Part time nanny, is it feasible?

[qi]

I am thinking of getting a nanny to cover two hours late afternoon for three days per week, so I could work from home during that time. The reason is that nursery normally opens 9-3, include travel time my working day is too short.

DS is only 6/7 month when starting nursery, so I don't want take him out of nursery then send to a childminder (another strange environment), or getting a CM to pick him up.

I want a reasonable qualified nanny.

My concern is:

1. would nanny do such unusual time (nanny will have to have decent amount of work to make their living);
2. Would DS (at that age) demand me than nanny if I am at home around?
3. Given we only have one baby, is it cost effective?

If this arrangement works, it could be long term solution (nursery shcool + school, etc).

tbh I think you might find it difficult to find someone willing to do such short hours - but the only way to find out is to advertise and see what comes up. advertise at schools and nurseries - slightly more likely to be people looking for odds and ends, iyswim. re q 2 - do you mean if you work from home, or just at handover time? if the latter, I wouldn't worry. If the former the trick is to set boundaries: "mummy's going upstairs to work now. see you at lunchtime" - and don't be tempted to blur the lines. ok a bit much for a 7 month old but jsut start as you mean to go on. re q3 - hour for hour it's expensive for one kid (usually in the region of twice as much as nursery or cm) but you're combining it with nursery so it's a case of working out if you can afford it.

Re long-term - I wouldn't bank too much, at this stage, on anyhting being long-term - things always change - eg when they get to school age and there's holidays to think about

I read something recently about "nanny sharing". Enquire at your local nanny agency, or perhaps approach other local mums who already have a nanny - sometimes it's a cost-effective way of getting a nanny without having to commit to providing a full time job. Good luck!

My advice would be to advertise and see what comes up.

I share my nanny with another family, and I would say that, since sharing a nanny involves a whole lot of negotiations etc, I would not have been interested in sharing with someone who wanted nanny for such a small number of hours but it's also worth a try.
I used www.sharingcare.co.uk to find the first family we shared our nanny with (our latest nanny-share was found via word-of-mouth amongst mums at the nursery)
Good luck

er, wouldn't it be easier to find a nursery with longer opening hours?

I think also that with so few hours on offer you won't be in the driving seat, as it were, for a nanny share - you might only find a nanny shre if you're willing for ds to be at someone else's house, in which case there's not a great deal of advantage over a childminder

Thanks for all the advice, very clear and informative. Bluebear, I'd check the website you recommended. Nanny wouldn't be needed until next year, so I guess I have sometime to search for help.

Nursery offers a late stay, but we kind of don't want him seeing other kids leave before him, so we'll see if there are plenty kids/babies stay longer we might book him in the later stay. As for the very long holiday period (the nursery operates just same as the school time table) when there is no late stay facilities, I'll have to come up with a plan. I am hoping the company will let me work short days for these time, but as I have not yet proposed to work, I don't know what they'd day.

Mazzystar, we couldn't find a satify nursery that opens long hours. we've visited five nurseries, this is the best one (most expensive as well). We've got offer from nurseries which opens longer but I can't cope with sending DS to the "second best". I am already sending him to nursery at such a young age (my reason is that younger age would make the settle in easier), I need to find a place that I feel comfortable with. To commit in this nursery will make our life a bit difficult but that is just life.

qi, when you say nanny won't be needed until next year, do you mean you are still on maternity leave ie haven't gone back to work yet? If so, ditch the 9-3 nursery. Seriously. You can't be doing with a nursery that doesn't cover your own working hours. Career + baby is hard enough without creating extra problems. (A baby is NOT going to register other kids being picked up earlier, btw, really don't worry about that).

I'm slightly inclined to agree with edam. but, not wishing to go off on a tangent too much, have you thought hard about a child-minder? If you find the right one it can be so good - many, if not most, are mums, many choose to do it because they enjoy being a mum and want to work at home with kids, and many take it very seriously, including by doing training. They might not have the qualifications of a nanny (although some do) but the right cm can be real gem.

Hi, I'd just like to echo what thewomanwho thought... suggested. CM's are perfect for babies as they offer a home from home environment, are more often than not experienced Mums and are infinately flexible. My two both went to CMs when babies, the nursery later on, and the CM gave them great confidence and enabled them to get used to being away from me, until they were ready for nursery. CMs often have part time vacancies.

Again, thanks for all the advice, mumsnetters are wonderful!

Well a bit late for ditch the 9-3 nursery. I've sent off the form this morning. We've had some good discussion over the weekend, I've listed all the pros and cons of both nurseries then we've decided to go ahead for the difficult option but we know we are providing the best we can for DS.

I am only going to do three days of work. I've decided to work short days (subject to company apporval) untile he reaches one, then we'll consider use the late stay option in the nursery.

He only needs to go to nursery for less than two and half years, I said to myself. Either way life is going to be difficult. The pregnant and birth and early days has now dragged on for over a year, another two some years to go. Hopefully thinking this way will keep us (me and DF) going.

Just a thought, but if you were sharing a nanny, couldn't the nanny pick your one up at 3pm and go back to your home? It's not unfeasible to find a qualified nanny that might be working for another family locally up until those hours. Even if the kids do overlap for a few hours it can work out well also. I used to share and our nanny looked after my friend's child 3 days a week whilst my son was at nursery schoool and on those days, the nanny would collect my son at a similar time, take him home and he had an in-house play mate (my friend's daughter) for 3 days a week, which he loved! Have you tried www.thenannysharers.co.uk? You can look for another family living nearby to share a nanny with on that.

Terry, thanks for the link, I'll check the site.

HOw about trying an advert via local schools to see if there are any CSA people who would be itnerested in a few extra hours. That way you could get someone who is available 3/3.30pm - 5/6pm.

However I woudl say that the best bet would be to find one type of care, either f/t nanny or f/t nursery to cover your work. With two ingredients in the mix you have two lots of bills, two lots of rules, two lots of holidays etc.
You'd have all the downsides of employing a nanny, need for rules, lack of cover if she is ill, tax and NI, wiht none of the upsides cihld cared for totally in home on one - one basis.