What to do after nannying?

[PixieofCatan]

DP and I are planning to start trying for our own family in about 18 months time, so I'm looking ahead but want to have some ideas as to what to do!

Ideally I'll find a NWOC position once we have a child, but if not, what else do people end up doing?

We're likely going to be living in a two bed flat somewhere, so childminding would probably be out. But I'm not passing it by as an option, I'd happily take on one or two children as long as the parents were fine with the fact that we were in a flat and that I had pet rodents. Obviously assuming the Landlord would be happy with it too.

Hello Pixie
It's impossible to make career suggestions without knowing what qualifications and experience you already have, but I would say plan well ahead. If you think you need to train or get more qualifications, get started now, as it will be ten times harder when you are pregnant or have a new baby.

I know, I do plan to go back to uni eventually, but I am nowhere near the standard I want to be to go back (and would rather do it with older kids in tow than with toddlers!)

I'm debating doing a Forest School qualification, I'm interested in it, but I live in Forest School central, so I'd have a lot of competition from already well established forest schools. And I have health issues which make being outdoors difficult in cold/damp weather most of the UK's year then

I have a level 3 CYPW, have nannied properly for three years, been an outdoor instructor & scout leader but I don't think my health will hack me going into outdoors bits full on.

I also have no interest in the obvious paths of nursery and school work, which will likely make my qualification useless when I have kids!

How about something like selling children's books or toys? Or running some sort of class - baby gym, that sort of thing?

Selling could work, I'm trying to set up a small crafting thing so I could sell books and things through that. I've always wondered how to get into that though? Where do you get the stock? I'll look into it :) I've been looking at wholesale buying for a while but struggling to find good sources, that's for other things though.

You could try Usborne books = we have ladies selling them around our local playgroups and they are very nice = I always buy some.

Does it involve pimping out products to friends and pissing everybody off? I don't have friends as it is so I'm wary of that kind of thing!

Indeed pimping stuff to friends lol

As and when hope you find a nwoc job. Far easier then a cm with all the paperwork plus exspense to start out ESP as you would only be able to have 2 pre schoolers or older kids

Blondes That's hopefully the plan with one child, DP and I have agreed that when we do manage to have one, we'll have a break before trying for another as I really am not ready to give up my career and would love to go back to work with one child. But then I'm not ready to put off having children of my own for much longer either (currently waiting until DP finishes uni and starts work, which will be October 2016).

I would only intend to have one or two charges if I CMed, but the paperwork does put me off of EYFS kids! It's more about making enough extra to get by in the early days of DPs career so that I can go back to retrain a few years later.

desperately Funnily enough playwork in hospitals is something that interests me a lot, I'd need to get a playwork qualification which shouldn't be too difficult but it's something I'd love to do and should be easily doable, especially as locally to me, most posts are part time, so suits me perfectly. I'd be interested in caring for children with disabilities at home but I have no training in the typical jobs it'd require (changing catheters and other medical-related thing) and I also can't find out where to get that training. Most of it seems to be on the job, but people don't want to hire people with no experience, so it's a catch 22 I could go back into nannying for children on the autistic spectrum and get myself trained up in various therapies for that, I already have experience of that.

I am currently a nanny/housekeeper and enjoy the housekeeping, but I'm not a perfectionist and my boss doesn't expect miracles I'm not sure if I'd be good enough for an actual housekeeping position! Especially with the ironing. I've considered doing ironing to make extra cash but I am useless at it.

It's all so confusing! I'm also thinking of going completely off tangent and doing what my Mum did after childminding for 8 or so years, which was to do a load of courses in a subject over three years and then set up as self employed, she did massage courses and set up as self employed and has been doing it for ten years now, it's reliable income for her and she can fit it around other things she wants to do. She's always doing other jobs during the day too. I wouldn't do massage but there are some courses my local college do that look good.

Hope you would find a nanny job with own child

Could you start night nanny work so husband has baby overnight and you nap the next day when baby/toddler does and try not to do 2 nights in a row.

Maybe health care assistant in a hospital children ward, maternity or neonatal unit - qualification dependant again part time work nights n weekends will be easier to come by (when I was on wards we had permanent night staff so limited nights we did) and husband can care for your lo so no childcare costs.

Isn't night nannying usually with tiny ones? I've seen a couple of jobs with older children or children with SEN but not many. I've not got any experience with infants, only those 10 months and up.

I have just seen some shift work advertised where (sleeping) nights are needed, which would be something that suited, even if it were only 4 nights a month, at £64pn with my current rates (7-10pm £8pn, 10pm-6am sleep in at £40) that's an extra £256 where I wouldn't need to find childcare as long as DP was home.

I wouldn't rely on selling books to make money. Must be very very hard to compete against the likes of The Book People. I have an Usborne woman on my facebook feed, it generally takes me about 5 seconds online to find what she is offering much cheaper.