***Looking for childcare for my 8-month old in IPSWICH -preferably an au pair, nanny share or very flexible childminder!***

[Mamabols]

Hi,

We're looking for a very reliable and flexible au pair for my 8 month old son to start end of April 2009 (he'll be almost 10 months then). My working hours are variable but range from 45-50hours a week with some early starts (7:30am) and some long days (till 10:30pm). Willing to consider a childminder as well if they can be flexible. or a nanny share. Please contact me if you are interested with your rates.

Thanks

Would you feel happy leaving your child with an aupair for so long ?

Thanks for that feedback - this is our first venture out in the maze of finding childcare and I had wondered if an au pair was allowed to work that many hours! Had mixed advice so thought I'd throw it out there and see. Wonder if I can change the thread title now...

Mamabols, are you aware of the differences between an aupair and a nanny? An aupair is someone who comes to the UK for a fixed period of time to learn English, experience life with a family and get paid a small amount of money (typically about 60 pounds a week) in exchange for a maximum of 25 hours of childcare/light housework per week. They are typically not trained in childcare, may have little experience outside of some babysitting and should not be left in sole charge of such a young child. A nanny on the other hand will be experienced, usually have some childcare training and qualifications, First Aid etc and is expected to be in charge of your child. Downside is that they cost much more! It sounds like what you need is a nanny. If you advertise on a site like Gumtre, there are many ads from parents looking for about 40 hours or more of childcare per week which they are willing to pay about 100 pounds p/w for. The sad things is that they probably get people to take on the role but it's up to those parents if they feel happy leaving an inexperienced 19/20 year old in charge of their baby for such a long time.

what about a nursery with au pair wrap around care? this could be do-able if you work the same days each week.

or again, childminder with au-pair as wrap around doing the early starts and late finishes.

I hate to be a harbinger of doom, but I think you have left it quite late to look - I used to be a CM and was usually booked up several months in advance. Hope you quickly find tghe right solution for you.

Thanks for pointing this difference out, annh. This is what I thought the difference was from the research I had done, but as I said before, had been given different takes on the issue by various other people, so I thought I'd just put it all out there and see what we came up with. Now that I have been well 'educated', the title of this thread should read "looking for a nanny or a childminder...." If anyone knows how I can change the title, please give me a shout and I'll hop to it. Thanks

Previous arrangement fell through, hence the late start in looking.

oh I see. How disappointing for you.

LIke I said, have you considered sharing the care between au pair and another setting? I think au pair would be flexible for the early and late sessions, and a childminder or maybe nanny share for the middle more normal hours.