Nanny & Maternity Nurse FAQs

A Nanny is a professional childcarer who cares for children within their own home and in a one-to-one setting. Professional career Nannies are experienced in providing sole charge care and will be well-versed in all aspects of child development. A professional Nanny will be able to arrange and encourage age-appropriate activities that stimulate a child’s overall development, while overseeing your child’s physical, emotional and educational needs are met.

London Nanny Consultancy specialises in placing experienced, professional career nannies, many of whom are also formally qualified in childcare or similar. We carefully consider each candidate’s experience, personality and suitability for the individual family and position. We place both live-in and live-out nannies, as well as permanent and temporary nannies on a full-time basis. Live-in nannies should be provided with their own bedroom & bathroom within the family home, or with a form of separate accommodation (separate flat, annexe with a separate entrance or similar). This second option tends to be preferred amongst nannies (but also parents), as it gives everyone more privacy and can support a long-term working relationship. Live-out nannies, also known as daily nannies, commute to and from their place of work each day. Their working hours operate around a traditional full-time working day.

A nanny may work on a sole charge basis, where they have primary responsibility for the children while the parents are otherwise occupied, or on a shared-care basis, working together with parents or another nanny. Some positions combine both sole & shared care responsibilities. 

We recruit Nannies for a wide variety of families and positions, including live-in nannies, live-out nannies, travelling nannies, international nannies, rota nannies and private household nannies. 

 

Nannies will be responsible for all ‘nursery duties’, meaning everything related to the children and their day-to-day care. This can include ensuring all their physical needs are met, such as feeding, cooking/preparing their meals, changing, dressing, personal hygiene, nap times and bedtime, Nursery duties can also include attending to the children’s rooms and belongings, such as laundry and ironing of children’s clothes, shopping for clothes and toys, and keeping their bedrooms and play areas tidy.

A professional Nanny’s main focus is child development & education of the children. They will arrange and encourage age-appropriate and stimulating activities, support children’s learning and development, teach good manners, supervise homework, teach children English or another language.

Live-in and International Nannies may also travel with families and help to research and organise child-friendly activities and experiences when travelling. 

Working hours can vary based on individual families. Full-time nanny positions typically range from 5-6 days a week, 10-12 hours a day to positions where a 24-hour cover might be required, either 5 or 6 days a week. Live-in nannies usually tend to provide 2 evenings of babysitting a week (included in their salary), whereas live-out (or daily) nannies need to be paid extra for any evening babysitting.

Live-out nannies tend to work 8-10 hours a day, whereas live-in nannies’ hours usually range from 10-12 hours a day.

For rota, travelling and UHNW positions, working patterns and periods of time off will be agreed in advance and should be clearly set out in the employment contract. The exact duties, working hours, days off and expectations should always be discussed and agreed between the family and nanny before the position begins. 

 

Nanny salaries vary depending on the individual requirements of the position and the level of experience & qualifications and responsibility required. More experienced nannies, particularly those working within private, UHNW or international households, will understandably command higher salaries.

Nanny Salary Guideline:

Live-out Nanny – London & Surrey: £50,000 – £70,000+ gross per annum

Live-in Nanny – London & Surrey: £45,000 – £65,000+ gross per annum 

International Nanny: £55,000 – £75,000+, with highly experienced nannies commanding up to £100,000+ per annum

Rota Nanny: £70,000 – £100,000+ gross per annum, per nanny

Specialist Nanny/Highly Experienced Nanny: £100,000+ per annum, with exceptional candidates and particularly demanding positions commanding more.

These figures are intended as a general market guide and are not guaranteed rates. Individual salaries will vary accordingly to the role and candidate. London Nanny Consultancy provides tailored salary guidance for each position based on the experience and calibre of nanny required, the destination and responsibilities of the role. 

In addition to the nanny’s gross salary, families should budget for the wider cost of employing a nanny. For UK employment, the family is responsible for meeting their employer obligations, including National Insurance, workplace pension requirements and sick pay. The nanny’s income tax and employee National Insurance are normally deducted from their gross salary through the appropriate payroll arrangements. 

For international positions, the overall package will include accommodation, flights, visa/work permit costs, sick leave, transport allowance, medical insurance, meals and other benefits. 

 

An International Nanny is a professional Nanny employed by a family residing outside the UK. These positions often include frequent international travel and flexible working hours.

An International Nanny needs to be provided with suitable private accommodation, either within the employer’s home or in separate accommodation, such as a hotel, nanny apartment or other suitable independent accommodation for their use during their time off.

International nannies need to have their travel expenses associated with the role covered by the employing family, including agreed travel and accommodation expenses for interviews or trials where applicable. The employing family should ensure appropriate medical & travel insurance is in place, as well as any necessary work permit and visa is obtained.

International nanny positions can vary considerably. Some roles involve regular international travel, while others are based permanently overseas. Families may required additional skills such as languages, newborn expertise, educational experience, or previous experience working within UHNW, Royal or private households.  We work with families from all over the world and regularly recruit professional English-speaking nannies and governesses for international positions. 

We have worked with families from all over the world, including Monaco, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Jordan, Kuwait, Cape Town, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Singapore & Hong Kong, Paris, Geneva, Zurich, as well as many other international locations. 

Rota nannies are becoming more and more popular and in demand with busy fully staffed households worldwide to ensure a continuous non-stop cover is provided in terms of childcare. In practical terms, this means a family might employ two nannies who each work on 2 weeks on/2 weeks off rota pattern, often providing a 24-hour cover when on duty (this tends to be the most common arrangement, however other might be possible, such as 1 week on/1 week off and similar).

