Planning work schedule around nanny

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I need to plan my work schedule for next year. I teach and can pretty much decide when I teach. I am planning on having a nanny watch my baby when I teach so I am trying to figure out when would be the best times for me to teach, i.e. what times of the day are most nannies most likely to be available. Do most nannies work 9am-5pm? Do nannies easily work in the evenings or is it hard to find a nanny after 5-6pm? I probably would work part time: if so, is it easier to find a nanny in the mornings rather than the afternoons b/c that's when kids go to school so maybe a nanny who works for another family would be available in the mornings? Are certain days of the week preferable in terms of easily finding a nanny? This is my first so I am clueless.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Anonymous]

In my experience, it is hard to find a PT nanny unless you do a nanny share. You could probably get a nanny for morning, afternoon, or evening work, but the trick is to find a share family whose schedule melds with yours. Start talking to friends, get references through the grapevine, and check out the listings on the DCUM nanny site. Once you start looking and talking with people you'll get a better sense of what's out there and what your options are.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

You should start posting searching for moms whose children are in preschool or school. I would post to the preschool section and neighbord listserve and maybe even contact some preschools near you to see if you can post anything there.

If you can schedule your classes in the mornings ending before noon you will be able to search within the preschool and elementary school set. You may get more interest from parents than a nanny posting. The problem is that most parents really do not like paying their nanny to do nothing while the kids are at preschool. Parents usually do not just reduce the nanny's hours they either switch to full day preschool or try to get the nanny to do housekeeping.

You can probably find a mom near you who would love for someone else to cover the nanny's morning hours. You want to work this out not as a traditional nanny ie the nanny doesn't get $30 an hour while watching your kids when her regulat charges are at school! You'll want to work out with the mom what happens on days the preschool is closed or the kids are sick and work out some type of extra compensation when the nanny watched both kids. You will also need to work out vacation and contribution toward bonus' etc but it should work.