Au pairs! Good or bad?

[allthegirls]

I am thinking about going back to work full time in the near future. My husband does shift work and at the moment I am working around his hours so one of us is always looking after our children who are 3 and 2. The problem with this is that we never seem to have enough time as a family! If I was to employ an au pair I think it would help us a great deal. The au pair would have a lot of time off aswell (at least 3 days a week). Can anyone help me with information about employing an au pair? I need to know everything really, where to find one?, how much to pay?, visas for the au pair? do I have to pay their flights etc?

Hi allthegirls
I've had two au-pairs and am just about to start my third. Both have been very positive experiences.

Basics are that they are supposed to do 25 hours a week for between £45-£55 pw, and 2 evenings a week babysitting. Anymore, and you pay more. They are part of your family, not a servant or employee, so have a very odd legal status.

You can go with an agency or with a website. The first time I did it I went with an agency, but to be absolutely honest, I would not recommend that. They charge between £200 and £400 for not a lot. You can do it over the internet, where you can interview them by e-mail and build up a picture of who they are and what they are like and whether they would fit into your family and be comfortable with you. You can also ask them to get criminal records checks (more than you get with an agency) and references. There is a very good website called greataupair.com and there is another one called aupairforum where there is a chat forum with details of lots of pitfalls and positive stuff - very useful in helping you come to a decision about whether it would be the right option for you.

what is the youngest that an au pair is appropriate for. Dh works from home. when i go back to work (dd 1 yr) thought of\getting a/p to look after her in oiur home, with oversight from dh... dunno if that would work.

S'pose shouldn't watchg Ch4 2nite

Kif, I've seen a write up on the channel 4 programme, it could well put someone off hiring an au pair. We used to have au pairs at home when I was young. And they were always (trying to put this nicely) not terribly pretty! My dad reckons they all went on to be russian shot putters ! Didn't realise till I was much older that this ploy was quite deliberate on my mums part

Kif, you can always suggest a male au-pair!!!

In fact, having just seen the Channel 4 thing about sleeping with the au-pair, I think you should insist on it...