When to hire nanny for 3 DC plus newborn

[hobbgoblin]

As a single parent I shall have to return to work (probably reduced hours from the original 37) after DC4 is born. I have taken 52 weeks leave of which 13 will be unpaid if I remain off work and don't return earlier than stated.

My maternity leave has also begun due to being on sick leave prior to maternity, and thus I will have used up my 6 weeks at 90% pay before the baby is born.

I am anxious to return to work sooner rather than later for financial reasons but also plan to breastfeed for as long as possible - minimum 12 months, all being well.

With previous DC expressing breastmilk didn't go awfully well.

So my question is, what are other people's thoughts on just when I should think about hiring a nanny? I have already concluded that a nanny will be the best value childcare in my situation.

I can claim 80 percent of my childcare costs up to £250 per week through Tax credits even whilst I am on maternity leave.

The issues are costs as well as welfare of newborn baby. I mean, obviously with the right nanny the baby will be fine but there is no denying that there is an impact on a young baby being left in care of another from an early age. Not much I can do about that, but I would like to balance needs of family versus individual needs of the baby.

I thought the weekly limit was £240, not £250. Working Tax Credit Guide: WTC2 Max entitlement is 80% of £300 per week.
To be able to use Tax Credits towards a nanny in England, the nanny must be registered with Ofsted. Not all nannies are registered, so you will need to stipulate that in job adverts.

If you can afford it, I would suggest that you get a nanny prior to baby being born... so that you can spend time resting and following birth spend time bonding with your new baby, whilst the older children are being kept entertained and kept to their usual routines as best as possible.
Having a nanny in place at that point also enables you to introduce baby gradually to the nannies care - thus with luck helping your baby get accustomed to having some feeds as EBM via bottle.

If financially it isn't viable to have the nanny prior to birth... then I would suggest aiming for the 3 month point, as then baby will be at an age when they will recognise another persons face and be able to bond with them. If you wait till say 9 months, that can be a tricky age when babies get clingy and may not take to being cared for by someone else.

If you went for a nanny to start when your baby was 3 months, then you could do shared-care for a little while, see how it went and then go back to work early (or possibly that would be around the time your unpaid part of leave would start), thus returning to work would be useful financially wise.

Ooh, Nick you are right. I was being approximate.

Do you think they'll EVER recognise the fact that if you have more than 2 children childcare costs shoot up and leave you seriously disadvantaged? Why does the scale have a ceiling?

Thanks for your input on timing of nanny.I'd like to set this up before I go back ideally.

It is a bit odd that for 1 child it is x, for 2 children it is y, for 3 or more children it does not change, still y.
Tax Credits seems far to complex to me, surely it could be made more simple.
I asked on here a while back if any parent had managed to claim tax credits and pay a nanny, no one had. Nannies salaries are such that you need to earn a significant amount, which then means you are over the threshold for being able to claim tax credits. So good luck on being able to afford a nanny and get tax credits at the same time.

A nanny could cost you £120 a day. If tax credits pays £240 a week, then that's only 2 days of childcare. What about the other 3 days, will your salary cover those days?
Make sure you have done all the calculations, if you are having a full-time live-out nanny it can be quite costly... but with 4 children, it is often more cost effective than other forms of childcare - as nannies are not paid per child.

Keep in mind the needs of your older 3 children and how exhausted you will be leading up to and following birth of DC number 4. I feel you need to get as much help as possible.

The last family I nannied for had 3 children when I started and then a 4th arrived. I was kept on throughout mums maternity leave and it worked out well for all of us... mum was able to rest and spend quality time with baby, whilst I kept the older children to their routines and tried to keep on top of the housework (with 3 children you know how much housework there is to do... the laundry never ends!). I would get to care for baby for short periods initially, so that mum could have a bath, wash hair, go out with friends, that kind of thing. That helped baby bond with me plus her siblings.

Also look at other forms of help you may qualify for, such as HomeStart. Even if it is someone coming in for a couple of hours once a week to entertain the older children, that could give you some quality time to spend with baby, or one of the older children (if you were confident in leaving baby with the person from HomeStart).