u/Express-Bug-7137

I’m looking to take a mommy daughter trip with my baby girl in February. She will be 9 months old. We will be traveling from the Southeast. Willing to fly (4 hours or less preferred) and prefer to leave the southeast. I want it to be something beautiful and memorable with lots of photo opportunities to save our memories as my baby grows older. Something kind of low stakes as far as having a flexible itinerary that can ebb and flow based on how my baby is feeling. Definitely down to get outside and stroll though! Any recs appreciated!

I’m looking to take a mommy daughter trip with my baby girl in February. She will be 9 months old. We will be traveling from the Southeast. Willing to fly (4 hours or less preferred) and prefer to leave the southeast. I want it to be something beautiful and memorable with lots of photo opportunities to save our memories as my baby grows older. Something kind of low stakes as far as having a flexible itinerary that can ebb and flow based on how my baby is feeling. Definitely down to get outside and stroll though! Any recs appreciated!

I’m coming from r/aupair after realizing that an au pair probably will not be the best fit for my upcoming situation.

Starting next summer I will be a resident physician on a military base somewhere in the southeastern United States. My schedule will be hectic, busy, and unpredictable at times. I am a single mother to a baby girl who will be about 12 months old when the time comes.

I will have her enrolled in daycare. However, because of my work hours, I will more than likely need help with early mornings to drop her off (perhaps 5am-6am timeframe) and evening pickups/taking care of her until I am home from work. I will probably average 6 days of work a week, meaning most weeks will require care on one weekend day when daycares are closed. Some months I might cover night float, where I sometimes work nights and would need someone at my home while she is sleeping and to care for her in case she wakes up.

An au pair is not a good fit because I will not be available enough to provide the kind of support and cultural exchange that most au pairs are looking for. Apparently many au pairs are also not comfortable with babies/do not have experience with young children, which I do certainly hope for given my daughter will still be very little.

What kind of nanny arrangement should I am for/what would I need to do to make this attractive for a nanny?

I am certainly happy to offer guaranteed hours, an additional weekly stipend if that helps. I felt someone live-in was probably most realistic, which is why I went down the au pair route initially. Most people don’t want to wake up and go to someone else’s home at 4:30am, but I figured it wouldn’t be as bad for an au pair who was living with me.

Any feedback or ideas from people who have experience dealing with a similar situation/structure is greatly appreciated! I understand my situation is unique and I appreciate that I would be asking someone to work not super desirable hours. Thanks in advance for any help!

Next year I will be a resident physician. I am a single mother to a little girl who will be 13 months old by then. I will more than likely be located near a military installation in the southeastern United States, and I will certainly need childcare help given the abnormal hours I will work. I will have my baby girl in day care, but would need help most mornings with drop off and some evenings with pick up based on my long work days. I would probably need help one weekend day per week with about one weekend entirely off each month. I would obviously be providing all of the requirements for an au pair (her own room, food, stipend, all of that good stuff), and I would also provide her with her own vehicle and phone. I would be willing to pay more than the weekly minimum stipend, and this will be in a small to midsized city that may not be super exciting but would at least have things to do. It would be me, the au pair, my baby, and my cat at home. She would pretty much be free to do whatever when I am not working.

Would this sort of arrangement be suitable for an au pair?