Qualified Nanny! advice please!

hey all, im currently a nursery nurse and have been for several years, in 3 different settings. i also have experience of working for a family and babysitting, i am pregnant at the moment and working full time, tho when the baby arriives i feel that i wont be able to go back to a nursery to work because my wage as a nursery nurse will not cover the cost of a place at nursery......

i feel that it will be better for me to have a job where i can have baby with me instead of paying expensive fees, the only way i can think of at the moment is trying to find a placement as a nanny where the family would be happy to employ me and wouldnt mind a baby in to!

do you think this is possible?!

all ideas are welcomed! xx

Hi Sammy, congrats on your pregnancy!

You can some help with finances when your LO arrives. There is Maternity Pay whilst on Maternity Leave. Then you can get child tax credits/working tax credits and child benefit. Every little helps, its all income based - but as a Nursery Nurse you'll earn less than the £55000 cut off point. (You have to count your partners income as well!) I'm a Paediatric Sister and just earn under the threshold with both incomes and what we get does help. (It wont give us any where near the nursery costs though!) However, childcare vouchers may help a little. (As an employee, can you get a discounted rate?)

As for finding a job where a family would be happy to have you, as well as your baby. Unfortunately, I find it difficult to believe you can. As a mother, I'd want the employee to be completely dedicated to my child. Not to have hers there and develop 'favourtism' between the children. I dont think people would except that your time could be split fairly between your paid duties, and the care of your child.

However, I may be wrong.

Charlotte.

Hi Sammy,

congratulations o your pregnancy.

have to say, I agree with Charlotte - try asking your employer about discounted rates.  another option is look around all of the local nurseries - my local one is excellent, but is run and managed by a committee, comprised of all of the parents.  the charges were, to me, surprisingly low - if I wanted Abi there all day, it's less than £30, though I appreciate that childcare isn't the highest paid profession in the world, & this is a lot of money.

I also agree with Charlotte re : taking baby to work as a private nanny - have to say, if I was shelling out huge amounts for a private nanny, then bringing her child to work would not be allowed.

have you thought about setting up as a child minder?? you obviously have the qualifications, and there are start up grants, depending on the area in which you live - your local authority should be able to tell you more about these.  this way, you'd be earning & have baby at home with you - perhaps that could be a solution.  Perhaps contact your local authority or look on the CSCI website in England, or CSSIW website in wales to get an idea of how many child minders there are in your area to help you decide if it's a worthwhile venture - may not be worth it in an area with lots of childminders / nurseries.  also, perhaps decide on a unique marketing factor ie early morning and late evening care for those working long hours, commuting, shift workers - god knows it's hard being a shift worker to get good quality childcare to fit in with your job.

good luck with the pregnancy 

Amanda & Abi xx 

?