What does a typical daily routine with an au pair look like?
What does a perfectly ordinary day with an au pair actually look like? Does an au pair work mornings and afternoons? Can they take the children to school, cook lunch, or pick them up from nursery in the afternoon?
Families who are hosting an au pair for the first time in particular often wonder how they can sensibly build an au pair's support into their family's daily life.
Every family is different. What matters is that the working hours match the family's actual needs and that the legal framework of the au pair programme is respected.
In Germany, an au pair may generally help for up to six hours a day and a maximum of 30 hours a week. Babysitting also counts towards these working hours.
Mornings: support before nursery and school
For many families, the au pair's support begins in the morning.
Especially with several children, the time between getting up and leaving the house can be pretty hectic.
Depending on the children's ages, the au pair can, for example, help with the morning routine:
They can help with getting dressed, prepare breakfast, eat together with the children, pack lunchboxes and water bottles, or make sure school and nursery bags are complete.
Afterwards, depending on age, distance and what has been agreed, the au pair can take the children to nursery, kindergarten, a childminder or school on foot, by bike, by public transport or by car.
Especially in the morning, even an hour or an hour and a half of support can make a huge difference for a family.
Mid-morning: time for the German course
Once the children are at school or nursery, free time begins for many au pairs.
An important part of the au pair year is learning and improving the German language.
Many au pairs therefore attend a German course or language course mid-morning, either in person or online.
Beyond that, there is time for studying, friends, sport, errands, or simply a break.
Because an au pair is not automatically on duty just because they happen to be in the host family's house.
Midday: simple meals for the children
Depending on the family's daily rhythm, some children already come home at midday.
An au pair can help here too.
After being shown how by the host family, they can, for example, prepare simple, child-friendly meals or warm up food that has already been prepared.
At the start, host families should show what their children like to eat, what portions are usual, and whether allergies, intolerances or other special requirements need to be taken into account.
No one should assume that a young au pair from another country automatically knows what a German family means by “a quick lunch for the children”.
Show them a few simple dishes — independent routines can quickly develop from there.
Afternoons: picking children up and spending time together
For many families, the most important part of an au pair's support falls in the afternoon.
The au pair can pick the children up from school, nursery, kindergarten or a childminder and then shape the afternoon with them.
Depending on where the family lives and what has been agreed, this can be done on foot, by bike, bus and train, or in the family car.
After that, ordinary children's everyday life begins.
Perhaps it's off to the playground or the park. Perhaps there's crafting, building or reading aloud at home. In good weather the children spend the afternoon outdoors; in the rain they play in the children's room.
The au pair can also help with everyday routines, prepare a snack, or accompany the children to leisure activities and clubs.
With a child with a disability, too, it is above all everyday life
An au pair's daily routine with a child with a disability does not have to look fundamentally different.
Here too, they can help at the start of the day, accompany the child, play together, be outside, or structure the afternoon.
Perhaps the child uses a talker (speech-generating device) or supportive signing. Perhaps they need predictable routines or a little more time during transitions.
The family can show these individual particulars to the au pair and practise them together.
It remains important to draw a clear line: the au pair accompanies the child through everyday life. They do not take on medical, nursing or therapeutic specialist tasks.
Does an au pair need to be available from morning to evening?
No.
This is a particularly important point when planning the daily routine.
An au pair is not on duty from morning to evening just because their working hours are spread across the day.
Support can certainly be split across different times of day, if that is exactly what suits the family's needs.
One example might look like this:
- 7:00–8:30am: getting the children ready and taking them to school or nursery
- 8:30am–2:00pm: free / language course
- 2:00–6:30pm: picking the children up and afternoon care
That would add up to a total of six hours of au pair support.
The several hours in between are not standby time, but the au pair's free time.
Deploying working hours exactly where the family needs them
This is precisely one of the great advantages of an au pair.
One family might need support in the morning and then again only in the afternoon.
Another might need no help at all in the morning, but several hours after school finishes.
For a third family, particular edge-of-day times might be especially difficult, because a child cannot be left alone or siblings have different appointments at the same time.
The daily schedule may therefore be tailored individually to the family.
What matters is not that an au pair works six hours in one stretch.
What matters is that the agreed working hours are clear, plannable, and within the permitted hourly limits.
A good daily schedule creates security for both sides
Especially in the first few weeks, we recommend putting the daily and weekly routine in writing.
At Besondere Sterne, our host families receive templates for daily and weekly schedules for exactly this purpose.
That way, the au pair knows exactly:
When does my working time start? When am I free? Which child needs picking up when? What appointments are there? When is my language course?
And at the same time, the host family knows when they can firmly count on their au pair's support.
Because a good au pair daily routine doesn't have to be complicated.
Above all, it should do one thing:
Support the family exactly at the times support is needed — while giving the au pair enough room for their language course, free time, and their own life in Germany.
