Leave my baby behind...

[Delice]

Hi everyone. I'm a nanny, currently ending maternity leave after having my own baby boy almost nine months ago. I'm not returning to my previous job as the child have started nursery so am looking for a new role. The more I think about it the more I do not want to be away from my child while I look after somebody elses, but I'm really struggling to find new family who will accept me and my baby. I think it would be different if I worked in a shop, restaurant but the fact I will still be looking after children, cant get my head around the idea that someone else will be having mine while I look after others and I can't afford it. But, I do need a job and money. I just don't know what to do...Please share your opinions.

Childminding?

There are NWOC posts around and with a nanny being so expensive many will welcome this as a cheaper option, I him the pay would be about 25% less but that's much cheaper than you paying for childcare.

Having a nanny is so expensive, I'd imagine that there are lots of people who would want a cheaper NWOC. as long as you're prepared to take less than the going rate I'd have thought you'll find something.

Oops. Thought first post hadn't sent!

We do exist! I'm more than happy for my nanny to bring her baby after her maternity leave. Keep trying

Thanks ladies, I want to bring my son with me to work because whole my pregnancy I've spend on strict bed rest. I can't imagine to leave him... Not yet, but I want the job too! Hopefully we will find the right match for us very soon

I think that you have to be realistic that many families will not want a NWOC and will view the arrangements as having considerable downsides.

What I would suggest is that if you haven't you think through how you'd envisage it working. If I were interviewing a NWOC I'd want to understand they had given it proper thought. So for example, what would you propose doing If your child became ill (chickenpox say) with something th charges hadn't had, and what if it were the other way around? Who do you envisaging picking up additional equipment costs eg a double buggy. Who would pay for your child to go into classes? How would you balance the needs of all the children you are looking after?

I used to be a nanny and after having my dd I became a childminder. I wouldn't have wanted to leave her and we needed me to work financially, so it made sense. It worked and still works well now we have three dc. I like working from home, the children don't have to rush so much as if I worked out of the home and get to lie i the holidays. They sometimes get frustrated about having to share me in the holidays, but I don't think they would be happy going to before and after school/holiday club every day either so it's swings and roundabouts. They have definitely benefited from having other children in our home each day.

I've employed a NWOC at about 90% of market rate. Her child was the same age as my DC2 so they were excellent company for each other as my older child went off to school and they were all like siblings by the end. We always knew it would be a relatively short term contract of 2 yrs as they would all be going to different schools so logistics were impossible but it worked very well for us.

The biggest issue in practice was our nanny taking the hit every time her child was too ill for her to come to work, as her husband's employer was totally inflexible. Her own illness record was excellent though and she probably came in when others would have called in sick recognising that she was using her entitlement on her child.

She purchased the double buggy and always took it away with her on weekends so it wasn't cluttering up the extremely limited hall space. Her child was past naps but I'd expect a NWOC with a 9 mo to also pack away a travel cot daily unless I lived somewhere huge.

Emotionally it is difficult to think that another mother with a small baby is going to give your child the same level of attention so you just need to persist and be open about it, particularly your support structures for illness. You might need to take quite a salary hit though as given the age of your child a nannyshare with two families will not be feasible so you ideally looking for a family with 2 kids already with a child a similar age to yours. Our nannyshare ended when both families had a second child and the financial burden of a solo nanny when I went back to work was an enormous hit. A NWOC was marginally cheaper than two sets of nursery fees though.