Non-standard Childcare Hours - Help

[wornoutparent]

Due to changes in my work, I now need to travel for work early and return home late once or twice a week.

Does anybody know where I can find childcare options for times such as 0600-school time / 1800-2000 during the week?

I have 3 kids between 8-14. The eldest can look after themself, but not the younger two yet.

Sadly family is not an option, and although I may be able to rely on friends on occasion this will be too frequent to rely on goodwill

Any ideas would be appreciated.

You need a nanny to come to.your home.

Local childminders?

I see requests for non-Standard childcare on local Facebook groups all of the time. No idea how they get on, but it will reach a broad range of people beyond the standard childcare searches and often former nannies or former teachers reply with potential interest.

Thanks. I'd struggled to find anyone through the 'typical' routes...I'll give Facebook a try.

Your best bet will probably be a nanny. I think you will be hard pushed to find a childminder due to the very early start and very late finish. For a childminder it would be a 14 hour day as they will have other children who attend whilst yours are at school. It will also be easier on your children if someone comes to your home to care for them.

Willl It be the same days every week ?

If 5 days may be hard to find

A nanny would be your best bet and prob pay a higher hourly rate as unsociable hours

Same with evening but that should be easier to find but may need to pay 3 hrs in evening as a minimum

If not needed till 6 where are they then ? After school club

Can you ask to see if one of them want to take home and earn a bit extra

It would be a similar pattern each week, but not 100% on the same days.

I like the idea of asking After School Club staff to childmind a bit longer, but unfortunately there has been a big turnover of staff recently and I don't know them well.

I'll try Facebook and look into a nanny.

Thanks everyone for your help.

When I was a junior doctor we had a nanny who nearly did these hours. I think you will need to payfor the hours in-between or a really good going hourly rate, with perhaps some "easier days". I suggest a flat weekly rate, it will need to be at least £600 net to make it worth it.

Also are you a single parent ?

Any sole solution is going to find this a really big ask.

I think finding two different childminders might be the solution. The advantage to using a childminder is that as they are providing care in their own home, no one is having to be up, dressed, breakfasted and having commuted to a workplace location by 6am, you yourself are doing that legwork and dropping your child off while they (both kids and childminder) are still in pyjamas.

CM 1 gets that joy, and gets the kids to school, and then an entirely different childminder collects from school and provides care till 8pm

Then noone is doing a 14 hour working day.

A viable alternative would be a live-in nanny, but that would be £££££££

I think Facebook could be good - you might even find a sixth former/gap year student who could do the babysitting role in the evenings and then you could find a childminder for the mornings?

Prob easier to find a cm so no one is at your home at 6

Tho that means getting your children up early for school. Are they going to be tired and grumpy

Do you have a spare room? If so an au pair might work. This has the added advantage that when you leave the house at ridiculous o clock in the morning you can leave them sleeping

Au pair is a good idea.
I was going to suggest babysitting in the evening - that would be a great gig for a sensible teenager. I did something similar (as a teen) for a family that worked shifts and they had a window from 4-6 every day to cover. I went from school and was home for dinner. Nice kids, so we just watched TV and played. I was paid pretty well for this, so as it was 4 or 5 days a week was by teenage standards, raking it in - I loved that job.