We get it. You have finally found a rhythm that works, and the only thing standing between you and keeping it is what ongoing care costs each week. So you start reading about a nanny share, where two families use the same nanny at the same time, and you wonder whether it is the clever solution everyone says it is or a complication waiting to happen.
The honest answer is that it depends on far more than the hourly rate. Here is what a share actually involves, where it works beautifully, where families find it starts to fray, and how to decide which version suits the life you are actually living.
What a nanny share actually is
A nanny share is one nanny caring for the children of two families in the same session, usually based at one family’s home. It is not the same as a nanny who works for two different families on separate days. That second arrangement is simply part time work for two employers, and it carries none of the shared logistics below.
In a genuine share, the children are together. They nap in the same house, eat at the same table, and head to the park as one group. The nanny is effectively running a small mixed age household rather than following one family’s routine. That single fact drives every advantage and every headache that follows.
Nanny share vs your own nanny: the honest trade offs
Where a share genuinely shines
- The cost per family drops. This is the reason most families start the conversation, and it is a real saving rather than a marketing one.
- Your child has company all day. For an only child, or a toddler who lights up around other children, this can be worth as much as the money.
- Gear and space get shared. Two families pooling a cot, a double pram and a garden full of toys is less duplication in two already crowded homes.
- Quiet weeks hurt less. When one family travels, the nanny still has hours, which makes the role more secure and easier to keep filled.
Where a share gets complicated
- Two households, two sets of rules. Screen time, snacks, how a tantrum is handled, whether a dummy comes out at nap time. Small differences feel trivial in the first conversation and enormous by month three.
- One sick child can stop everything. If one family sends a child with a temperature, the other family’s child is exposed and the whole arrangement is under strain. If they keep the child home, they are paying for care they are not receiving.
- Naps rarely line up. A six month old and a three year old want completely different days, and the nanny has to serve both at once.
- Somebody’s house takes the wear. The host family gets the convenience and also the mess, the noise and the strangers at the door.
- Exits are abrupt. When one family moves suburbs or changes hours, the other absorbs the full cost with very little notice.
What your own nanny gives you that a share cannot
With your own nanny, the day bends around your child rather than around a compromise between two families. A tricky sleeper gets settled the way you settle them. A child having a hard week gets the undivided attention that a group of four simply cannot offer.
The other difference families underestimate is what happens during nap time and quiet hours. Your own nanny can fold the washing, prep the dinner and reset the playroom while your child sleeps. In a share, that time belongs to two families at once, so most of those tasks quietly fall off the list. If that side of things matters to you, say so early, because it rarely survives a shared arrangement.
You also keep your flexibility. Changing your hours, adding a Friday, finishing early for a swimming carnival: with your own nanny, that is a conversation with one person. In a share it is a negotiation with another household whose calendar is just as full as yours.
How our nanny rates work
Our ongoing nannying is priced per hour by the number of children in care, not per family. Monday to Saturday that is $56 per hour for one or two children, $60 for three, $65 for four and $70 for five. On Sundays it is $70, $72, $75 and $77. All rates are GST inclusive. Ongoing nannying covers 10 to 37 hours a week and carries a $500 non refundable recruitment fee, which pays for the search, the shortlisting and the screening that happens before you meet anybody.
That per child structure is why the share question comes up. Four children in one session sits at $65 an hour rather than two separate bookings, so the arithmetic looks appealing on paper. Whether a shared arrangement can be set up, and how the booking and the invoice would work, is genuinely worth a conversation with us before either family commits to anything. Full rates for every service are on our pricing page.
Settle these six things before you commit
These are the conversations to have with the other family, ideally written down while everyone is still cheerful about the idea.
- Whose home, and on which days. Rotating sounds fair and is often the first thing to collapse. Pick one base if you can.
- The illness rule. Agree the exact temperature, symptom and time frame that keeps a child home, and agree whether that day is still paid.
- The everyday rules. Screen time, snacks, outings, car seats, how bickering gets handled. Write down where you differ, not just where you agree.
- Notice. How much warning does one family owe the other before leaving, and what happens to the nanny’s hours in the meantime.
- Holidays and public holidays. Both families’ leave will not line up. Decide now who pays what when only one family is home.
- Who talks to the nanny. One point of contact for the day to day. Nothing unravels a share faster than two parents giving a carer different instructions before nine in the morning.
The part you never have to organise
Notice that none of the six above is about the carer. That is deliberate, and it is our job rather than yours.
Every carer at The Care Collective is fully screened before they ever meet a family. Only around the top twenty per cent of applicants make it through. Each one holds current First Aid and CPR, a valid Working with Children Check, and references we have already contacted and checked ourselves. They are employed by us and insured as our employees rather than working as contractors, which is a much bigger practical difference than it sounds. You can read exactly how that works on our screening process page.
If you are still weighing up the shape of the role itself, our guides to a nanny versus a babysitter and how to choose a nanny are the natural next reads.
Frequently asked questions
Does a nanny share always cost less than your own nanny?
Per family, yes, because the hourly rate is set by the total number of children rather than by how many families are paying. What the numbers do not show is the cost of the compromises: fewer household tasks done, less flexibility, and a day built around a group rather than around your child.
What happens when one family’s child is sick?
Whatever the two families agreed in advance, which is why the illness rule belongs in writing before day one. Families who skip that conversation almost always end up having it in the middle of a bad morning instead.
Can a share work when the children are very different ages?
It can, and often the older child adores the younger one. The strain sits in the middle of the day, when one child needs a long nap and the other needs to be out of the house. Two children within a year or so of each other is far easier than a baby paired with a preschooler.
What if we try a share and it does not work?
Then you change it. Plenty of families start with a share, learn what they actually need, and move to their own nanny or to regular babysitting instead. Nothing here has to be permanent, and it is much easier to adjust when you have agreed a notice period at the start.
Let us help you work out which one fits
You do not have to decide this alone or on a spreadsheet at eleven at night. Tell us your hours, your children’s ages and what you actually need covered, and we will tell you honestly which arrangement fits, including when the answer is that a share is not the right call for your family.
You can book a nanny whenever you are ready, or get in touch for a proper conversation first. Call us on 0451 394 018 or email hello@thecarecollectivegroup.com.au. We are here to lighten your load, not add another decision to it.
