What is the best childcare for my friend?

[allotmentgirl82]

My friend is a single Dad to two children aged 5 and 3. He is in the Army, but is stationed in the UK as he has the children full-time (he lives on the barracks)
His work hours are 8.30am-5.30pm.
Currently the 3 yr old is at nursery 8am-6pm, and the 5 yr old is at breakfast club 8-9am, then school, then after school club 3.30-6pm.
He cannot progress at work or apply for promotions as he can't go on the courses he needs to- sometimes they are residential courses for up to 4 weeks at a time.
His family are all in St Lucia, apart from Grandma and Granddad who live 20 miles away from him and both work full time.
He asked me if a Nanny/Au pair would be better for him, but I really don't know as I've only ever used a childminder and a nursery.
Can anyone offer any advice or a solution please?

Nanny would be best option as 4 weeks to leave au pair with the children is way too long. However he'd most probably have to pay full time wages to make sure the nanny is available in emergencies during the day (sick child/school holidays etc) when he's away training.

Yes, a nanny who can do 'in loco parentis' stuff - expensive but it would enable him to get away.

If he goes to his army welfare they will have a list of all the nannies in his area and will have some that work on a temp basis so if he wanted to go on a course they can then work full time.

thank you, i'll tell him.
My Dad was a single parent to me and my brother and sister, but he never had to go away for long periods of time. We were older too (16,14 and 11) so could look after ourselves until he came home from work.
He's only been a single full time parent since last June so is still finding his feet- i've had to help him budget and save.