An au pair in a caravan?

[marionara]

We've just moved into a small two bed house with our one-ish year old, and found out I'm pregnant again!
If I do go ahead with having the new baby I'll need childcare at home, another adult to help me with them both while hubby at work.
Thing is, we don't have a spare room.
Would an au pair/nanny be happy living in a caravan on the driveway? (Very quiet cul-de-sac)
Is this appropriate?
I was thinking of asking a friend if she wanted to live in a caravan (or something else?) here rent free and help look after the little ones. Is this daydreaming?
Can you even live legally in a caravan on a driveway? If not a caravan, then what?
As you can tell, I'm panicking! Thanks!

True, but an au pair is not meant to be at the beck and call of the host family at all times.

Apart from the caravan issue, I understand that in a post brexit world, au pairs are a rare breed www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/nov/18/families-are-desperate-an-au-pair-agent-on-life-without-eu-workers

I would have loved this when I was a live in nanny, people on here don't seem to appreciate nannies/au pairs need for privacy and a room in a house doesn't cut it, where you still hear everything that's going on even when you're not working, kids having tantrums etc, going into the nannies/au pairs rooms in the early hours of the weekend mornings (think 6-7am, with parents doing nothing to stop them) I think it's a brilliant idea OP if it's doable!

Er no. Why do you need help with 2 kids? Unless you have a severe disability.

Mine are 2 years apart and the eldest is autistic (diagnosed when her sister was 3 weeks old) yes challenging but you don't need live in help

By the way, not sure it's legal to live in a caravan on a drive - we are forbidden by covenant from even parking on on our development

MN vipers out in full force today!

Cannot believe some of these replies!

OP you should be commended for your forward thinking and planning. What a great mum you are to be able to do that

Think waking up in the middle of the night in the cold, think having no proper security as you live in a caravan, think emptying the toilet. Think doing all that for ‘pocket money’ while caring for two small babies.

You’re panicking, as you’ve recognised. If you’re prepared to spend big money on a caravan then plan to spend that money buying in proper help instead. Done in a non-exploitative way, an au pair isn’t actually that much assistance. Plus you don’t know how hard you will find two kids - you might not need as much support as you fear.

I think maybe the suggestion of having an au pair in a caravan has gotten people’s backs up but I still think people are being overly harsh.

It sounds like you have some money saved (unless you already own the nice caravan) so maybe you could pay for someone to come in for half days?
Just as a little bit of hope , I suffer from very similar symptoms to you op and found my first child incredibly challenging and draining but I was actually pleasantly surprised and found it much easier having the 2nd than it was at the start with just one. So maybe see how it goes to start with?

Teen? Where did you get an age from?

Lots of aupairs are teens aren’t they? Or very early twenties. Few grown women can afford to work for ‘pocket money.’

I would love to have a job that came with a caravan but I think I am probably in the minority.

You could advertise for a live out nanny but state that a caravan is available if preferred.

@Blaze1886 teens or early twenties are the age of aupairs.

They are offering light childcare support while accessing language courses at colleges and experiencing family life in a different country.

They aren't formal employees it is why the minimum wage doesn't apply to them. Most I have met are teens living abroad for the first time.

‘Despite having no facilities to dry my clothes, I ran around in the rain and jumped in a massive puddle just for extra fun’

Wow some of the replies

if I lived in and a nice warm /cool caravan depending on weather would probably be nice

better then a room with a bed in the house

sorry to hear about the migraines @marionara

def speak to the doc about them

what is your budget a week and for how long

then can work out whether a nanny , mothers help, night nanny etx is workable

an au pair isn’t meant to have sole charge care of under 3’s

yes you may be around but if have an attack you will need to lie down and au paid will be by herself with 2 young ones so not advisable

if I lived in and a nice warm /cool caravan depending on weather would probably be nice
better then a room with a bed in the house

If a caravan in the drive was better than a room with a bed in a house then we’d all live in caravans. Presumably you live in a house?

It would probably be nice

The reality of living in a caravan (amongst other things) is taking out a tank full of urine and shit every couple of days and carting it to a waste disposal unit or lugging into into a house and pouring it down the toilet.
Any air trapped in the tank is likely to cause considerable "splutter".

It's a sort of fantasy vs reality situation.

Meaning as a live in nanny

they usually get a bedroom with bed. Maybe chair if lucky. Live in those 4walls

sure many 18/23yr would like own space away from parents /employers

She won’t be a live in nanny. She’ll be an aupair, and a caravan in the drive isn’t suitable housing for an aupair. An aupair also isn’t an appropriate solution for op’s issues, so it’s a moot point.

For the cost of the caravan plus an au pair you could get a qualified live out nanny. I don’t think you’ll need assistance 24/7 and if you do then there are always night nannies. Although fact is that if you don’t have the space to house a nanny then that’s a problem that’s not going to resolve itself. I might have missed it but where is your DP/DH in all of this? Why do you think you will have zero support?

What did you decide to do @marionara

maybe a mothers hall /new qualified nanny for a few hours /days a week

YOu are perfectly entlitled to have an aupair or mothers help or even a full time nanny if you wish. LOts of people do. Ignore all those nasty comments from the people who probably wish they had help themselves when they had babies.