Childminder or Nanny Share

[Mumneedstea]

Hi,

We have DS1 who is almost 5 years old and will be starting school in September and DS2 is 6 months old. I am due back at work in August and I cannot decide whether we should go with a childminder who will look after DS2 during the day and do before and after school care for DS1 or to go with a nanny share who will look after DS2, but will do before and after school care for DS1 and another little boy from the same school.

First question... I have know idea about the cost difference. I know a CM will charge £5/£6 per hour for DS2. What sort of rate do CMs charge for before and after school care?
If I go with nanny share, it's £13 an hour in total for the 3 kids. How would I split that with the other mum? I cannot simply divide it by 3 as her kid only needs before and after school care while my DS2 will need the nanny for the entire day.

Second question is more around nanny experience... when DS1 was a baby he went to a CM. We think that the CM really helped him to grow into a confident and social child... probably because he was constantly surrounded by other kids. I know with a nanny it will only be DS2 and nanny for the entire day and even if she takes him to various baby classes or groups, it won't be the same level of interaction with other kids will it?

TIA for your inputs... I really need to decide soon!!
:)

Bump

No before/after school clubs available?

I think the nanny share would be far more costly, and that you would need to pay a high proportion of the costs. Your friends should, IMO, pay more for the nanny for the days they need than they would for a CM before/after school to reflect the personal care, taxes etc.

A CM is likely to be keen on having the baby, but would need to do school runs to the school you want. If this isn't a problem I'd probably go for a CM on cost grounds, and because I'd rather avoid being an employer, tax etc, unless work or commute meant early or late hours.

A nanny could take the baby to groups and things, and your youngest is still tiny so social stuff not all that important IMO.

We used to pay a CM a set fee per day for after school care until 6pm and a cooked tea - £14 I think. A few years ago. South east but not London. we got a discount as the CM had DC2 all day.

Look at childminders. Doing a share just in the after-school portion of the day isn't going to save you much and will create hassle - do you know this other family really really well?
I would only look at a nannyshare if you struggle to find a childminder, or if you particularly want 1:1 care for DS2 during the school day.

Don't forget you also need to consider training days and school holidays as well as unexpected closured like boiler breakdowns.

Cm's charges may be either per hour used or up to a sessional charge for after school so you will have to ring around. I think a nanny share with another family could get tricky.

Some cm's give a sibling discount.

I think a nanny share works really well for younger ones. It'd be great if you could find another family with child at same school plus a younger child.
But to answer your question. The £13 for 3 children would just be the nanny share rate. So you'd pay 2 thirds and the other family 1 third. Then for the day time, you'd pay her her single family rate which would probably be about £10 per hour.

Hi all,

Thanks for your replies... Sorry I couldn't get back earlier.

We have decided to keep the nanny option as the last option for now. One because the family we were going to share the nany woth has backed out( we didn't know them that well anyways.. The mum was a friend's friend)and two because even with sharing the nanny, it was going to cost us a too much! (as some of you wisely pointed out :) )

I think I have totally messed by childcare for this year. Before and after school clubs are no longer an option as I never even bothered put my son's name down for them.. I know, very stupid of me!
I kept thinking that I anyways need a CM for DS2 so why bother with the school clubs.. Specially since they are over subscribed and they also don't provide holiday cover.

So now, I don't have a place for DS1 on the clubs, I cannot find a CM who can take a baby and do before and after school care for DS1 amd I cannot afford a nanny!! I am back at work in about 5 weeks!

Please tell me it's going to be fine and that staying up late on mumsnet will not help me!

Get a list of all your local nurseries that take babies
Ring and ask if they also have an after school club, quite a lot do

Hi there, I'm looking at hiring a nanny as well. I have a 2 year old and my wife just gave birth to triplets. Does anyone know if you can have different hours set I.e one day 8:30-4:30 maybe the next 8:30 to 3:30? I'm a teacher so there will be days were I will get away earlier. Also can you get term time nannies? Thanks