Im clueless about childcare

[MumtoAnne]

hi, i am going back to part time work soon and have a 9 month old ds. Last time, my dd went to a cm, but i am thinking to have someone come to my home, and also do housework when the baby sleeps. (do not want to come home in the afternoon with both kids and start the housework!)

What type of care do i need? 2 of my friends have cleaners/mothers help who have some spare time. Do they need to be registered to work in my house? How does it work with tax credits?

My dh can also get Busy bee vouchers. If it takes them a long time to register, can we take the vouchers for lets say two months and them use them in the third month when she starts?

Also, how do i work out my weekly nursery costs for the IR. Is is the 3 term's fees added up and divided by 12? Or do i need to keep them updated when she is going and when she on hol?

And what is the going rate for childcare in my home in Outer London?

Soory so many q's, i utterly mystified by the whole thing

hi you can have an au pair or a nanny
i think nannys can take busy bee vouchers but not au pairs or mothers helps
none of these have to be reg to work in your house

Au pairs are not recommended for under 3's.

You need to use some sort of registered carer for tax credits and to use busy bee vouchers - think the website is www.childcareapprovalscheme.co.uk.

An approved childcarer who works in your home would need to have a minimum of a 12 hour course on childcare, a current first aid cert and a CRB check. The approval process does take some time (we have just got our nanny through it, she started working for us in march, got approval last month). Yes you can save them up and use them once your childcarer is approved.
No idea about nursery costs and IR (If you have a childcarer in your own home you will most likely need to pay them all year round)

Going rate depends on type of childcare, qualifications and experience. Officially nannys are £8-10 per hour net (ie. more like £11-14 after tax/NI is added)...but a mother's help should be a lot cheaper..try searching the job pages of nannyjob.co.uk (also does mother's helps and au pair jobs) or thegumtree.com to get an idea of prices.

Thank you for your help.

As I understand it nanny's do not do any housekeeping - just the babies cooking, and maybe laundry?

If an au-pair is not suitable for under threes then what do i need?

You can get nanny/housekeepers who will do cleaning/shopping etc for whole family rather than just 'nursery duties'