Very flexible part-time childcare - help!

[TropicalMay]

I am hoping someone may have a suggestion as I really don’t know what to do...
I have 3 boys - 9,7,3 and am a single parent. I’m a doctor and work shifts - my rota is all over the place - every single week is different with the number of shifts and types of shift. Shift hours for example could be 11am-10pm; 2pm-midnight; 8pm-9am; 8am-6pm Etc. I’m part-time but still work 30-40 hours week usually over 3-4 shifts. I have had au pairs for the last 9 years except during maternity leave. I have had a mixture of great, fair and awful au pairs over the years and was reaching the end of my tether of yet another stranger in the house and then this week happened...
I just had an absolute disaster that has sworn me off ever having one again - I spent the last 2 nights locked in my room frightened (got the kids to stay at their Dad’s for safety) of this suddenly very mentally unstable woman who turned on me. I gave her 48 hours to pack up and go. Thank god she has now gone. So today as I’m changing the locks, alarm code etc I’m wondering what on earth I’m going to do about childcare with my irregular hours without having live-in. Any ideas?!?!

Could you not do core hours childcare with EH having them more?

I’m in midst of divorce still with loads of mediation to reach current arrangement, so I can’t change it easily, definitely not every week plus he’s just had twins! And my work days change every week the kids would be all over the place 😕

If you can stomach the idea of having someone come to your home still, then a live-out nanny may be an option.
I am currently doing a similar type of role where I am working a set number of hours per month which fits with a hospital rota, such as having a 14 hour work day, sometimes having overnights.
It may be hard to find someone who would do something as flexible as needed though, it may only appeal to some nannies.

OMG. I am so sorry. I'm afraid that I can only think of a nanny. You have to do your research. Take care 💐

Nannynick that’s really interesting to hear. I know my rota up until February so can give loads of notice so someone can plan their lives and other jobs around it. I do a lot of night shifts - do nannies tend to charge the same hourly rate for overnight stays? What’s the norm?

Thanks notthemum, I know something will work out it’s just getting there!

There is no norm. In terms of doing payroll it is far easier in my view to have an agreed monthly number of hours at a set rate for those hours. So your cost is predictable. If nanny works less hours, then you still pay them for the agreed monthly contracted hours. If the nanny works more hours then they get added on to the following months payroll at a set rate... that could be an overtime rate but is probably more likely the same rate as there will be times when they do less hours than contracted.
You need to come up with a pay structure that works for you, works for the nanny and works for payroll. So personally I would avoid complicating things too much, so having different rates for different times of the day to me is too much of a complication... but it could be done. If night was at a different rate, would it be more or less? I can't imagine a doctor working nights gets paid less than working days... or do they? A doctor working nights may get paid more... but my guess would be not. So is it really going to be any different for a nanny?