nanny bringing HER baby to our house - will it work?

[RachaelandAgatha]

Hi,

I'm seriously thinking of employing a nanny who wishes to start work part time after being off on maternity leave looking after her own baby.

The nanny would come to look after my DD, aged 19 mo, in our home for 15 hours a week and would bring her 1yo with her. I need to work from home for some of that time.

I am desperate for help as I have two jobs and a chronic illness to contend with. My concerns are 1) will the nanny's younger baby take most of her attention 2) will it be more messy and noisy in my small house than it is already and 3) will my DD be too old to play with the younger child?

In principle I am all for making childcare more visible in the workplace not hidden away and so have no problem with her asking to bring her child along.

I think they're of similar enough ages that they'll be able to enjoy similar activities (they would probably be in the same group if they were in a nursery for example) - and a good nanny should be able to balance the needs of both children. I've not taken my own child to work with me, but nanny friends who do certainly put their charge's needs above their own child's during work hours - their child has to fit in with the charge's routine, go to the charge's activities etc.

Undoubtedly two children make more noise than one, but the nanny should clean up any mess regardless. You could always ask the nanny to take the children out as much as possible while you're working from home. Given the part time hours, you'd probably struggle to find a nanny without a child who wants the job, so that may be a compromise you have to make.

Other things to think about - do you need a double buggy/extra highchair/travel cot? Who supplies that equipment?

What happens when a child is ill? Would the nanny still want to bring her child to work if yours had chicken pox for example, or would you want her to come to work if her child was infectious?

Food - will you provide meals for the nanny and her child/just the nanny/neither?

Activities - if you want the nanny to take your child to a paid for activity like Monkey Music, who pays for her child?

Thanks for your reply - the practical issues you highlight at the end are important and I hadn't thought that through completely.

I have some spare equipment but not a double buggy. Hmmm. I'm happy to provide meals for all but not to pay for her child to go on outings. As for illnesses I'd automatically keep both children apart.

It's a real minefield of possible scenarios! If they can play together than that would be great - it would actually be an advantage to have another toddler around. I will show DH your answer and we'll have a long chat about it all.

Missus makes good points and if you search the archives there are otehr good pointers too.

To be honest, if you only need her for 15 hrs a week I think a lot of the potential strains that people talk about and that can wear a relationship like this down may well not be as evident. What I would be much more wary of is a nanny proposing to cover like ten hour days for you, full time, with her child in tow at your house. particualrly if the cost is right I woudl definitely entertain the idea.

agree missus makes good points and what i would have said

sure all will be fine

tbh no nanny would expect their employer to pay for their childs outings, tho food is a bonus but maye you both could 50/50 buying a double buggy then sell on netmums etc when children too old

at just 15/hrs a week i think you are going to have to compromise on a nanny. if you are happy with her i would go for it, see how it goes having agreed on the points above.

how does the 15 hours split over the week? do you need her to be flexible or will the hours be set?

I have a similar set up and it works well. My nanny has a baby the same age as mine -1 1/2 and i also have a 3 yr old. I have 2 older kids that are at school. I would say that an experienced nanny will have no problems.