What do you do with a nanny if you have another baby?

[KatyH]

We're about to take on a nanny for our 2 dds. Dd1 is about to go to school, and dd2 is 18 months. We have told the nanny that we will only need her up until dd2 goes to school. However, we haven't decided whether we want more children or not yet. If we do have another then there would be a 6-9 month period when I'm on mat leave that we wouldn't really need a nanny so what should we do? We'd obviously need a nanny after I go back to work therefore if I want to ensure we have her is it just a case of keeping her on during my mat leave? Just wondering what normally happens.

Normal(and probably easier if you like the nanny) to keep on during maternity leave, if you can afford too.

I do know some families try to get nanny to take a temp job but that can be hard to find for nanny and she'll need to earn enough to live off.

Guess best to get your nannies feeling on what she'd like.

Are you sure you wouldn't want a nanny whilst you were on maternity leave? I had a nanny job where the mum was went on maternity leave with her 4th child and I was kept on... as that meant that mum could rest as much as she liked, whilst knowing that the other children were in my care.
If you don't need a nanny any more... then at that point you will be making them redundant. If that occurs after the 2 year point, then there is redundancy pay involved. Redundancy pay isn't that much but it is a cost that you should factor in.
Why are you not needing a nanny when both your DDs are at school? The school day is rarely the same length as parents work, schools have various days off during school term time, plus there are school holidays. If you need a nanny now, why would you not need a nanny in 3 ish years time?

Thanks for your replies. We could afford to keep her on if I was on mat leave...but it just feels incredibly pampered! Must be my working class roots showing through.

As for school, there is a nursery close-by that has a before/after school club and a holiday club so we intended to send them both there once at school. Purely for economic reasons. It would be lovely to still have her when the dds are at school but not likely to convince the chancellor (i.e. dh) on that one

I would wait until the time come to decide a course of action. You might find that you are not very happy with the nanny and makingher redundant is what you want to do. Or you might absolutely love the nanny, in which case you'll probably be better off keeping her. And, if you keep her, she might be willing to take on another temp job or maybe a share for the time you are away. But, I would suggest that you should probably have a hand in helping her find one. If you do the work for her, there is less burdon on her and she would probably be more likely to entertain the idea. So, possibly you could let her stay in your house, pay her for reduced hours, and find another family to take on the remainder of the hours so that the nanny's income remains steady.

Although, I agree with Nick that you may find that school hours don't really replace having a nanny. My kids are 4 and 6. The younger goes to school full time in January. I had thought we would get rid of nanny and downgrade to au pair when this happens. But, I am now realising that this may not be possible due to work travel fro both me and DH. So, I think I'm going to keep employing a nanny for a while yet.

i have had 3 mbs take ml while i worked for them

i stayed working for all of them, on same money and normally did slightly less hours (its something i have got written in my contract) - have learnt years ago from friends

my current job, i had mb on ml last year, she ended up having a blood transfusion and spent the first few weeks very tired and rested in bed as and when she could

she said i was a godsend

tbh if you can afford to keep you nanny, she will be worth her weight in gold (and money) - its not a case of being pampered but think of her an an extra pair of hands

is much harder getting 2 and nb out for school/nursery at 8.30am

nanny can take older 2 out to their usual normal everyday activites, so that life doesnt chnage for them

as well as nanny having baby and you taking older 2 out so that they dont feel pushed out - we did that last summer hols

i had baby then 6weeks all tuesday and mb took 2.9 and 5.5 out to london on train/swimming things that are harder/impossible with small baby who needs feeding every 3/4hrs

i know money is a big factor in it for most people but tbh i would be very offended if my mb said to me, basically bugger off for 6/9mths then come back when i need you again

no one in an office would agree to that

it has happened to some of my friends and it is very hard to find a temp job for 3/6/9mths

I still have a nanny and mine are 10 and 8..........I couldnt manage without one. I work long hours and DH travels.

Besides what will you do in the holidays ? Mine are all over the place with various activities and friends. I just couldnt do it without.

When mine were yunger and work wasnt so busy I have DD in nurseryat 22monts whilst I was on mat leave with DS. It was important for her to keep the routine and if you are going back to work you need a good rest. Mind you my mat leave was very short 9.6 weeks post birth with DD and 18 weeks post birth with DS and I did almost go into labour with both in the office IYSWIM......

if you can afford it keep her on. As blondes says you wont regret it.

