Au Pair Advice

[editorialmoo]

Hi there,

We are possibly looking for an Au Pair for a minimum of 5 months to look after our 2 girls, 1 and 3 and just wondered if anyone had any experience of having an Au Pair.

My 3 year old is quite full on and needs someone who is quite assertive especially as for the last 4 months it will be mainly supper, bed and bath they will need to do. I'm worried that an Au Pair may be a bit young for this kind of work and am not sure if sole care of a 1 and 3 year old is appropriate or fair to any of the parties!

Interested to hear your experiences good and bad.

Many thanks!

[Mellors]

Hi

I have au pairs for our three children, now age 4, 6 and 8.

There are no strict rules either way, but the general feeling is that sole care for under age 2/3 is a bit too young for an au pair. They are traditionally for before and after school care for school age kids (not least so they can tell you what the au pair is like when you are not there!).

That said, my last au pair had my youngest when he was 2/3, and she was great with him, so experiences vary. He was in nursery as well though, so it was only before school (with parents around) and then after school for a while, 4 days a week.

I always have older au pairs (23+) as I need someone who can drive confidently and who I can insure. I had some fantastic candidates apply from e.g. Spain who were primary teachers who needed to do a year in the UK to up with English skills. I would have trusted them with younger children due to their extensive experience.

In short: it depends on who you recruit - be very clear about the role and your expectations up front and see who applies, then interview thoroughly. I prefer people in the UK already so I can invite them to our home to see how they got on with the kids, check out their room etc.

Feel free to ask if you have more questions.

[Scruffy Mummy]

There is this from the British Au-Pair agency on the age of children an au pair can look after on their own.

'Childcare: An au pair is not permitted to have continuous sole charge of children under the age of two'

http://www.bapaa.org.uk/displaypage.asp?page=31

[womanofdulwich]

I agree- an au pair is not a nanny- but try talking to Emma at http://www.thelittleaupairagency.co.uk/

Sometimes you can have an au pair "plus" who wil b emore experienced, and you pay them more than a normal au pair.