Considering nannyshare - any advice?

[jess28]

Hi all...

I'm currently trying to figure out childcare for my son (1 y.o.) when I go back to work in a couple of months, and would love to hear your advice/experiences. I have checked out a few local nurseries but they have no places for the next few months. We have been thinking about a nanny share arrangement, mainly to help manage the cost as we think that paying for a nanny on our own would consume about half my net income. But the more I think about it, the more I worry about the logistics of sharing a nanny and whether it could be more hassle than it's worth. Which makes me wonder whether I should just suck it up and pay the whole cost.

So... does anyone have experiences with nannysharing that they would like to share? What are the important questions I should be asking? What are the pros and cons in your experience?

Thank you so much!

Would you be working part-time, or full-time? Would you want to share a nanny with another family with similar aged children, or not?
Are you in an area where there are lots of nannies (I'm wondering why the nurseries are full)?

I would be working 4 days a week. I was originally thinking it would be good to share with a child of similar age, but now I wonder if that would be very difficult for the nanny (double buggy, etc.) so I would be open to sharing with an older child too. The area here is chock full of families and young babies... not sure how many nannies there are.

Now wondering if a childminder might be a better option for us! It's all so confusing...

While the area is full of families with young babies, you say that nurseries are also full - so I would expect that most parents are using the nurseries. As a nanny, I've not done a nannyshare, but if I was to consider one, it would need to be 5-days per week as I have bills to pay. Not sure how many nannies 4-days per week nannyshare would appeal to... though you may find someone.
Try searching mumsnet threads for more discussion about pros-cons of sharing a nanny, I'm sure it must have come up in the past. You could also place an advert online somewhere - such as nannyjob - and see if you get any nannies interested, then use sites like nannysharers to find a local family to share your nanny with.

With just one child... a childminder may well be an easier option, and also probably cheaper.

Thank you Nick - very helpful. I think I will explore both nannysharing and the childminder option and see where we end up...