MP

from what I've seen most people keep them on (personally I couldn't it would drive me up the wall having another person around like that although in theory a nanny will be more helpful than dh )

Thank you so much for your replies. It would be great to keep her on as we don't have any family in the area. I just wasn't sure what normally happens. I do think it might drive me a bit mad having her there everyday though, but I guess I could just send her out with the dds (must try to have a spring/summer baby).

Aside from that, I think realistically I couldn't bring myself to make her redundant if she didn't have anything else lined up. Dh is quite hard-nosed about these things though so I'll need to start preparing my case!

Can I also ask, what does your nanny do during the day when the kids are at school? I just assumed that no-one would pay a nanny full time when they are at school most of the day. Would a bit of DIY be out of the question?

Some nannies are prepared to take on a bit more general housekeeping, but some aren't (I wouldn't, personally). Some might be happy to take on a nanny-share arrangement with a baby during the day. Some will continue to just do things related to the children - organising their after-school activities and social lives, doing their laundry, cleaning their rooms, shopping for their food and clothes, organising birthday parties and buying presents, organising and taking them to doctors and dentists appointments. Plus of course all the school holidays, inset days and sick days off school where the children are home all day. If you can afford to keep a full time nanny once children are at school, I can see how much easier it would be for parents (and nicer for children) than before and after school clubs, holiday playschemes etc.

"I do think it might drive me a bit mad having her there everyday though, but I guess I could just send her out with the dds (must try to have a spring/summer baby)"

and you might drive your nanny mad

seriously - you will be glad of an extra pair of hands - 3 is very different from 2 - as the older 2 are used to a rouitne/doing stuff etc, and then a new baby comes along and things change

some familys keep a nanny on full time as they need before/after school care as well as holidays - tbh by the time you have taken to school, done some washing/child related chores, the nanny may have an hour then time for school pick up/homework/after school activites etc

if you find a good nanny, you will do anything to keep her

what does mb stand for?

i've seen it a lot on here meaning a nanny's employer but no idea what it stands for and it's not on the abbreviations list

thanks.

Mummy boss, and DB is daddy boss.

aha!

thank you.

mb = mummy boss db = daddy boss

Though for some strange reason my mind reads them as mummy bear and daddy bear

i have a couple of nanny friensd and both have said they would rather resign than work with the mother at home!

Would a nanny do DIY? I'm sure some would consider that, others will consider gardening, tending to live stock is becoming increasingly something that nannies do (chicken anyone?).

kylesmybaby - really? even if they liked their job

tbh most nannys dont like their mb/db at home as children tend to play up etc - but as long as you have ground rules in place, ie nanny is in charge 8-6 etc and parents dont undermind, then i dont have a problem with them being at home

i do the same whether the parents are there, ie tell children off,go out, watch tv, use lappy etc

i enjoyed my mb being on ml, we had a right laugh, went out to lunch a few times and i had mb at home yesterday and 2 nannys and their charges came round (tho last mb on ml was a nightmare and children played up all the time!!&i didnt get much back up)

nick - tbh think my mb would prefer me to stay away from their garden/her veggie patch - i do not have green fingers at all - i can even kill a pot plant

though quite happy to go and get the eggs in from our chucks

Blondes - absolutely! I'm worried about that too. In fact, I've just spoken to her and admitted that I'm worried that she'll end up hating us. Well, really I'm just worried that a good relationship could be tested. I've never been an employer before. I feel a huge responsibility to keep her happy!

I was just joking about the DIY but as I glance round at the building site I'm wondering if we could maybe sneak it into her contract...[sneaky faced emoticon]

when my DC's are at school my nanny does all the family laundry and errands and house management and family cooking and shopping if she has time.

She doesnt clean though. From what Ive seen and I have recently been through the recruitment process there are lots of jobs for nanny housekeepers for school age children where this is a certain amount of domestic help included in the job but most normally a cleaner retained say 2 days a week to do the heavy stuff.

If you can afford to keep a nanny on when DC's go to school then do so. You will be a lot less stressed.

katy - the fact you think you may be worried that she may hate you, just means you are a kind caring employer - and sure all will, be fine