Come speak to me about nanny-share, please!

[AnnieLobeseder]

I'm trying to go back to work, but finding childcare a real dilemma. I have DD1 who is starting school in Sept, and DD2 who is 18mo. In an ideal world, I'd like to work 4 days a week, and have DD2 at a childminder and be home in time to collect DD1 from school. Said childminder would also be doing the school run and hand over DD2 at school.

In real life, it's not working out at all! None of the local CMs who do the school run have places. And it doesn't look like I'll be able to leave work early enough every day.

So, that means nurseies for DD2 and after school care for DD1, which is going to get expensive. Which got me wondering if a nanny share might be a good plan B, but I don't really know much about it.

Does nanny share mean you find a family who has 'opposite' work hours so you have her one day and they have her the next day? Or can it mean a nanny who comes to one house but children from another family come over too and the wages are split?

The latter would be what I view as a nannyshare. The nanny cares for children from Family A and Family B at the same time, in either Family A or Family B's home. The wage is split, sometimes on a 60%/40% with lower percentage being the Family whose house is being used.

Usually a nanny share means a nanny works for two families simultaneously, with both children in one house, as the 'opposite hours' arrangement would be counted as two separate jobs IYSWIM. But some families do offer, say, a 3 day job and say they know someone who wants 2 days.

Basically it can work either way!

Thats interesting Nick. Tbh none of my families did that when i did nannyshares. I see why (cost of heating etc) but on the other hand the other family will have the hassle of dressingthe child every morning and drop then collect in the evening so i thought the pros and cons balance up?

Op, can i just point out that when you 'split the wages' you dont split the going rate but something more, usually 1 1/2 of going rate.
Sorry maybe thats what you meant but just in case...

I've never done a nannyshare, so am going on what I have read on here over the past few years. There seems to be a variety of different ways that the split is calculated.

Annie - when you say you are trying to go back to work, are you returning to your previous job? If so your employer may be able to help with childcare costs - have you found out from them if they have any staff incentive schemes to help parents with young children? Even if it is a new employer you are going to work with, they may have employee benefit schemes in place - for example: reduced nursery fees at certain nurseries, Childcare Vouchers, discounts at school-holiday clubs. Some companies use soluitions provider companies such as MyFamilyCare to help employees find childcare.

My feeling is that a Childminder is your best solution, it's a pity you can't find anyone. Did any offer to put you on a waiting list? If so, could using a nursery and after-school club be viable for a term, to see if the childminder situation improves come Xmas?

With regards to a nannyshare, do you already know a family who want to share their nanny, or whom would share your nanny if you were to get one?

Thanks for that, ladies. I was just wondering what nanny-sharing is all about. I don't know anyone who does it, but thought I shoud have a vague idea what it entails before looking for another family around here who might want to do it.

Nannynick - I'm probably going back to my old job, and there's a lovely nursery on site which is where DD1 went, but they're full until 2011! Very annoyed about that! They do childcare vouchers etc etc, and there's another nursery nearby.

But it would have been so much easier (and cheaper!) to use a CM! I know all three of the local CMs, and they're all looking for other, less local CMs for me.

I was in a fantastic nanny-share for 3.5 years, it was complete joy, largely because i wasn't the employer! I paid the employers an hourly rate each month based on the hours ds spent at their house, tbh it was (relatively speaking) cheap as chips for me as they paid tax etc. On the flipside, they called the tune in pretty much all policy decisions, e.g. when holidays were, what T&Cs the nanny got, what trips to do. TBH I don't remember much in the way of conflict as I was just so grateful, ds loved going there, the nanny was fantastic and extremely experienced and most of the time it was just him and one other child, as their other children were older. The holidays were a bit chaotic as there would be four children plus various friends, and it was no picnic for the nanny either. I think nannies who can cope with shares are very special employees. Ours was amazing but also had slightly fragile health so i learned that you do need several layers of backup - I did some cover for all the children at various times, grandparents helped out etc.

We found each other through a local residents' association newsletter. You could try advertising on the basis of 'Would you like to share the cost of your nanny?' either in newsletters or on community noticeboards in your area?