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SquishysMum 
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 Topic: Looking after kids
Posted: 31 July 2009 at 9:32am |
So, it looks like I'm going to be made redundant with a month or 2, and DH and I are trying to look for a medium/long-term plan to get some more $$ into the house, whilst allowing me to stay at home and keep raising Lydia. DH has suggested that I get another child in to look after during the week, either 1 kid full-time, or 2 part-time would probably be what we were looking for. I just thought I'd ask a few questions...
Would you be interested in a private arrangement for another mum to look after your child in her home? (IE not through PORSE or similar scheme).
What would be the things you would expect from such a service? Food provided?
How much would you be willing to pay for such a service, either per hour or a weekly rate?
If not suitable for younger children, would an afterschool care for older children work? What do parents of school-aged kids think?
And for those that do something similar, how do you find looking after other kids? Would you have children the same age as yours or different?
A bit of background:
I'm a 25 year old 1st time mum to 5 month old Lydia. While I do not have formal childcare qualifications, I have spent a lot of time with children - being the oldest of 4, to babysitting from the age of 14, and most recently looking after my 2 year old neice. We have a secure backyard, and a playground down the road. We also have a spare bedroom for another child to sleep in if required.
I'm not adverse to signing up to PORSE or similar, if people think that would help, if I was going to have more than one FTE child in the house I would definately do it. I am also booked into a child first aid course with St John.
Thanks in advance for your advice and input 
ETA: One more question - Advertising availability, email antenatal class people? Plunket noticeboard? Where would you be most likely to see an advertisement for such a service?
I guess that's the good thing about PORSE, they find kids for you 
Edited by Cathrine
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james
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Posted: 31 July 2009 at 9:50am |
It sounds like a great idea . I was looking at doing the same thing insted of studing at the end of the year good luck 
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lisa85
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Posted: 31 July 2009 at 9:53am |
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I agree, really good plan. I have thought about this too. For me it's either this or working full time at night so I can watch the girls during the day as we can't afford daycare. I have to admit I've been putting it off though as I'm unsure where to start lol.
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Bizzy
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Posted: 31 July 2009 at 10:02am |
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for me unless i really knew someone well i wouldnt go with a private arrangement but rather a mum who was with an organisation like porse or barnardos....
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SquishysMum
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Posted: 31 July 2009 at 10:02am |
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LOL Lisa, me too! I figured it couldn't hurt asking here, but figuring out where to start is hard.
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countingdown
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Posted: 31 July 2009 at 10:09am |
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Hi Catherine, I look after a little boy the same age as my son (16 mths), one and a half days a week. I do it through Porse which is great because they deal with the pay side of things, and I don't have the hassle of trying to find families if needed.
Even though I only do 13 hours I find it really busy, but manageable. I like to get out and do things so it's pretty tiring wrangling two toddlers in and out of cars, around the zoo, playgrounds etc, but they have fun and it makes the time go quicker!
I definitely wouldn't do it full time, (it's the hardest job I've done, and I'm a secondary teacher!) but that's just me, and I know of other people who do more hours and really enjoy it. I think you need to be happy being at home quite a lot.
I would recommend going with an organisation, I personally probably wouldn't put my son into care with a person who didn't have a backing if they had didn't have childcare qualifications (not saying that you wouldn't do a great job!). Anyway, sorry about the novel, hope some of this info helps.
Edited to add: I get paid $12 an hour but I think that's a bit more than the usual rate. And it's tax free which is great!
Edited by countingdown
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monikah
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Posted: 31 July 2009 at 10:19am |
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my sisters friend looks after bubs and has done since he was 9 weeks old while im at uni. i pay $9 an hour but thats just cos she is real broke and im helping her. i would only expect to pay about $6 or so as thats what ive been quoted other places. i would also expect to supply my own food, nappies, wipes etc...
you may struggle finding ppl that get reimbursements for child care if your arent registered because they wont get any of their money back and once the children are 3 they wont be able to claim back the free ECE hours. it may also be a bit harder as agencies match people with carers so they are similar ie. when i was looking at an agency they matched me with someone else who doesnt have the TV on if there are children around.
in saying that, i dont mean to be pessimistic, if you are looking after friends kids then it would probably work really well.
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first
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Posted: 31 July 2009 at 10:23am |
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Hi Catherine.
I have been looking after kids in my home for the same reason as you since my son was 5months. I do it through porse because they give you so much support and really look after you. I think as a parent unless I really knew someone as a freind then there would be no way that I'd get care unless through an organisation.
There are some huge benefits to using porse or something similiar as you gain access to there play centres plus they take care of the financial stuff and give you an idea of how much they think your particular service should be costing a parent.
To give you an indictation on pay I get paid $8 an hour which is not alot but I will be increasing it come the new financial year to $10hour.
happy hunting for the right situation for you.
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SquishysMum
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Posted: 31 July 2009 at 10:43am |
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Hi first,
Did you do your training before getting children in? I've emailed Porse to find out more, but I'm aware that a course takes 6 months, and I'm not sure we can wait that long IYKWIM.
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EmDee
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Posted: 31 July 2009 at 10:54am |
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Like Bizzy, unless I knew the person really well I wouldn't use a private carer. I use a local homebased care company and my SIL is my kids carer. It is a good arrangement for both of us. She doesn't have to worry about looking for kids to care for, or the pay side of things and she also has great support.
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countingdown
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Posted: 31 July 2009 at 10:56am |
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Training with Porse isn't compulsory, just encouraged. If you decide to do it then they organise it, but you do it alongside the care not before.
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Andriea
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Posted: 31 July 2009 at 11:13am |
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We have had nannies through porse as we had 4 children 2 preschool and 2 school aged and it was the cheapest and best option for us and you could get the winz childcare subsidy with them. One of our nannies was a friend who had no formal quals but had children herself. She trained through them and it worked out great. The only thing going with an agency might be that its taxed and therefore classed as income whereas privately its all cash. We currently had 2 children from 7-830 mon-fri before school (my daughters friend and her brother) we get $50 a week, every little bit helps.
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Snappy
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Posted: 31 July 2009 at 11:27am |
I am with porse too, they are really good and there's so much support. I have an early childhood educator that comes over every few weeks with lots of resources, there are free playgroups, forest playschools, zoo visits, fire station visits etc.
Also, with Porse the parents can get the WINZ subsidy, they wouldnt be able to get that otherwise.
The 19 week course is encouraged, there are 19 booklets and I managed to do 2 in one night
The other good thing is the taxable income is quite low, I charge $7 an hour and $3 of that is non-taxable, then you take off an amount per week for your mortgage/rent etc. It doesnt affect our WFF that much either.
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Looking after kids
