Please help, my friend is desperate.

[twoboysmum]

My friend is due to go back to work in Feb o7, she will have to do 4 night shifts possibly 5. She cannot afford a fulltime nanny as she is a single mum with no support, financial or practical. Her son is 9 months, completely adorable and in a very good routine. Is it likely she will find someone to cover the nights and early mornings? She wants him looked after at her home ideally, either live in position or someone who stays. Is she looking for the impossible? She is in such a panic about losing her job,paying the mortgage etc and thinks she will end up losing her house and living in a box! I hate to see her in such a state, please help if you can, any suggestions welcome, she is in Moseley Surrey (I live miles away otherwise I would help her out myself).

If your friend is looking for care in her own home she will need a home child carer or nanny.

Has she been in touch with her children's information service (all areas have one) as to what is available in her area? Some childminders do overnight care and shift hours but in their own homes - would she not consider this? Also if she calls tax credit helpline they can tell her what help she will get towards childcare.

Hope she gets sorted

Hi Kay, yes she has contacted CIS, only one childminder was listed for overnight care but it wasn't suitable I think it was too many nights, I can't remember exactly. I think she will have to have him stay elsewhere but even then would any childminder want a child 4 or 5 nights?
Do au pairs live in? are they as expensive as nannies? I'll tell her about the tax credits I don't know if she has contacted them or not,thanks.

Hi two boys mum. I got my Au pair from these guys, www.imani-uk.com they were really helpful and will work with you to find the best solution for your situation.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Norash, I'll pass that on.

Au-Pairs do live-in, though generally they are not suited to caring for babies. However, it may be possible to find an au-pair with a lot of baby experience, so worth a try.

CIS at present are terrible at listing forms of childcare. Legislation is changing, so that from 2008 (think it may be Sept 2008) they have to list ALL forms of childcare. But until then, they list some forms of childcare - who mostly only provide care during week day daytimes. Some local authorities are better than others, Surrey won't list me, but Windsor does - I'm an Approved Childcarer (care for children in the child's home), not a Registered Childminder (care for child in the childcarers home).

She should find out how much financial help with childcare she can get - such as Childcare Element of WTC. Also investigate Childcare Vouchers from her employer. Both of these could be used to pay an Approved or Registered care provider. But neither can be used to pay an au-pair to my knowledge.

Finding overnight care is hard... can't think of any providers in her area, though if I do come accross anything... will post details.

Thinking about this, back in my college days I used to provide exactly the type of childcare your friend is looking for - overnight care, plus some early morning (sometimes it would include dropping children off at school).

Therefore, perhaps your friend could contact local local colleges to see if they have a job centre where students look for part-time work. Also students unions may have a way of promoting part-time jobs that fit with college hours.

Due to having a young baby, your friend would need to carefully select someone for the job, but college students can be a mixture of ages (from 16 years upwards) and thus some may well have babycare experience.

Thanks nannynick, lots of info and good ideas there, I'll pass it all on. I will post on here when/if she finds care but in the meantime I will keep checking so it would be great if you do have any other suggestions, many thanks.