Does this sound like Au Pair requirement

[anooppunshi]

Hi
We've got 4 months old twins. Until now we've had my mum and my partner's mum staying with us. They will soon leave for their country (India). I work full time but my partner stays at home and will be looking after the babies. We need someone to do following:
Help my wife with feeding the babies
Comfort one of the babies if both are crying at the same time
Help my wife with house work i.e. light cleaning, putting laundry in washing machine or ironing. Go with my wife to any appointment with GPs

We are considering the option of Au pair just because it suits us as we have a spare room and we don't have a huge budget to spend as I am the only person earning the bread in the family.

Could I also ask for your help with finding an Aupair that is properly vetted. I am thinking of taking premium membership of www.aupairworld.net but I wasn't sure how I am going to get assurance that the person we are inviting is vetted and safe for my family.

many thanks

It sounds fine so long as the au pair isn't expected to have sole charge of the babies - if she's helping your wife out for around 25 hours a week then fine. Make sure she has clearly defined hours rather than being on call all the time though!

If you use Au Pair World then you need to do the vetting yourself - you can ask for the au pair to provide a police check or certificate of good conduct from their own country, and speak to a couple of referees.

As long as the person has no 'sole' charge with a baby that young...

As most au pairs are Un experienced and young.

Au pairs normally work around 25 hours a week and no more

I think what you described is a lot to ask of an au pair. I think a live in nanny/housekeeper may be better.

Another thing to think about is that au pairs often have language classes during the day which sounds like when you will need the most help. Have you thought about a mother's help?

This might suit a junior nanny. A slightly more expensive option but usually they have formal training, a CRB, paediatric first aid training, and are keen to find their first job (often accepting a lower salary to build experience and gain a good reference for future positions).

At least then you have the option of perhaps leaving the children with her on a sole charge basis if needs be with peace of mind.

When I was starting out as a career nanny I would have jumped at this kind of position (young babies and twin experience) and to have mum alongside would have helped my confidence.

I wouldn't have considered this an AP position. When I was an AP (age 18) I would have never taken a job with twin babies, and neither would any of my AP friends.