would you employ a nanny with there own toddler?

[knakered]

recently interviewed a highly recommended nanny with her own toddler - who would come to work with her she charges the going rate ie £10/hr gross - wondered why I would bother - do you think that the nanny should reduce her rate if she is bringing her child to work...has anyone else employed a nanny with their own child what are the potential pitfalls?... are ther any benefits?

Benefits may depend on the age of your children. If you have similar aged DC, I think it would be great for them to have someone to interact with. Is her rate negotiable? Have previous employers paid her that? Have you spoken to previous employers about pitfalls/ benefits? Sorry, I'm not much help really!

My friend takes her 2 year old to work with her. She pays for all of outings seperatly but the family she works for does provide lunch and snacks for her little girl. Sometimes nannies with their own children take all of their own food, just depends on if you mind feeding her child. However, she does charge less then the going rate about £2 less per hour. In my experience nannies with their own children do charge less.
The other child she cares for is 3 years old so it works well as they are both only children, so they have a play mate.

Yes, I would expect a reduction if she is bringing her own child - afterall she is making a substantial saving in childcare. Just think how much you would save if you could take your baby to work................

Oh - and if there is an age gap between your child and her child outings could be difficult - both want/need/like different things.

I (until recently) had a nanny for my 2 (2 and 5) who brought her own dd (2.5) . It worked very well. I paid £7.50 an hour, for a 10 hour day included food for both nanny and child. I think a child who is clearly comfortable around the nanny (ie her own child) made it easier for ds (who had never been looked after by anyone else) settle more quickly.

Obviously there are a few potential pitfalls. You need to be clear what will happen if her child is sick etc. There are different issues depending on age of child. Where they will nap, suitable toys and equipment etc but all in all it worked well for us.

Our nanny has a 1 year old ds and brings him to work occasionally - used to bring him a lot more but she choose to get paid more and be 'shared' between me and another family.
Although we have had no problems - there are still minor hassles, in our case it's little things like keeping out a highchair, double buggy, crates of baby toys, when our dd has outgrown all of these..if our nanny didn't reduce her rate I probably wouldn't have chosen to employ her since when the things get annoying you can at least think - well at least I'm saving £100 per week (or however much).
Other things that get affected are, nanny couldn't take dd to ballet/gym class when she had her ds with her (now that dd is old enough to go into class herself it's not so much of a problem). We bought a people mover so that all three children could have car seats in the back, and we provided another car seat. We also pay for nanny and nanny's ds's food.
On the good side, dd really loves nanny's ds (and she loves playing with the other children now that we share nanny).

Oh, and make sure that if she is bringing her toddler that you ensure that the toddler arrives when she does and leaves with her - I wish I had done this (I kind of assumed that this would happen). Instead my nanny will leave her ds with her dp in the morning, come and do breakfast and school run for my kids, then drive over to her house to get her ds and bring him back (with my dd in car if it isn't a nursery day) and I have been paying a fortune in diesel for my car to be sitting in traffic jams with my bored dd in the back!
(just a little niggle you see...but I take a deep breath and think about the money I'm saving )

I was a nanny with my own child (now a cm) and found it really difficult to find work. I don't think nanny agencies do much for us "nannymums", well, certainly not the ones I've used. I lost a lot of confidence in myself and never had the guts to ask for the going rate (wish I had!). I'm a lot more confident now and the Mum's that turned me down for nanny jobs are now wanting me as a cm!

I would say that if this nanny has come highly recommended and you get on with her then pay her the money!! Good nannies are worth every penny!

I had various jobs with my son in tow and most worked well. Some were well paid but most weren't and in the end I decided to childmind, mainly for financial reasons.

Regarding sickness etc, in the 4years since my son was born I have only taken 2 days off work and that was because I was ill. I have always discussed this with parents at interview and most are happy for germs to be shared!!

I think the most important things are that you trust her with your precious dc and that she is good at her job. Obviously her child will be a factor when you make your decision but I don't think it should be seen as a negative! (Maybe I'm just biased!!)

Good luck!!

I have never had a nanny who brought her own child. But, I'm not opposed to the idea. In fact, I think my kids would welcome another child in the picture.

However, I would expect it to be a nanny share and I would not consider paying the full price for the going rate of a live-out nanny. I have two kids, and so if I hired someone who had one I guess I would expect to pay about 70% of the going rate. So, I'd say about £7.35 gross an hour in your case.

Over the years, I have employed three nannies with their own children - each of them had 2 children, not just one. It worked fine and ultimately whether or not it is successful depends on the personality and capabilities of the nanny. I think it tends to work less well when you have older children and the nanny has a baby or toddler. The older children then need quiet to do homework and your home is no longer baby or toddler proof.

I don't see this arrangement as a nannyshare. Yes, there is another child but when it's a nannyshare you have another set of parents to negotiate with making it slightly more complex.

But a nannyshare between families gives a 50% reduction in costs usually (as they share nanny's salary between them). Uwila was saying she would expect to pay about 70% - this would reflect the shared care but also the increased hassle compared to a nanny who doesn't bring a child with him/her.
I paid my nanny about 80% of the going rate when she brought her child along - now that she works for me and another family she gets 100% of the going rate (50% from each family), and still brings her ds along every now and then (probably 2 days a week in term time).

Thanks for your input...I had no problem with the idea initially....but had anticipated a cost reduction...so was a bit put out when was obviously not the case, however on interviewing the candidate she brought along her child, cuddled and attended to her child for the whole houe, ignored my 6 month old on the play mat and spent the whole time moaning about the family she was already with and how this had affected her child and how she felt that she had to put her child "second place" whilst at work....how I see the situation with this candidate is that she loves children abut loves her child and probaably would love to be a SAHM. Another friend has has 2 children at school (9&7) and her nanny has a baby 18month...this has brought immense pleasure/bebefits to her children as they love the baby and it is another dimension to their lives...but for me with a 6 month old dont think it is going to work.

I'd always be wary of employing a nanny with a toddler if my child wasn't the same age or older. I think to expect a nanny to give equal care to her own 2/3 yr old (ripe for temper tantrums and jealousy) and your 6-9 month old is just asking for trouble.

Now DS is older I might consider a nanny with a child if they were about the same age, DS is 21 months so a toddler aged 18-30 months would fit in okay.

I'd always expect a cost reduction though, you are saving the nanny the cost of childcare for her child plus she gets to be around her kid all day. I'd work out what nursery would cost her and discuss that discount from my nanny bill.