Rota nannies often tend to work internationally and/or are required to travel with their employer; when on duty they are provided with accommodation. Accommodation off duty can either be the nanny’s own or again arranged by the employer for the two nannies to share.

Salaries for rota nannies vary and are usually quoted as a fixed monthly amount so that a stable income for the nanny is ensured. Alternatively, especially when it comes to short-term arrangements, salaries might be quoted just for the weeks worked (and will have to reflect the amount of hours worked, i.e. a 24-hour cover).

A Governess is a professional and often university educated childcare professional whose sole focus is the educational development of the children they are hired to look after. Unlike nannies who can look after children of any age, including babies, governesses specialise in caring for older children – pre-school and school aged children. Their focus is on overall child’s development but they will not be responsible for attending to the child’s physical needs and will therefore not perform duties such as cooking meals, bathing, washing children’s laundry, tidying their rooms, and similar. Governesses are often hired to help children with their school work, teach languages, liaise with schools, manage children’s academic and social diary or arrange private tutors for specialised subjects and school entrance exams.

Working hours tend to be shorter than for nannies, this however can be very individual and a great deal of flexibility is often required, especially with international families.

Governess Salary Guideline:

London & Surrey: £600 – £1200 net per week (live-in and live-out, depending on experience, hours & duties required; app. £800 – £1600 gross pw).

International: £1500+ net per week

A Maternity Nurse is a newborn baby care specialist (non-medical), who comes to your home shortly after you have had your baby and offers a 24-hour cover, either 5 or 6 days a week. The main role of a Maternity Nurse is to assist new parents with all aspects of newborn baby care and guide and support them with whatever issues they and their new baby might be experiencing – general baby care, breastfeeding & bottle feeding, establishing a routine if required, looking after the new mum so that she can recover after giving birth, washing & ironing of baby’s clothes, bathing, etc. Often experienced maternity nurses are able to offer advice and support with common issues such as colic, reflux, and similar.

Maternity nurses will work on a live-in basis and their placements are temporary in nature – once babies are around 3 or 4 months old, a Nanny usually takes over. If your circumstances allow and you would like to have the support of a Maternity Nurse for longer, i.e. 4-6 months or so, and have the 24-hour help, some of them are happy to stay in placements longer term too. Although Maternity Nurses are on call for 24 hours, they also need a few hour’s rest. Some Maternity Nurses only provide a night cover – Night Maternity Nurse; usually from 7pm to 7am.

Rates vary depending on experience, location, and whether they are looking after a single or multiple babies: £350/£450+ gross per 24 hours covered in the UK, £400/£500+ gross per 24 hours covered overseas (for a single baby, rates for multiples are higher).

Maternity Nurses are self-employed and set their own rates; they are responsible for their own tax & NI contributions.

A Private PA (Personal Assistant) is a member of the household, often fully staffed, whose main duties include: all administrative support and correspondence, overseeing household staff and their work schedules and dealing with staff admin (often in multiple properties), travel & diary management – bookings, reservations, managing household bills & expenses, basic book keeping, managing purchases, shopping/online shopping, research, event planning, personal errands; international travel might be required too. Working hours vary from part-time to full-time and on a live-in basis, mostly however PAs work on a live-out basis or remotely. Hiring a reliable and organised Private PA will really make a difference to any busy household and will take the stress of many a situation for the Principal – be it organising an important event, shortlisting suitable properties for viewings or organising a last minute trip overseas.

Sometimes a Nanny looking after school-aged children might be able to and interested in offering some PA support to her employers – occasionally there can be Nanny/PAs available too. The extra duties will have to be reflected in the nanny’s salary.

PA Salary Guideline:

From £30/35k pa – £80k+ pa (depending on experience, location, working hours & duties required)

From the Client’s point of view, we focus on attracting the best possible candidate for your role – first we listen to you and understand your needs, then we start working on your search by contacting suitable candidates on our register andattracting new candidates by advertising your role.

We are very selective in our recruitment process and will only present you with candidates that we believe meet your criteria, not only in terms of experience and qualifications, but their personality and suitability for your family too.  We would rather introduce a small number of high-calibre, suitable candidates than send you dozens of CVs that do not meet the requirements.

From the Candidate’s point of view, once you have applied for one of our roles and have sent us your CV, we will be in touch if we believe we can help find you a new position and will finalise your registration process. You will be asked to complete our detailed Application Form and provide us with your ID documents, qualifications and relevant certificates, including a First Aid certificate and an up-to-date DBS check (please enquire about how to update these). You will also need to provide at least two verifiable references from previous employers. We will then schedule an interview to determine your suitability and understand your experience and preferences. Once registered, we will support you throughout the hiring process and assist with communication between you and the family as the placement progresses. 

You can rely on our professional and personal approach. Once you have registered your role with us and we have discussed your requirements and agreed to start the search, we will identify and introduce candidates who appear suitably matched to your role. We can help arrange interviews between you adn shortlisted candidates, whether by phone, video call or in person. We can provide guidance and support with negotiating the proposed terms between you and your chosen candidate. The final contract is between the Client and Candidate, and we recommend that clients obtain independent legal or tax advice where required. For international placements, we can assist with practical arrangements relating to the placement. We also offer post-placement support and will be in contact with you after the placement commences to make sure things are going as expected. 

The same goes for our Candidates – we are here to listen and to help advance your career – you can expect advice and support from us which goes beyond the initial interview process, and you can rely on us to work with you to make sure you are happy in your new position.