Advice needed re nanny/nanny share

[The Tabbs]

Hi

I'm a first time mum looking to return to work 4 days a week at the end of November and am starting to consider childcare options as neither my husband's family nor my family live nearby. I have been wondering about doing a nanny share. Having never done this before I am hoping that the experienced mums of ED could please give me some tips on:

- how soon I need to start looking for a nanny (don't want to leave it too late and find I have no childcare!)?

- what are the best sites to source a nanny from?

- are there any tips/must dos and don'ts when interviewing the nanny?

- any catches i need to be aware of?

- any recommended alternatives to nanny/nanny shares that you think are better?

- estimated costs and unexpected out-goings?

- anything else you can think of?

Really appreciate any tips and advice to get me started.

many thanks

Candice (Jasper's mum)

[Indiana]

I have PMd you

[Indiana]

I will PM you

Oops - posted twice - sorry

[Bumpkin]

I've had a nanny share for 3 years now with 6 different families and would highly recommend. We've had 6 different shares due to children going to nursery or moving house so there is a hassle factor of having to find a new share, sometimes at relatively short notice, however we've met 6 really lovely families and made some good friends along the way. I would ensure that you have some slack to be able to pay full whack for short periods of time if you need to if your share pulls out.

As people are only required to give their nanny 1 month notice, you don't really need to look too far in advance unless you're starting in September when children will be moving up to school / nursery. Prob 3 months max, however there's no harm in starting earlier.

I found my nanny and all my shares via the forum - tried a couple of nanny websites and got nothing and cost me money.

Haven't got strong tips on interviewing, we went with the first nanny we interviewed as our son loved him straight away although we did interview a couple of others. Our nanny was already with a family so that was a factor in deciding as it's important to feel you can work well with the other family. I would always ask the family you are looking to share with how long they want to have a nanny for as I nearly didn't with one family and they let slip they only needed it for 3 months.

The thing that I loved was on the days at my house, not having to rush my son out of the house and him being settled at home when I got back. He was able to nap in his bed and have home cooked food. He had another child to play with and we got to know the families pretty well. He was taken out twice a day to the park, softplay or play groups, so got all the interaction with other children that he would get at nursery but in smaller more manageable chunks when he was only little.

Potential benefits from nursery is that you don't have to bother providing food and you don't have to worry about the share ending or the nanny being off sick (although mine never was in 3 yrs). However I see these as very small hassles compared to not having to have sent my shy child to nursery before I felt he was ready. He was never ever clingy when I left him with his nanny but took best part of a year to start enjoying nursery when he was 3 (we still have the share 2 days a week and nursery another 2 days).

Regarding Money, the nannies quote the pay that they expect to get and you need to pay tax on top which can be quite significant. There are various nanny tax companies that for a small fee will sort this out for you and provide payslips. On top of that you need to provide food for the children and nanny and pay for any extras e.g. busses, play groups.

Good luck with it!

[bumpy]

My son has been in an amazing nanny share since June 2010 and would agree with all of Bumpkin's thoughts. We were fortunate that the boys we shared with are at school so in the early days our boy got lots of one on one attention during term time but was also very socialised through the use of groups and our nanny meeting up with other nannies or SAHM friends. I know of a couple of people currently looking so will PM you the details.