Opinions on best option please!

[lanbro]

We are looking to take on a pub, accommodation included. We have a 2yo and 10mo. The eldest starts nursery in September for 15hrs funded. I am currently SAHM but my husband runs our other business, although he no longer needs to be there daily.

Obviously, running a pub is going to be pretty demanding. I don't see the evenings being a problem but looking at options for daytime care. Both children have only ever been looked after by family. The accommodation is 4 bedroom so could look at live in, nanny or au pair. Or a general help where they could be involved with pub and dc. Or childminder. Or nursery. Or babysitter. Argh!

No experience of putting the dc into childcare, no idea of costs, any input much appreciated!

Local childminder. That way the children are out of the house/pub and thus you won't keep going up to see what they are doing.

I think you really need to decide what care you need, the days, the hours. That will determine what you need.

Weekends for example are probably going to be busy time for a pub I imagine. So would you and DH need to work then? What childcare could you get then - options will be very limited.

What other staff do you need, business and domestic. Keep the two types separate, you can't claim domestic staff against business profits.

Costs vary depending on location. Family information service (often local council) can give you a rough idea plus a list of registered childcare in your area whom you can then contact for cost and availability details.

I think you may need to go down the nanny route if you need weekends, but you may be lucky and find a childminder who'll work them. I agree with Cindy though, a childminder would suit best to get the children out of the way, depending on the type of pub, it may be difficult for a nanny to have space to work, especially outdoors.

AP is a bad idea as your youngest is so young. You would potentially be working 10+ hour days at the weekend with barely any breaks to keep the pub running smoothly, an AP really shouldn't be in charge of children under 2/3 for any big length of time, they are usually inexperienced and have no first aid training. Though my biggest concern would be language as it's a critical time for language development in children, a lot of that is from listening to people speak. Saying that though, I don't think an AP or Mother's Help would ever suit if you're running a pub, as that's pretty demanding and neither are really suitable for long shifts in charge.

Live in would be useful if you have to do late shifts, as it would mean that somebody is upstairs with the children but can go to sleep. I know you said that you aren't worried about evenings, but if both you and your partner are downstairs working, you may not get the chance to pop up and check on them very often, so it's worth thinking about that too and how you'd go about it.

Thanks both of you, some things to think about. We do have a lot of family help but wouldn't want to take advantage. Another option is that my sil is in a low paid job she hates and would love to have the girls if we could sort something that way, plus a niece with some childcare training. So much to consider!

SIL could be your nanny and could live with you if that suited.

Pin down what days and hours you need. You may find it easier recruiting bar staff for evenings/weekends than finding childcare for evenings/weekends.

I think 'a general help where they could be involved with pub and dc' doesn't sound like such a good idea to me. It will be very difficult to recruit someone who is good at both. A nanny probably won't want to work in the pub and someone who does want to work in the pub may not be so great with the kids. Also a 2yo and 10mo will be a lot of work so I'm not sure the person would have time to do both anyway. I agree with the others, if you need weekends/evenings then a live in nanny would be the best, otherwise maybe a childminder/nursery so that the children are not constantly in your hair. Do look into the costs carefully, as it may be cheaper for you to just look after the kids yourself and hire someone else to help out at the pub.