Yep, I think au pair plus grandma is a great idea.

My mom took care of my first born for her first year and it was great. When the second was born three years later, I got full-time care for my eldest and then she took care of my newborn for a year. Although she would have done taken both full-time, I felt it was too much for her and too much to ask of someone and she would never have told me if it really was more than she wanted to take on. After the second child's first birthday, we got an au pair and my mom provides regular back-up care for both kids for sick days, vacation days, au pair vacation days, and also for date nights and long weekend overnights. It works great for us because we haven't burnt her out over the week, so she begs us to give her the kids more often - date nights and twice yearly long weekends away we have found have strongly improved our marriage.

I think we've found a great solution that works for all of us - we have reliable care in the au pair plus back-up care with my mom, the kids have their regular routine with their au pairs, who they've loved dearly plus lots of time with a really engaged excited-to-see-them grandma, our au pairs have had lots of time off and a flexible schedule so they can travel and take classes and get the most out of their year, and grandma has the kids at least once a week but can still have her own life and not be totally exhausted from being some child care provider for two kids.

Just our take hope you find something that works for you!

Au pair and them supplement with grandma. Cheapest solution for 3 kids and it will work perfectly with her 45-hour per week limit.

2 kids is a lot for grandma. I would get full time help, nanny or au pair and have grandma help. small children are exhausting, even for the best grandma.

How about a part time nanny, 3 days per week so grandma gets a rest?

I need help figuring out what our best options are for childcare. My husband and I both work full-time. We have a 6 year old (his son from a previous marriage), a 12 month old, and I'm pregnant again. That means we'll have three kids next year. The 6 year old is with us every morning before school, three nights a week, and every other weekend. The 12 month old stays home with his grandma since I went back to work after maternity leave. It's been great! But grandma is worried about having a 12 month old and a newborn to look after for a year. So the question is - what do we do when child #3 comes along?

I don't want to lose the benefit of having grandma raise the little ones but she's really not sure she can handle a newborn and a toddler by herself all day and I totally get it. My husband thinks we should hire an au pair and keep grandma. I feel like it may be a little bit overkill. Thoughts? The only thing left would be to get a nanny I guess.

Any thoughts on the best approach?