It should read *I have heard anything from £50 to £200/week*!

Hi,

This thread has been of great interest to me to as we shall start looking for an au pair after Christmas. I'm wondering how much exactly an au pair who does 25h/week gets paid - I have heard anything from £150 to £400/month. I've also heard that an au pair shouldn't be asked to look after a child as young as one. Is it really the case? I'll be looking for an experienced au pair to look after a one year old three days a week and pick up his older brother from school every day at 3.30pm. Is that unreasonable?

Many thanks in advance!

Thanks all - really great advice and much appreciated

There are many many more au pairs than families so you'll definitely get a load of applicants if you put a post on aupairworld.net

Try to choose one that is a bit older, say mid 20's who has been an au pair before as they'll need to hit the ground running.

Au pairs are fantastic and a godsend if you don't need full time childcare, just enough to make up for a temporarily missing parent!

But beware, you'll never go back!

If you look at Au Pair websites, ones to consider are:
Au Pair World
Greataupair

Au Pair World has lots of European candidates so work visas not necessarily required.
Greataupair has lots of candidates from all corners of the world so many need visas. However, you can narrow your search a lot to exclude countries where visas are required if you take time to narrow down your search criteria on the site. Its also possible to search specifically for applicants living in London so you can meet them directly.

Both these sites will have applicants looking for short term positions (as well as long term positions). You will be inundated though so set your search criteria to be as specific as possible and be ruthless in rejecting applicants that don't meet them or you will be overwhelmed! Many people will apply who don't meet your criteria so check their details and don't assume they meet your criteria!

It helps if you work out what you want to know from applicants - i.e. a set of questions to answer. Most applicants give you very little useful information about themselves so you need to ask direct questions to help compile a shortlist.

Try likeminders if you only need someone for 9 weeks

That's so negative of course you'll find one! we've found our last lovely au pairs through nappy valley so well worth putting an ad on here - otherwise gumtree. you can meet them so they will be in London. If you're happy with someone less experienced - do use au pair world. hope that helps!

That's so negative of course you'll find one! we've found our last lovely au pairs through nappy valley so well worth putting an ad on here - otherwise gumtree. you can meet them so they will be in London. If you're happy with someone less experienced - do use au pair world. hope that helps!

Au Pairs often need quite a lot of training so, in my view, they are not worth it for a nine week period. You will have to put a lot of time investment into the first month unless you can find an au pair with plenty of good, relevant UK experience and checkable references. They will have plenty of jobs to choose from and may be less likely to pick a short term placement.

Also, if you are working full-time and very dependent on an au pair its a big risk as they can be unreliable if you pick the wrong one!

That said, you will find au pairs through the main au pair websites that are only looking for short placements so its possible to find someone willing to do a short placement. Just be aware of the limitations I've mentioned above though but no harm in having a look to see who is available.

I doubt you will get someone who is happy for a 9 week live in period only mth

Most aupair jobs are 6mth minimum

Generally yes we do need some sort of help outside the 9 wks but at the moment we make it work with an ad hoc childminder purely for financial reasons. We simply can't afford (permanent) childcare as we are both freelance so childcare revolves around when we work and that's not always regular or well paid!

A live-in solution is only possible for this 9 wk period though - the other half would never agree to it long term!

Do you want someone to live with you?

Do you need help outside the 9 weeks?

If not, a temp nanny might be an option

Hi everyone, I have a conundrum that I hope someone can help me with. My husband is due to work abroad for 9 wks next year and I have no family support for at least 6-7 wks so I will need some sort of help with my soon to be 4yr old son.

How do you go about getting an au pair?
What should we be looking out for?
Is an au pair a good way to go?

I will be working, in theory full time, and my little one is at nursery 8.40-11.40 2 days a week plus 8.40-3pm 3 days a week.

Help! Any advice is appreciated!
Thanks