Nannies with own child - opinions/experiences

[AnnieAnn]

Hi forum friends,

Just wanting to have opinions/experiences of nannies with their own child/children..........

[amydown]

I think it would have positives and negatives (sitting on the fence?!)

Financially, if I'm not mistaken, it can work out cheaper than a sole charge arrangement as you are effectively doing a share but I think in most cases, it's more expensive than doing a nanny share with another family as you have the convenience of no drop-off,pick-up and not having to juggle three parties for holidays. Logistically slightly easier than a share.

If I was considering such arrangements, I would have to know the nanny pretty well. As a mum, I think it would be really difficult to put someone else's needs above your own baby's needs. If the nanny's baby and your baby are similar in age, I would have thought this becomes more of an issue than an arrangement with a bigger age gap. I'm sure most of the time when things are going well, it's not really a problem if the nanny is professional and good anyway but as these things go, conflicts can arise (eg. One baby in routine, the other one not, toddler behaviours, etc etc.)

Personally, I think the arrangement would work better if there is a fairly big age gap as the kids' needs are different and conflicts arising from young babies needing constant attention/ toddler behaviours requiring intervention should be less of a problem. Perhaps one child in nursery/ school for most of the day and the other one a baby?

I think it would also be helpful to have financial matters really clearly set out right from the beginning, including how cost of food, kitty money and other sundry expense will be split between the nanny and the family.

I should add that I have no first hand experience of such arrangements so I'm sure others will be ale to draw directly from their own experiences.

[KatsuQueen]

Hi, have sent you PM.

[anna_r]

My nanny has her own child, the same age as my eldest, and she is amazing! I would not swap her for any other nanny in the world. She is totally fair with the children and it is great for my two to have the interaction with her daughter. I think it just depends on the nanny, as everything does. There are great nannnies with their own kids and without, and bad ones with their own kids and without.

[silkematt]

Hi there!

I am a mother of 21 year old girl and have looked after another little girl who is 4 weeks older than her since they were 8/9 months old! They have become like sisters end love each other so much! I think for me it was the perfect solution for my own childcare needs and also because we are so flexible on times and days the family I work for really appreciates this flexibility! You pay less than for a sole charge nanny, yet you get the same service! I highly recommend to do thorough checks though as I have heard so many horror stories in my 16 years of being a nanny!!

Good luck with the search! x