Nanny/nursery/childminder?

[MrsH497]

Hi everyone
We are thinking of moving our 2 DD's out of their current nursery. Some niggles with the eldest which is impacting the decision along with cost of £94 a day per child.

We've interviewed a couple of nannies (circa £15 an hour net) and been looking at others (live out not live in)

Childminders are few and far between where we are.

I've signed up to childcare.co.uk

I just don't know what the best solution is at the moment. My head is so full of info and I don't know what's best for my girls. I have to work I have no options there. We have no family who are able to help as they work or live too far away.

Has anyone used a nanny?

Any other ideas I'm missing?!

How old are your children and what days and hours do you need?

2 days a week and they are 1 and nearly 3

So your eldest will be eligible for funding from September which you won't be able to use with a nanny. Maybe a childminder then if you can find one?

What do you mean by £15 an hour net? You realise that means the total amount of salary you are agreeing is going to vary depending on the hours the nanny works, her tax code, pension contributions, student loan repayments?

https://criticalscience.medium.com/on-the-science-of-daycare-4d1ab4c2efb4

The evidence shows significant benefit of centre based daycare/nursery after around age 2.5-3, so your older daughter could be missing out from being looked after by a nanny. On the flip side, the evidence shows some downsides to nursery for younger children, who benefit more from one-on-one adult attention, so a nanny may be a better fit for your 1 year old.

So if you wanted to make an evidence based decision and cost was not a limiting factor then ideally a nanny for the 1 year old and part time nursery for the 3 year old.
But of course we live in the real world and following the evidence to the letter is not always practical.

This figure is what they have quoted as their rate (most Nannies seem to advertise in net not gross) I would pay through something such as NannyTax to ensure all contributions/sick pay etc are accounted for.

Yes from September she's eligible. Childminders are like gold dust I'm on several waiting lists

Do love evidence based but sadly incredibly unachievable financially

Offer a gross salary rather than agree net or it gets messy.

I think you need to know where this research is based and the childcare options they looked at it doesn't sound like they are UK based so choices of childcare and the way it's regulated and the curriculum would differ. Many don't have a childminder type setting so are looking at parent/nanny with the family unit against large sized settings only.

Don't forget childminder situations change unexpectedly ....pregnancy, moving, change of work all mean unexpected spaces

@alyceflowers thank you, that is really helpful to know

Do not agree to pay based on a net pay rate.
You are the employer, you determine the salary on offer. You need to decide on a gross annual salary that you will pay.
You may decide to pay £18.50 gross per hour, for 20 hours per week spread over 2 days per week. That would be £19,240 gross per year.
The nannies can then use a PAYE calculator to see how much that would give them as take home pay, based on their individual tax situation. For example, it may be their only job, so with a 1257L tax code and taking account of auto-enrolment pension, they may get take home pay around £15.96 per hour.
Someone with other employment, may already be using all their personal tax allowance, so may end up taking home around £13.54 per hour.
You want to be able to calculate your costs. At £18.50 gross for 20 hours per week, you will have Employers NI of around £1400 and pension contribution of around £400.
You then need to factor in other costs, such as activities and travel to those activities. There are also payroll admin costs to consider, if using a payroll company (typically £250-£300 a year).

If you are in England and need to use Tax-Free Childcare, then advertise for a nanny who is already Ofsted registered. Nursery funding cannot be used with a nanny, so when your eldest is 3, you won't get to use nursery funding with your nanny, but they could go to a pre-school some of the time.

@jannier The sources are all listed - they come from various countries across the world (UK included) and the results broadly show the same trends across the board. There is a section where the author discusses the evidence for in-home daycare (childminders) in comparison to centre based daycare/nursery.

Never discuss in gross

All Professional nannies I know and myself discuss gross

And childcare for 2 a nanny will be good and roughly same cost

Make life much easier

You get yourself ready for work and go to work

That's it

No waking themup. Get them dressed. Take to nursery then finally go to work

A nanny will look after ill kids and do their washing and meals and if lucky make extra to freeze /for yourself

thank you everyone lots to think about and not an easy decision to be making. Youngest is incredibly susceptible to chest issues (in 12 months had 7 episodes of bronchiolitis 2 chest infections and pneumonia) so the inevitable bugs at nursery is a worrying prospect as well

That I get - but just a side note pulling her out of nursery may just delay all the inevitable bugs etc for school. If she’s under any kind of referral to paediatrics for her chest issues (I think she really should be) I’d be asking the question of is it better to keep her home to get her lungs healthier and stronger now by pulling her from nursery or wait til she’s in school but potentially find out she’s just as sick if not sicker by not having any immunity built up and the impact they may have on education/attendance etc.

@Wellillsayitifnoonelsewill thank you I'm going to push for one as our last hospital visit (3 weeks ago with bronch and pneumonia) we again were told she is a "bronchy baby"

You definitely do not want to offer a net salary as PP said. You could be in for a massive gross up if their first job has all their allowance.

I'd do nanny plus very part time funded pre-school for a few hours in the morning for the socialisation aspect.

a bronchy baby? Any investigations? Chest X-rays etc? Any follow up to check lung functions are okay and not affected by so many infections?

how many courses antibiotics she had now? X

@Wellillsayitifnoonelsewill last time at hospital (3 weeks ago) they did a chest X-ray which showed the pneumonia (she's starting another cough/wheeze now actually) no follow up was discharged next day with antibiotics. That was the first time we had an X-ray every other time it's "just bronch" or a "viral wheeze"

Umm in the 6/7 weeks we've had 3 courses of antibiotics for chest infection then the pneumonia. Blood tests I think have been done when we've been in hospital. First infection took 2 courses to get rid of it.

Just feels like a lot. I’d be asking if a follow up referral would be appropriate. In fact I was under the impression that a child with pneumonia was always followed up at an appropriate interval.

in your case particularly so if it’s escalating to the point of pneumonia. I’d definitely be asking this question. Xx

@Wellillsayitifnoonelsewill thank you. My gut was saying it's an awful lot. Every cold or cough I can tell will go to her chest it's awful. I wanted to ask for a referral but wasn't sure if I'd just be a "panicky mum". I'll call gp and get it moving.

I really genuinely don’t think your being a panicky mum. You can always ask what the NICE guidelines are for follow up for community acquired pneumonia to make sure your getting the appropriate referral. She definitely should be seen a paediatrician for a follow up - if for no other reason to rule out any issues which is making her more susceptible. I’d also think if she’s having so much “wheeze” is there an inhaler or something which may help relieve her symptoms

My kids same age. Have a nanny. The eldest uses free hours entitlement to go to school nursery which is structured - we get 30hrs so all day but other friends with nannies mostly use 15hrs. Combined with play dates, classes, clubs etc they get the benefit of preschool education and school prep and nanny picks up and drops off. For us at least it’s been a complete no brainer, kids get 1:1 attention but also out and about and reinforces local friendships, they’ve made new local friends, and nursery at same school as reception so eldest (who has some speech delay) well prepared for transition.