When is it cost effective to go from live in nanny to au pair / childminder combination?

[Eleusis]

I'm just wondering what experiences other people have had. I have two kids. DD starts reception in September, but doesn't go full time until April 2008. DS will go to the same school (hopefully!) and be full time in Sept. 2011 -- that is so far away . ANyway I had thought it would be cost effective to drop the nanny when DD goes full time and just sort out a childminder or nirsery for DS. But,I've just realised that with the cost of a childminder at some £6 per hour I am actually stuck with the live in nanny until September 2011.

Will my finances ever recover (sniff sniff sulk sulk... best put my head in the sand until 2011 so as not to be depressed)

Oops, DS will be full time Sept 2010, not 2011.

Still ages away....

Hi Eleusis!
We are in the same boat....
DD1 starts full time nursery (5 ams in Sept) and by April next year, am sure we will be doing pms for her as well) - The nursery she is going to will be her primary school so no worries about that and DS (currently 1) can go there too as they have a sibling policy.
However, not really contemplating changing childcare arrangements (live in nanny too currently) as my work starts really early and the thought of dropping them off somewhere is enough to give me an asthma attack just thinking of logistics (need to be in office by 7am you see)
So, DH thinks to make us feel better, we should just have a 3rd to get our money's worth!
I realised that if we do have a 3rd, likely to have a live-in nanny till 2013/14.
oh no, that got me really depressed now - at least i have company!

Oh, I'm not contemplating doing to drop-off / pick-up myself! The idea is drop to an aupair and haver her just do the childcare / school run, and maybe some cooking. But, the of course I have to apay an au pair and either a childminder or a nirsery. I have thought that this option would be cheaper than a full time nanny... but it isn't!

Childminders near their schoo run £6 per hour per child. I am sooooo in the wrong business.

Have a 3rd to make yourself feel better at the economies of scale!
it's also the only way i can justify to DH the 20 boxes of children's clothes in the attic that we are holding on to!

I always thought things would get easier/cheaper once the DCs were at school.

Suffice to say that we still have a nanny since as Jura points out, there are still holidays/illness etc to cover. An aupair might be a handy addition to your childcare arrangements and moreso to the smooth running of the household generally. But they are no substitutes for normal childcare, even after the DCs are at school!

NO! If you are talking to me, I am NOT having a 3rd. If you are talking to Jura, she already has 3.

Besides, if I had a thirs I'd have to get a bigger car, and we all know what Gordon will do to me then... tax tax tax....

DD2 goes to full-time school in September and we're currently looking at going from a full-time live-in nanny to a live-in au-pair couple. We have only just started to look around as the change-over isn't likely to happen until August, but one couple we are considering is in their mid-20s, both with MAs, intermediate English and with some child-care experience through volunteering. Even so I'm still feeling quite wobbly about going from our super-qualified NZ nanny to this couple, but the cost-savings will be huge. We're looking to supplement with some very mature sixth-formers (the school is at the end of our road) to help with homework and some morning only holiday clubs and perhaps some holidaying primary school teachers in the long holidays.

When/if this happens, I'll come back and let you know how we're getting on!

Oh, Hi Issy. I remember your thread. I was wondering, why did you decide to go for an au pair couple rather than just one au pair?

Hi Eleusis: Our last two nannies have been part of a couple, although the male partner has not worked for us. There is plenty of room for two in our nanny flat and we've found that it's much easier for a couple to live a self-contained, self-reliant, sociable life in a new country than it might be for a single person. When we move to an au-pair, both partners will work for us. The norm seems to a 35 hour week for an 'au pair plus'. That means a total of 70 hours and I'm hoping that a couple can manage pre-school/after-school child-care, house-keeping and gardening relatively easily in that number of hours.

Unless you can commute and work in a 6.5 hour window, school without a nanny or au pair is WORSE than anything you have yet experienced. Having one in school and one in nursery for the last 2.5 years has really wrecked me.

Oh, I fogot you had a "nanny flat". Yes, getting two sounds ideal for you.