Nanny share- what do you think about this?

[RooTwo]

I'm considering a nanny share - we have three children (9, 6 and 1) and the other family have one baby, also 1. So the nanny would have the babies during the day and then also the big kids after school (plus doing drop offs and pick ups). I'm trying to work out the pros and cons of this arrangement and any thoughts would be welcome! It's attractive to us as it lowers the cost, the other family are lovely and DS will have a playmate. The other family seem game as they like the idea of their baby having lots of social interaction. The nanny would most likely care for the children at our house.

Also, what's a typical wage for a London nanny share and how would we split this? Divvy it up per child/per hour? ( So we pay more for after-school hours). We have not found a nanny yet, either, but I'm thinking we will have to get someone super brilliant, who can cope with all those kids! Any advice greatly appreciated.

Re wage I would add up how many hours she would have your children for per week, so say 10 x5 for the baby, 4x2x5 for the older two so 90 hours in total, then do the same for the other family so 10x5 = 50 in total, so 140 hours in total and then work out the percentage of those hours that are for your children and the other family and then split the gross wage into those percentages to work out how much you each pay, don't forget she will have your older two for more hours in the school holidays too!!

For a nanny share in London you are looking at £12-14ph gross.

I would split it 67%/33%. Normally, I would say it should be 75/25 (3 vs 1 child), but as your older two are at school 67/33 seems fair. If you're also hosting you may want to adjust further to maybe 65/35 to account for your increased bills/food etc. There is no one standard rule though, so work it out however you feel is fair.

The keys to a successful share are;

1. All being reasonable and rational people (no space for PFB).

1. Discuss everything properly before you start. Things to think about are;

-what if you/the other family have another child?
-who pays for nappies/food/art supplies?
-who pays for/provides equipment like a double buggy/car seats/highchairs/cots?
-what if one of the children is sick?
-what if the nanny is sick?
-what if someone loses their job/is made redundant?
-what if a child from one family breaks something in the other families home?
-what activities do you want your child(ren) to do?
-what household tasks do you want the nanny to do?
-what happens if there is an emergency and the nanny needs to take one child to hospital?
-how are you going to deal with any issues that crop up? (monthly meeting/email/phone etc.)
-are their routines compatible/are you flexible on this?

Hi there,
I currently do a nanny share with 3 children, six and nine year olds from one family and a three year old from another family.
My concern taking your job would be having 4 children in the school holidays. It's hard enough getting around with a double buggy and two babies let alone with two older children as well. Also trying to find activities that would occupy your two older children that you could bring two babies to as well would be difficult, the same vice versa taking two older children to play groups, music classes etc that your nanny would hopefully do with the babies.
Just my opinion.
:o)

Thanks very much all for replies- so helpful. In particular mentioning school hols as I hadn't thought about that!! However the share is only for 3 days so it's not a full time arrangement, so that helps a bit. So many things to think about though...

poster putting this on the end of other threads too

you will need a big enough car for 4 children, esp 2 big proper car seats

tbh having what would be like 1yr twins and 2 older at school would put me off as a parent - esp after school, as either older ones will have activities/homework/playdates and its possible the other baby might not get much attention

i think when you have 3 children from one family its enough to entertain the nanny iyswim, without having an extra child thrown in - esp one baby who has prob had 100% attention from mum and dad, then has to share down to 25%