Nanny advice for a novice please?

[JudgeJudyAndExecutioner]

I have 3 boys - 3 yrs, 2 yrs and 1 yr and my 4th boy is due in July.

I need to decide if me going back to work abytime in the near future is even feasible.

Nursery costs would mean it would cost me a considerable amount to work so someone mentioned getting a nanny to me.

So I guess I am wondering how prohibitive the costs would be for a nanny. Are they paid an hourly rate or are they paid like nurseries/childminders by the no of children and then an hourly rate?

Sorry if these questions seem a bit obvious.

beautifully explained jura

doesnt really make any difference if a nanny looks after one child or 4 - they get pid the same amount hourly - its really only when children are born when already working with the family, that the nanny might get a payrise

Depending on area, and the age and experience of a nanny - would reconmend one who has had a few years as you will have 4 under 4 - depends on how much per hour nett you will have to pay

Congrts btw for july

Here are the average rates. Note that the number of hours for a live-out are usually around the 45-50 mark, and for a live-in will be around 55-60 (that will include babysitting and the like).

You will pay slightly less for less experienced/younger nannies (and vice versa of course)

With 4 under 5's, I would have thought a nanny will be your lowest cost option, plus be easiest as they would either live-in, or come to your home daily.
Very roughly, if you were to budget for nannies salary to be £100-£130 per day, you may not be that far off. Will vary by location (London for example could well be higher), nannies experience, and will be lower for live-in.

I employ someone who does not have any official qualifications to look after my dd aged 20 months. She has a child of her own and I knew her enough to feel confident that she could cope with mine. she works four days a week, 7 hours a day looking after the little one and also does a bit of tidying up the place while is here. I pay 7.20 an hour gross in London and she gets lots of time off as when we go away she does not have to work - more than 4 weeks a year. I have a ds now one month. Would it be unreasonable to expect her to look after him too without extra pay?

Nannies don't charge by the child... so yes, you can ask her to care for your DS without extra pay.

Wattie - as Nick says you can ask her if she will do it for the same money, but in all the jobs I have had, if another child arrived, I would get a payrise as I had more responsibility so to speak - the job she took on was with 1 child,now it wil be 2 so, I personally think you should pay her a bit extra a week

Sorry Imananny, I don't agree...

Jobs I've had where another child has arrived, I've not had a payrise due to there being another child. Also jobs where there have been 3, 4 children have not been paid better than jobs where there are 1 or 2 children.

One of the advantages of having a nanny over other forms of childcare is that you don't pay per child.

At the next pay review time (typically yearly), certainly the salary could be looked at, to see if it was keeping in line with cost of living, expectations etc.

If you based a nannies salary on number of children, then when those children went to school - the nannies salary would drop. Not sure many nannies would be very pleased about that.

i am not saying that if you have 3 or 4 children you would earn more than if you looked after one child.

I am saying that if you took a job on and then a year/2 years on etc there was another baby,so the job has changed and therefore generally the nanny would get a payrise

i suppose you could say, if the child then went to school, the nanny could earn less, but they are still on call and need to be there for the child

maybe my friends and I are lucky - i reliese not all nannies get a yearly payrise or payreview when a 2nd child came, but it would be nice for wattie to give her nanny a pay increase - even if ten pounds a week