Nanny advice

[stephent]

We're thinking of getting a nanny (either live-in or out, and are happy to do a nanny-share) from September for our 2 month old, but as my wife is a teacher we only need someone for term times. Does anyone know if this is possible, or do most nannies prefer work for the full year?

Thanks,

- Steve

[WorkingMummy]

There are some full time nannies who have their own children of school age. They would absolutely love a job that let them have their holidays with their own children. However, you would need to come to a special arrangement about holiday pay. I can imagine that a really good, experienced nanny (which is what you want) will not want to earn very much less than she would from a more full time role. You may have to pay her for a good slice of the time she has off. But you never know. Try websites that allow you to post a very personal add, and give a really good description of what you want. There's a good site called "findababysitter.com" that I've had a lot of luck with.

The alternative would be to go for a series of temp. posts during the terms. But that won't be much fun. OR you could try checking in with a New Zealand or Australian nanny agency. Lots of women in their early 20s come over from Aus/NZ on a special type of working holiday visa. Their real aim is to travel lots in Europe - so they want long holidays - but they are more than happy to do child care to fund their trips. In NZ and Aus you need a licence to be any kind of child carer and the training is pretty rigorous. A Kiwi/Aussie who wanted to travel would probably also accept most of the holidays as unpaid too. This could work really well as a live-in arrangement, which always saves the nanny loads of money, and allows her to use your home as a convenient base for travels. (Live-in nannies also expect to earn 15-20% less per hour too, which helps you too.)

Hope this helps.

WM

[new mother]

AS above, search for someone with their own school age children who needs to take the schoo hols off. Offer a small bonus to be paid in eg Sept of each year to ensure she does come back to you. Do not pay her her salary or part of it while she is not working for you, why on earth would you? BUt demonstrate commitment via the bonus idea, which is what most women with school age children will appreciate. They aren't flighty or silly and want commitment back. Fair enough.