Anyone use an au pair? or know someone who did?

[steph2003]

We might have the chance to consider having an au pair stay with us & take care of DS after my grandmother leaves in October. A good friend at work approached me knowing I was researching different child care situations for DS (he is enrolled at a nearby daycare but I'm keeping options open) anyway, she has a friend at church who is friends with a young women who came here from Brazil to be an au pair for a family. That did not work out (it is a long story & from what I understand no fault of the young women's) so now the Brazilian women would like to stay here, renew her VISA, (or however that works) so that she could take some classes here in the U.S. + improve her English speaking skills of course. So basically she is looking for another family. I don't know how any of it works other then she lives with a family who pays her a weekly stipend & in return she works so many hours a week for them watching the kid(s). Also, I think she needs use of a car.

So....sorry for rambling. I guess I'm just wondering if anyone out there has used an au pair or know someone who has! did it work out? pros/cons? thanks!

[C99]

I don't have an au pair, although if I had a bigger house, I might consider it. :) I have a friend who used an au pair, however. E-mail me if you'd like me to pass your information on to her.

[lizajane]

my parents used an au pair, but it was a different situation. a friend of theirs knew someone who wanted to spend the summer in the US. she knew my parents had a small child (my brother- he is 10 years younger than me) so they asked if my parents would be interested in hosting her in exchange for childcare. katerina- from austria- was absolutely wonderful! we just saw her two years ago in paris, where she is living with her husband. and my brother, the former toddler, just stayed with her in paris a month or two ago. (he is 19 now, so this must have been about 17 or 18 years ago that she came to the US for the summer!)

a friend of hers came for the summer with the same idea in mind, but anna marie did not work out as well. she didn't want to come help out with the kid, she wanted to come for vacation for free. my family is really nice and hospitable. so it wasn't a huge deal. but it wasn't so great, either.

neither of them were paid any money, they just got to stay for free, eat for free, and go wherever we went (on vacation, etc.)

[californiamom]

The Au Pairs program is regulated by the federal government and you can find more information here:
http://exchanges.state.gov/education/jexchanges/private/aupair_brochure.htm

Since there are only a few agencies in the US that are authorized to bring in Au Pairs through this program usually the upfront costs (health insurance, air tickets, training, etc) are pretty high --around $5K or $6K. But since the Au Pair you're considering is already here all those costs have already been covered by the original family and you'd only need to pay her weekly stipend -- this if you go the "official" route.

DH had a good friend in Spain that came to the US to be an Au Pair for a year. We are planning on hiring Au Pairs when DD is a bit older and we have our baby #2.

Good luck!
Ana

[steph2003]

I'd love for you to pass my info onto her....I clicked on your screen name but says user profile disabled. Here is my email
snixxy @ bellsouth.net (delete spaces of course!)

thanks for your help!!!

[ColorBlue]

I used to do some immigration law work when I was working so your question triggered the following thoughts...

I would just be careful that she is legally allowed to work for you. Most international students on visas are not allowed to work except in conjunction with a course of study...so if she changes her visa to a student visa and you employed her technically you'd be employing her illegally. So just make sure that if you hire her you do it through the agency that she has previously worked for...they would have the responsibility for making sure she is legally able to work.

HTH

Tracy

[hez]

A former boss (she's now a SAHM) had au pair's for her three boys. I think over the course of the years she had 5 or 6 of them, maybe more.

In general she always talked about it as a positive experience. She only had one au pair who didn't click with the family-- racking my brain to remember if they found a new au pair for the remainder of the year or if they stuck it out. Can't remember. Anyway, it was nice for my boss-- the kids were at home, the au pair became almost like part of the family, and obviously if the family did this 5 or 6 times, they liked the program pretty well. However, it was an adjustment every year to 'break in' the new au pair to their family, and the boys had a hard time saying good bye to the old au pair. She did like that they learned a few words in a few different languages along the way...

Our house isn't big enough to house one so we haven't looked into the program. I might consider it if it were.

[steph2003]

Tracy -
that is a good point. Those are the kinds of things I don't know about/don't think about.

LOL - our house really isn't that big either. We do have a modest sized guest room w/cable TV hookup though & a bathroom that she'd have to share with my DS (who only takes baths in there at this point!)