Childminder, Babysitter, Nanny

ChalyIE

Because I'm from a foreign country, can someone please explain the differences between Childminder, Babysitter, Nanny here in Ireland?

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Childminder- minds your child usually when you are in work, usually day time, can be full time or part time, in his/her own home usually but can come to your home which is more expensive

Nanny_ a fancy childminder, qualified or professional, some times live in, much more expensive

Babysitter- occasionally minds your child, usually when you are out at night time, often a teenager or neighbour.

ChalyIE

Thanks for the information.

And what is mostly used by Irish parents?

For example in Germany, where I come from, Childminder are not very popular. Honestly I never heard of someone who hired a childminder. Might be because creche is relatively cheap there.

Moonbeam

A childminder in your home is a nanny and you are required to pay them minimum wage and their prsi,a childminder in her own home is self employed and looks after her own taxes.
A babysitter is usually someone who would come look after your child for a few hours in the evening .


www.childminding.ie is a good resource.

ChalyIE

Moonbeam wrote: »

A childminder in your home is a nanny and you are required to pay them minimum wage and their prsi,a childminder in her own home is self employed and looks after her own taxes.
A babysitter is usually someone who would come look after your child for a few hours in the evening .


www.childminding.ie is a good resource.

Thanks for the source and the explanation, this with the wage and the prsi was a very useful information for me.

Neyite

ChalyIE wrote: »

Thanks for the information.

And what is mostly used by Irish parents?

For example in Germany, where I come from, Childminder are not very popular. Honestly I never heard of someone who hired a childminder. Might be because creche is relatively cheap there.

I think for daytime care, a creche tends to be the more expensive option, they are very expensive here, for most families they pay out more on a creche monthly than they do on rent or mortgage. Usually its full-time or part-time fees, you pay for days that they dont attend due to illness.

So a self employed childminder sometimes might be an affordable alternative, and depending on the childminder, might be flexible if you need flexibility due to work. Again, if you book them to work certain days, and your child is sick, most would expect payment. But you have to consider that if the childminder gets sick or has to be absent, you would need back-up childcare (or very understanding flexible employers)

If the children are in school part of the day, then an au-pair might work well.

We went with a creche, though its tough on us financially because:
- we dont have backup babysitters nearby, they all work full time.
- we didnt know any childminders that could be personally recommended.
- the creche we use has a nurse on staff, and has a great vibe, each staff member seems to genuinely love their job, I've gone in randomly when the staff didnt see me initially, and they are playing and interacting with the children.

Go with you gut though. I viewed a creche which was a bit cheaper than the one I ultimately chose, but though the manager was showing me all the things the kids do and saying all the right things about home-cooked food and inspections, I just had a gut feeling that I disliked it. When I saw the creche I chose, I went into the baby room and it was so spacious, and cheery with lots and lots of toys, and one baby was getting cuddled by a worker, they all just looked contented, the minders relaxed and cheerful. I felt like I could leave my baby there and not worry. And 18 months on, I'm still happy with the creche and he loves running in in the mornings.

ChalyIE

Thanks for the very useful information.

The creche really might be the best option. But I assume, that especially families with more than one kid cannot afford it most of the time. Which I think is a little bit sad. There should be more support from the government.

But for older kids and if the parents want to go to a restaurant or something in the evening, a babysitter is the best option (if you don't have any relatives or friends who can take care of the kids of course).

Moonbeam

Exactly!

It depends where you live in Ireland but in Dublin a full time creche place is around 1000 euro a month and after school is about 5 euro an hour in most places.

ChalyIE

So practically if you have 3 kids which is not so unusual in Ireland, you would have to pay 3000 Euro per month? Who earns that amount of money?

KCC

ChalyIE wrote: »

So practically if you have 3 kids which is not so unusual in Ireland, you would have to pay 3000 Euro per month? Who earns that amount of money?

It's very, very hard, but speaking for myself, we planned our family so that we wouldn't have to pay for full time childcare for them both (we have two). We waited until the eldest was almost in her free pre-school year before we had our second. That way we only had to pay for 1.5 kids if that makes sense. Some childminders and creches give discounts for second and third children.

However, if you had three, it probably wouldn't make sense to have them in a creche. Instead you would hire someone to look after them in your own home or for one parent to either stay at home or work part-time. Many people have au-pairs, but it wouldn't suit me having to share my home with one.

I am really hoping that the government will do something about this soon (especially if I decide to have a third child!)