[cattyrae]

hi,
im looking at getting a nanny next year instead of my kids going to childcare. i will have 3 in school full time and 2 at home. the 2 at home are going to be 18mth and 3.5yrs.
my hubby is a teacher and i will be going to uni at least 3 days a week. my days are likely to be 8:30-4:30pm.

i guess what im asking is would it be cheaper? would i employ them as a casual as i will have holidays and wont need them while im at home or my hubby is at home? she would need to drop off and pick up my other 3 so that would save my before and after school costs.

also my hubby isnt that comfortable with a nanny only because he is 30 and having a 18yr old scares him. i think its the teacher coming out of him. but how can i make him feel comfortable?

any help would be appreciated

[cat5245]

I work as a nanny / babysitter and am so surprised by the number of parents who don't ask to see any documentation or references etc.

Maybe to alleviate some of your husband's concerns make a list of what you would like from each nanny you interview e.g. police check, working with children check, first aid certificate, written and verbal references, copies of qualifications etc. I think it's fine and wise to ask for all of these sorts of things. Not all nannies are 18!

I'm usually just employed as a casual but have some sort of informal written agreement e.g. hours per week, pay, etc.

Hope it works out well for you!

[cattyrae]

cat thanks heaps. i have just worked out how many weeks i wont need a nanny in the year. eg school holiday and uni holidays. would that affect pay and work hours etc?
i will make a list thanks again

[Lokum]

We employ our nanny as a casual - it means the rate is a bit higher. However, she works 16-20 hours a week for us, so I'm very conscious that we constitute a major part of her income.

When we go away for a couple of days, I try to make up her hours at a different time. However, if you are definitely not going to need her at all for like, 10-13 weeks of the year, you need to negotiate that up front. Maybe offer a higher hourly rate during term time, or just see if she will accept big fluctuations in her income.

You don't need to get an 18 year old... though you can't legally discriminate on the basis of age. You can ask for formal childcare quals, first aid, police check, WWCC and experience. You can specify x years of experience if you want, or experience with school0aged kids, or toddlers or whatever.

You decide whether you want school pickup/drop off in the mix, and how she'll handle 5 kids. Whose car will she use? If her own, what about car seats? And petrol/car allowance? Then reliable car will have to be one of your criterion.

Do reference check - phone the referees and ask if they know her and how? Don't tell them her whole CV and just ask for confirmation - get them to really tell you what she did and for how long and with what kids.

Try to interview her with several kids present and see how she interacts with them.

Stalk her FB page. If she shows bad judgment on FB, will she show good judgment with your kids?

[nlman]

My husband and I are both teachers so employing a nanny made sense financially for us.

I go back to work full-time in July and we have arranged someone to nanny two days for us (they will have 3 days in day care too.) Because we don't need the nanny during the school holidays, it actually works out cheaper for us we wouldn't get the childcare rebate on the last two days anyway, if that makes sense. I have two other teacher friends who do the same thing - 3 days daycare and 2 days nanny and find that it works out well.

There are lots of women who only want to work during school terms. My friends have nannies who have children in high school - so certainly not 18 yrs old!

We (and my friends) just made it quite clear that the work was during school terms only.

[NotBitzerMaloney]

The concept that you'd get an 18 year old nanny - let alone for five kids - is completely foreign to me. We have had three nannies and a couple of temps, and other than one in her late 20's, the others have been mothers and grandmothers in their 40's and 50's.

Be very clear in your requirements for experience and qualifications, and your expectations day to day, as well as the working arrangements (hours, days, weeks per year, etc)

You may well find someone with older school age children who would be very happy to have school holidays off.

[littlecuties]

I think a nanny would be definitely cheaper than child care for 5 children, especially if she is registered for CCR and CCB. However, no way would an 18 year old be mature enough to cope with 5 children and have enough driving experience to be driving your kids around. Perhaps there are exceptions though, such as someone with a large family of younger siblings, that would be ideal.

If I was a nanny I'd prefer only school terms as I have children at school so I'm sure you can find someone who's happy with that.

This post has been edited by littlecuties: 18/04/2012, 10:39 PM

[cattyrae]

thanks everyone. i was just using an 18yr oldas an example. i would much prefer someone abit older that could handle 5 kids.
i will defenitly make alist and seriously look into it. thanks again

[mpoppins92]

I didn't see all the questions, so just a quick reply. As far as working hours and holidays just make it clear from the beginning, my boss has always said I won't work public holidays and I'll have 3 weeks off at Christmas. My boss works from home so she is there all day whilst I'm looking after the children. I'm nearly 20 and it's a bit harsh to make that judgement on young people especially about what we put on our FB. What we may lack in experience we make up for in energy and enthusiasm. And my work is completely separate to my FB, and if I choose to go out and post something silly on there why shouldn't I? Going out with my friends on a Saturday is not at all related to me going to work on a Monday, and my boss is my friend on FB. Sorry to go off the point a bit there but that combined with ACA's report on nannies has got me all riled up. Not directed at you OP, but someone esle made that remark.

It's all about the right fit to your family. You could find Mary Poppins herself, and your kids didn't like her. Don't discount someone on age if they seem like a good fit, or if you really want to avoid people who are young just specify in your employment ad; "We are looking for a mature and experienced woman". Mature in the nanny world means older woman. At least to me anyway.

[mummy~2~two]

I used to be a Nanny before I had my own children and would love to only work in school terms.
If you are looking for a more mature Nanny I can't see that being a problem.
I will be looking for a job with the same conditions in a few months and I don't think they will be easy to find.
Good luck