Childcare/Nanny/Au pair

[Shaz2000]

Hi All
I am a pregnant single women. At the moment my job takes me away from home overnight 1 night a week, occasionally 2. I have no parental support nearby so cannot rely on any friends or family for childcare. My question is are there people who would offer childcare including overnights? Does anyone know how this would work? Do they get paid for 24hours? So would I need to employ someone from say 8am one day to 8am the following day (even though I’m planning to put the child in nursery?) I’m just so confused. Are there nannies that work overnight? Do au pairs look after kids overnight? Is that in their remit?
Ideally long term I will look for something where I don’t need to be away but given I’ll be a single parent I’m not in a position to just give up my job. Thanks in advance for your advice.

I looked in to this as I was offered a job while pregnant that would have been a huge pay rise but which would have involved some late nights and some travelling.

Overnights wouldn't be within the normal remit of an au pair. They would live in your home full time, and should be treated as a member of the family. They aren't trained childcare providers and are usually pretty young themselves. I wouldn't leave a young baby with an au pair, certainly not regularly.

You do get night nannies but they would have been too expensive for me - they're upwards of £100/night (and there are none where I live).

Supposedly you also get childminders who are registered for overnights, but I had no luck finding any in my area either.

You could look at employing a full time nanny, then set their hours. It may make more sense financially to do this rather than nursery plus overnight cover. It really depends on your financial situation.

In the end I turned down the job.

An au pair would not be able to do that. There are 24 hour nurseries but you would have to live close to one (in London maybe?). A nanny agency that can supply ad hoc nannies would be your best bet. I don’t know what they would cost and payment would depend on their terms. Nannies can be £9-10 an hour plus you’d be paying nursery on top.

I think you need to give realistic thought to your options. You may be able to find someone and you may earn enough to afford it. But it is very difficult to leave a baby or young child for overnights, even with a parent or family member they know and trust. I travel some for work and it can be a nice break, but it would be really hard and disruptive to do every week. I would truly give some thought to what happens if you just can’t make it work and what flexible working arrangements your current job could provide.