2 nannies?

[Dannygirl]

Please talk to me about the pros and cons of having 2 nannies both working part time rather than one nanny. For various reasons I am considering this as a way of structuring our childcare. It would probably be one nanny working 2 days/week and the other working an additional 1 or 2 days/ week. The reason I am considering this is because I have found a lovely nanny who we would love to have as part of our family but she only has 1-2 days/week available and I need 3-4. All experience and advice welcome

Not a bad idea, especially if they are not doing other things on other days as then they could cover for each other in the event of illness and holidays. Not sure the nanny you have in mind could do that but you never know.

In terms of the nanny you have found, it would be their second (or more) job, so I would aim to agree a gross salary with them, not Net. Reason being is that you want to know how much it is going to cost you and their first job will be using some/most/all of their tax allowance.

You will be an employer of two people which puts costs up. Nanny and nursery possibly but not two nannies. Will anyone else only want 2 days? It sounds like a ballache to do but you never know-advertise and see what happens.

Some costs up but some costs down. I would not view it as increasing costs. Would have to do some calculations but I suspect it would actually lower them when compared to having one nanny 3 or 4 days a week.

Tricky if one leaves - you have to find another to cover those exact days, or make the one who hasn't left redundant if she can't up her days.

2 lots of payroll costs I would think.

might expect more per hour for 1-2 days than for 3-4

Two payrolls, two sets of holiday leave and sickness to manage, potentially handover issues and listening to one whinge about the other.

I considered this briefly as our FT nanny wanted to cut down her hours to study and then ran like hell.

It might not be double the payroll cost, I suspect some providers would do the second nannies admin for a bit less.

Would be interesting to work out the figures... If any savings out weigh the negatives is another matter though. Does anyone have two nannies?

I worked as a nanny for many years before I changed career and in order to change career I went back to university so worked part time for a family who employed two nannies.

I worked for 3 days and was at university 2 days and the other nanny also worked 3 days. I think my employer liked it as if she needed overnight care for any extended time then we could manage that between us without becoming shattered and if she needed an evening babysitter and one of us couldn’t manage it then quite often the other could. She always offered the evening work to the nanny whose day that was first just to keep things fair.

The nanny who I job shared with only ever wanted 3 days work so it worked out really well for us. When I had exams etc she was ok to work a few extra days so that I had study time.

Thanks very much for your comments everyone, lots to think about. I have come to the conclusion it's probably not the ideal scenario for us but might have to be a compromise...appreciate your input though

All Royal families had 2 or more nannies. Just make sure one nanny is aware of the other nanny's things and approaches