you are giving up your LA post.....?

Thanks everyone.

Hadn't considered a mothers help! Will look into that.

I was thinking maybe a teaching assistant or preschool worker might work. Is it OK to approach the preschools and ask?

We are in East Surrey, and I was (very initially) thinking £12 per hour (gross).

I do already have a private pension. And at the moment do 2hrs teaching so would have half an hour either side for handover.

I was also concerned that a childminder might not want a tiny baby (at all!!!) for the short evening hours.

Afternoon sessions at nurseries near here won't work timingwise, and also financially I would have to pay for the whole session which seems to be about what I would earn!!

You may not need to pay that much. Maybe £8-10?

Yes Phoebe's idea is good. Just call up the nurseries and ask.

But really, you just need a nice trustworthy cuddly person at the moment, who is also prepared to walk the pushchair/pram round the streets. You can hire a lively, qualified person who knows about early years milestones etc later. Remember - Prince George's nanny is 70!

You must be careful because going back to work so soon after the birth may affect your SMP. It may not be financially worthwhile to give up SMP to take up tutoring and employ somebody to look after your little one.

As far as I have been informed, and I might have the number of weeks wrong, as I am self employed and it is existing business I can continue while on SMP.

I am looking into this, but thanks for the heads up! In a way it doesn't matter, as if I decide not to go back to my "day job" I will need to get back to the tutoring ASAP so as not to loose momentum/clients etc. and post SMP the money I earn would be the status quo anyway.

It could work well with a part time nanny/mothers' help. The only thing I think you haven't really got to grips with is that you are unlikely to be able to get a 4 week old baby to breastfeed at just the right time to give you a reliable 2/3 hour feeding window to fit in your tutoring. Unless you are planning to feed the baby while tutees are with you? Expressing may work, but not all babies will take a bottle and breast equally happily - some do though...
Also, don't underestimate how tired and wiped out you could be feeling with a tiny baby along with the added pressure of getting back to work so soon. Good luck with it.

I don't think I will be able to feed while the tutees are here. Perhaps I will have to do mixed feeding, with a bottle available if the baby is hungry while I am teaching.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for their input, has really helped!

Don't know how you would feel about this, but what about approaching local colleges for child care students that are in their last year?

The potential problem with childcare students is if they're out on placement they'll be working hours of the placement, so possibly until 6 in a nursery etc and then you don't have continuity.

How will you manage prep for tutoring sessions etc? Would it be worth trying to up the hours a little and give yourself that time?

Basically what you're looking for is an after-school nanny but your child isn't school aged!

Just have a look around various websites - netmums, gumtree, nannyjob (both the main site and their free babysitter section if you don't mind having a couple of people) etc - and see what you can find.