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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

How to become a nanny/professional baby sitter?

2 replies

Coziefox · 23/11/2019 13:43

I would like to "nanny" at the weekends as a part time job/ side hustle. I don't do much with my weekends and I'd like to earn more money for saving towards my driving lessons and buying a house with my husband.

I'm lucky enough to work in a childcare nursery during the week full time and have these qualifications;
Level 2 & Level 3 Childcare and education
Up to date first aid certificate
Clean & rolling DBS
7 years working as a level 3 nursery nurse with all ages and backgrounds
I also have experience with looking after children from 8 months, who requires bottle feeding, naps, nappy changing
and have experience of working up to the age of 4 years old
The services I would provide would be;

  • Light house work
  • Pet sitting
  • Looking after the children
  • Setting out activities
  • Cooking basic meals and providing snacks when required
  • Log of what we have done together such as activities, how much they've eaten, when they fell asleep, what pet care i provided etc.
  • Basic care needs such as helping with toileting, nappy changing, bottle feeding for babies & toddlers
  • House sitting

Do i have to sign up to OFSTED if i was looking after the children at their home?
Do I have to set it up through the government so they can take taxes and stuff, I haven't earned anything yet.
Can I just accept cash & BACs without the parent signing up as an "employer" ?

Is there anything else I need to do before advertising and making a website to advertise and post information about my services?

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
nannynick · 23/11/2019 14:34

I would like to "nanny" at the weekends as a part time job
I find that there is not much demand for weekend childcare. You may get the occasional Saturday evening but I find that daytime care is quite rare. Have a search of your local area for adverts from parents looking for weekend childcare... you may find a few on ChildcareCoUk, Gumtree, local Facebook Group, that sort of place.

You have qualifications, DBS check and you have nursery experience. Your best target market is probably parents of children who you already care for... does your nursery let you offer childcare services to parents of children attending the nursery (check your contact, ask management).

Do i have to sign up to OFSTED if i was looking after the children at their home?
No. Childcare in the child's own home comes under an exemption from registration. Some parents may want to use Tax-Free Childcare or childcare vouchers, so to be able to accept those you would need to be Ofsted registered on the voluntary part of the Childcare Register. Initially I would not bother, as it costs and takes quite a long time... so I would focus initially on find out if there is any demand and getting your first couple of clients.

Do I have to set it up through the government so they can take taxes and stuff, I haven't earned anything yet.
No, initially you can use Trading Allowance. This enables you to earn up to £1000 without needing to register your business.
Keep in mind that ad-hoc childcare could be done via your business as a sole trader but permanent childcare is employment. So if a family wanted you to work every Saturday then that would be employment and the parents would be your employer and responsible for reporting to HMRC.

Can I just accept cash & BACs without the parent signing up as an "employer" ?
Yes, though do simplified accounts. It is called Cash Basis accounting with Simplified Expenses. Record each transaction when it happens, so when a parent actually pays you, not when you actually do the work.

Small Business Accounting by Andy Lymer is a good book about the basics of accounting. It is often available from the library or is quite low cost to buy in paperback or on Kindle.

Low Income Tax Reform Group has a great guide to Trading Allowance and also other tax guides for starting a small business.

Just remember to assess each time if the work you do fits with self employment or if it is really employment. Ad-hoc work is self employment, so occasional weekend babysitting is fine but doing a permanent job for a family wanting you to work every/most weekends would be employment.

Maryann1975 · 23/11/2019 14:40

I guess it depends where you live what the demand would be. When I was nannying 15 years ago, there were always weekend nanny jobs on the agency lists (Oxford). I live further north now and am a childminder and occasionally am asked about weekend childcare, but I don’t work weekends.

Could you advertise amongst nursery parents? Does your area have a parents Facebook group you could advertise on? Sites like childcare.co.uk have families advertising for weekend nannies. If there are any nanny agencies in your area, maybe give them a ring and see what they say, otherwise I think it’s a case of advertising yourself wherever you can and seeing if anyone wants to take you on.

You might find it starts with people wanting evening babysitting and I guess it depends what hours you want to work if that suits? You could try sitters if you don’t mind doing evening work?

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