I need 2 hours a day childcare, from now to September... what's the best option?

[amidaiwish]

DD2 is resisting more and more to go to nursery and with DD1 starting school in September i had planned to finish them both at nursery before we go on holiday in June.

I work for myself, from home mostly, and over the summer if i was very disciplined and did some work early early morning and evening I could get away with just a couple of hours work during the day.

Ideally I'd need someone to come to the house and look after them (do an activity, go to the park etc.) for 2 or 3 hours a day, 3 or 4 days a week.

DH doesn't want an au pair, neither do I really. DD2 is 2.5 so too young for summer activity day camps etc.

Has anyone got any ideas?

Where abouts are you?

temporary nanny perhaps, such as someone who is between jobs who would not mind doing just a few hours.

Twickenham

Hmm good thought, maybe i should ask some of the temporary staff from the nursery...

be careful poaching staff from nursery, even if they are only temp staff. Some nurseries take a dim view of it... and have clauses in their contracts, which would mean you pay the nursery an introduction fee. However, someone DD2 already knows is certainly better than someone new.

You could also try looking at CV's of nannies looking for work, on sites like NannyJob

A childcare/uni student maybe?

This nanny looks a possible one, as she wants part-time, temp work, within 10 miles of Twickenham. Able to start early April and wants to work for less than 6 months.

check your nursery contract carefully before approaching any staff - as LittleMissLila says, most will have non-poaching clauses written in which allow the nursery to charge you hefty fines for approaching their staff, even if you are no longer at the nursery.

Likewise the staff member will probably have a clause preventing them from working for any parents for x amount of time after they leave the nursery employment.

A half-way house would be to ask the staff if they have any friends they could recommend - they may take the hint and recommend themselves, you could then have an informal conversation about the nursery rules and whether you would be contravening them/how to handle this.

Hi Amida,
What about finding someone who already has a nanny or au pair in Twickers, and seeing if they would share.

PS Did you get your school of choice?????

thanks for all the advice... yes better be careful around some of the girls from nursery, though a couple did approach me when i had DD2 to say "wouldn't a nanny be cheaper than 2 lots of nursery fees? let me know if you go for a nanny"

yes sharing someone else's au pair is probably a good move (and cheap). A nanny less so as I guess a few hours a day wouldn't be too popular.

Athene - yes i did get first choice. So has everyone else i asked so far! Amazing, the additional classes added on last year seems to have sorted Richmond borough out this time round. have you changed your name btw?!

thanks for the link LML, will have a look.

LML, the link took me to the registration page. how did you find the temporary nanny?

LML - your link works for me, but then I'm registered with the site.
Amidaiwish - I think registration for that part of NannyJob is free, so register... then you can use the CV search facility.

you could try this website too

ok, maybe i am being very dense, but how do you actually do a search? It only lets me refine by region/type, so nanny/london = 800 CVs.

yep I'm a changer, eleuses

if you work for yourself could you not do 4 or 5 hours for 2 days and the juggled hours the rest of the week?

not really, i have to process orders as they come in, supplier orders, warehouse etc... Tends to be very busy mornings.

I would look at nanny share or a CM

amidaiwish - you need to click on: Additional search options. Then you can select part-time, temporary. The list will still be huge though.

thanks. she looks great, have e-mailed her.

now the big question, how much do you think she will be looking for?!

As you say you could juggle your hours over summer, would either sorting out why DD2 does not like nursery, or finding another nursery be a soluition?

No idea I'm afraid, though I would try to get them to suggest a figure rather than you saying what you will pay. Then if their figure is too high, you could negotiate downwards. If you tell them a figure, hard to negotiate below that.

The nursery is fine, DD2 just needs to move up a room as she's getting bored where she is.. they know it, and are doing their best.

It's more that I only need a few hours/day, rather than 8-1.30 or a full day. Plus DD1 starts school in Sept so i want to finish nursery before we go on holiday in June, and give her a bit of a break from it.

I haven't heard from that nanny , how long do you think i should leave it!? Should i assume she's no longer looking/not interested?