aupairs - would you use one

[mackerel]

We have 4 dc under 9, aged 8, 6, 4, and 2. I'm hoping to return to work after 8 years off and I'm trying to work out childcare. I will need someone to collect 3 children after school and look after them for a couple of hours, and also for them to look after my 2.5 yo during the day (in Sept. to collect her from pre-school and look after her 11.30 to 5). This could be 3 days per week or 5 days - not sure until I get a job offer. I feel unsure about whether this is too much for an aupair. The costs of nannies is too high - I work in the public sector and odn't earn much money relatively speaking. childminders etc - would they charge per child per hour, because that really adds up too. feeliong very confused and q. anxious, so any experiences would be welcome.

IME most au pairs would not be up to looking after a 2.5yr old sole charge, but would be ok looking after the others before/after school. You can find the occasional au pair who has previous childcare experience and sufficient common sense and enough English to a) not confuse the pre-schooler and b) be able to call for help if required, and who might be ok with the little one (our first au pair would have been in this category, a former nursery nurse with almost fluent English) but it would require a lot of energy recruiting and I'm guessing that level of candidate would be in high demand so you may have to offer a lot to tempt them to a house of 4 children (bear in mind that if you go over about £100 pocket money you need to start worrying about registering as an employer, NI, income tax etc).
Childminders do charge per child per hour.
Has the school got a before/after school club? (Having said that, our after school club for 2 kids would cost more than our au pair).
Could you manage an au pair for the before and after school kids plus a childminder for the bulk of the day for the pre-schooler?

Well the absolute maximum for an au-pair is 25 hours a week, although you might get more with an au-pair plus. The whole idea is that they stay with you and get taken out and about a bit, spend time at language school etc and do a bit of childcare in return.

I really don't think they should be in sole charge of a 2yo for 6 hours a day, and all the APs we've had would not have been competent to look after four children with a wide age-range like that, but you might get lucky I suppose.

Think what you really could do with is a childminder.

There are many downsides with APs - hidden costs of heating, extra food, phone calls, language schools etc. Loss of privacy is a bit of an issue, although ours had their own bathroom and study. IME APs tend to be a bit ditzy, even the most sensible one we had was totally incapable of putting a meal together, so we ended up cooking batches of meals at the weekend to cover their food for the week.

If you're sure that an AP is the solution for you, interview very carefully. There are various sets of house rules on previous threads or I can mail you ours. These focus on what is expected in terms of childcare, standards of cleanliness, whether or not boyfriends/girlfriends can stay over etc.

I wouldn't trust an AP with that arrangement. I think managing it could shorten your life span! Ours is great in many respects but big knowledge gaps emerge from time to time, and very unexpectedly. A bit ditzy is the right word - they just don't have the whole package when it comes to judgment.

If you do go ahead, one of the first things I would do is get her on a first aid course. And have quite a detailed manual re safety issues. We didn't do this in the end as I was worried about freaking ours out, but it's something I wish I had now.

If it's 3 days per week, it'll be fine, as long as you get someone competent. 5 days a week is fairly long hours, you'll have to pay more as well as getting someone good. IE not an only child from a privileged, nuclear family in a rich country- however fond of children they say they are, they probably wont have a clue.
Dont forget school hols, you may have to make extra arrangements. IME, most au pairs dont mind extra hours if you pay them more and dont interfere with Their Weekend.
I have 4 children, and have an au pair.