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the nanny situation!

5 replies

Pam888 · 12/04/2012 14:32

I've got one 3 year old and i'm expecting DS2 in september. I need a nanny (initially only for 1 day whilst i'm on maternity leave for 6 months as I will still be sort of working from home), and this will increase to 3 days when i go back to work (she will need to drop off DS1 at nursery, collect and look after DS2). The problem I have is that I dont want to particularly use an agency (but will do if i have no choice), and just wanted to know how other people managed to get one? I've looked at gumtree and other childcare websites, but dont know whether i just have to take a punt on someone or just interview endless streams of women to see if I get a good feel for them. Surely i'm making this more difficult than it has to be?? any advice would be greatly appreciated :)

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lionmummy · 12/04/2012 22:37

I used gumtree and found a great part-time nanny. It was her first job in the UK and she was fabulous - was with us for 2+ years until I went on mat leave for dc3 and is returning when I go back to work. I had about 40 responses, I interviewed 4 and would have hired 2 of those 4. I think a lot of it is about gut feeling and how they interact withthe dcs and you do end up taking an instinctive punt.
I have a friend who also uses findababysitter with success but no firsthand experience myself with that site.

Pam888 · 13/04/2012 09:18

Thanks lionmummy. I'm just a bit nervous because i've only ever used nurseries before and am not sure that i would be able to spot a "bad" nanny if you paid me :( Saying that though, i know lots of mums who have had bad experience with nanny agencies so I'm thinking how bad can i be? But when you have to leave a 6 month old baby in someone's care (who wont be able to report any mistreatment) its a bit daunting...

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HappyAsEyeAm · 14/04/2012 04:27

I work 3 days a week too, and we have a nanny.

I've been back at work for 3 years (just started maternity leave again, awaiting arrival of DC2), and we have had two nannies.

We got the firts through an agency, which was local to where we live. I just did a google search for nanny agencies in our area. We basically gave a job decsription of hours to be worked, where we lived, what we expected, what we were willing to pay etc. And they sent us a load of CVs and we interviewed a few nannies. Out of those we interviewed, we made one nanny an offer, which she accepted.

She was pregnant within a year, and stayed with us for 18 months in total before she went on maternity leave. We got our next (she is our current) nanny by word of mouth - our nanny had a circle of nanny friends who knew that she was pregnant, and one of them wanted to change jobs and so she came to us to cover the maternity period. And as our first nanny didn't return to the job, she stayed with us.

Having had one nanny through and agency and another through word of mouth, I would recommend the word of mouth approach every time. Obviously though, its hard to find someone by word of mouth when you don't know nannies yourself and don't have access to that circle. Do you have any friends with nannies?

There is no easy way to find a nanny who suits your family needs though. Our first nanny had marvellous references (which we followed up), and we were happy with her, but now that we have had a second nanny, I really see the difference between a good nanny and a great nanny. A good nanny with look after your children well. A great nanny will do this, and fit in with your family needs and dynamic well too. Honestly, I can't imagine that I would have had another DC if I didn't know that we had our nanny to rely on when I do go back to work.

TrollopDollop · 15/04/2012 09:12

I have a nanny and found her through gumtree. I had loads of applicants, most who were easy to sift out at the early stage and interviewed 4. She was by far the best one and it's worked out really well. I phones her 2 previous employers and spoke to them and checked her CRB report.

Pam888 · 17/04/2012 21:14

Thanks HappyAsEyeAm and TrollopDollop. Have placed an ad on gumtree and have had a lot of responses (which I am surprised about bearing in mind its for september and for the first 6 months its only 1 day a week!). One or two look promising but there are quite a lot who really are not suitable i.e housekeepers or women who do not hold any childcare or nanny qualifications - I'm hoping that one of the two will be ok, or there will be a few more applicants over the next few days. If this doesnt work out though i think i'm going to have to head for an agency (because as HapyAsEyeAm suggests, I do not know anyone that employ any nannies locally and therefore dont have access to that circle). Thank you both for your advice though, its been a great help :)

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