Nursery vs nanny

[croissantlove]

Hi all,
Hoping for some advice on pros and cons of Nanny vs nursery.

I have 2 girls who will be 1 and 3.5 when I go back to work. My eldest is currently at nursery 3 days a week whilst I'm on maternity leave.

I'll need childcare for both 5 days a week, long days (730-630)

At first thought a nanny for both may be a similar price vs 2x nursery. Do they charge extra for multiple kids?

Or has anyone used a nanny for half week and nursery other half?

How flexible are nanny's generally? Eg if train is running late?

Thanks all!

That is a long day for a nanny, 55 hours a week.

Most nannies wouldn't be paid per child per hour, it's just a set amount for working for you, whether you have one child or several. So if you keep the nanny when your eldest starts school you'd pay the same amount if the nanny had one or both of them all day.

Nannies are more flexible than nurseries in that if your child is sick with minor temp/D&V, they can keep them at home and still look after them, compared to often being sent home for 48 hours if at nursery. And if you're running late and give your nanny a call they're more likely to be able to accommodate than a nursery where the building may close ten minutes after your usual pickup time.

But you are an employer if you hire a nanny - you have to cover national insurance and income tax. If you want to use tax free childcare the nanny needs to be registered with Ofsted, which not all are.

You need to give the nanny holiday, which may not align to when you'd prefer to use your annual leave. While most private nurseries are open the majority of the year.

If your nanny starts working for you and then six months in they announce they're pregnant, you're responsible for sorting out maternity payments, and you'd need to offer that they can return to their job under the same conditions if they want to.

Single parent to a 2 yr, with a long commute for part of the week.

The biggest bonus to me is the extra headspace a nanny gives me. She changes the cot, cooks and washes for toddler. I have the luxury of just being able to grab a home cooked meal from the freezer, and knowing that there will be a clean vest in the drawer.

Nursery hours wouldn’t work for me (she does 0630-7pm 3 days a week) and she is flexible in a crisis. I would say she has become more flexible - if I’m home early I send her home, I paid her usual rate when she was sick with COVID and therefore if I occasionally need some extra time she is happy to oblige.

The cost is dreadful for one (but worth it to me), I imagine easier to justify fir 2.

A good nanny should make your working life easier

Only you to get up dressed and ready

Nanny will do the children

She should do the kids washing and keeping areas tidy/clean but isn't a cleaner as such

Should cook meals and maybe extra to freeze for weekend /you in the evening

I was always happy to make a larger lasagne /casserole etx but some nannies won't 🙄

Cost will be more then Nursery due fo employers ni /pension etx

But worth it imo

Same cost whether 1-2 or 4 kids from same family

Does any nursery offer childcare for the hours you need, especially the beyond 6pm?

With nursery funding I would have expected a nursery to be lower cost than a nanny. If you are not eligible for funding, then it is still likely lower cost but a nanny may be more convenient and worth the extra cost.

As a nanny I am paid for caring for all the children in the family. The pay rate is negotiated at the start and if additional children come along then the pay will typically rise a bit, but it's not per-child fee. In the same way, if a child goes to pre-school/school the amount does not reduce.

All my nanny jobs at the moment are part-time, where I am doing one day per week, a parent is doing a day and the child/children go to nursery 3 days per week. I find that the combination works well as the child can do messy things at nursery and can go on outings with me, such as going on a bus/train, whatever is their particular interest at the time.

A nanny will expect to have regular working hours, as they need to plan their own home-life, however on occasion they may be able to stay later. Last week one of the families I work for needed me to stay later as mum (teacher) had parents evening and dad had meetings that could not be rescheduled. Knowing in advance helps, but sometimes last minute issues with travel do occur... just try to minimise that best you can and be clear on communicating a delay as soon as you are aware of it.

Thanks everyone.

Our current nursery is 730-6, but to make the 6pm pick up one of us technically has to leave early from work. Which is okay a couple days a week, but would like the ability not to have to five days a week.

I think a combo of both may be optimal for us