As a former professional nanny, I would line-up my substitutes. The parents totally trusted my judgment.

Anonymous wrote:Do you have any friends whose nanny you could borrow?

We did this once when our nanny had to leave on a family emergency for 2 weeks. Our friend's nanny that did housework and errands while the kids were in elementary school came over and watched our kids instead. It worked out perfectly because she could only watch our 2 kids until 2 because her charges got out at 2:35, and we only needed someone from 9-1:30-2 because my spouse was able to leave work after core hours were over at her job.

Nannies are not furniture that your can borrow when your chair is broken. They accept jobs to work for one family, not to be loaned out as if they were slaves. Everyone with child knows they must have several backup plans for child care in case nanny gets sick, daycare closes early, inclement weather.

Do your employers offer backup childcare as a benefit, OP? You should be able to cobble something together if both of you have it.

What is your usual backup plan if nanny is unavailable?

Do you have any friends whose nanny you could borrow?

We did this once when our nanny had to leave on a family emergency for 2 weeks. Our friend's nanny that did housework and errands while the kids were in elementary school came over and watched our kids instead. It worked out perfectly because she could only watch our 2 kids until 2 because her charges got out at 2:35, and we only needed someone from 9-1:30-2 because my spouse was able to leave work after core hours were over at her job.

We asked a friend's au pair to come over while her kids were in school for a week or two while our nanny was on vacation. Basically covered 9-2. We paid her well for it, yes I know it was illegal. Everyone was happy with the arrangement.

During the summer I'd get a teen to help if possible and WFH those days to supervise.

Yes finding a reliable back up care solution is a good idea. Either a host of other sitters you can patch together, or a drop in type of place. We were lucky that my mom was always willing to fill in gaps of childcare like this. She never wanted to do full time, but 1 or 2 weeks was perfect for her.

This gets easier as your kids get older too. Throwing money at the problem is the best way.

Some colleges let out early May so still worth posting on local list serve. Otherwise care.com.

Firstly, we put in our contract that our nanny takes half their vacation when we're on vacation. Secondly we would hire someone else or do a combo of DH taking time off, me taking time off, hiring a nice neighborhood kid after school, or flying in MIL and FIL who were happy to pitch in (though we would never ask for two solid weeks - more like a week of mornings or something).

OP here. Whew, that felt good to get off my chest!

Thank you to those who responded helpfully. Unfortunately, this is mid May, so I don't think a college student would be an option. I am totally fine with a much less frills. In fact, even if someone could just come like 9-1, play with the kids, put the baby down for a nap, then take the older kid to the park, bring him home, feed him lunch (which we're happy to make) and leave, we'd be great. But since they will go to the park and thus be out of our sight, I would prefer someone vetted.

What agency do folks use for stuff like this?

Back up care through an agency. Worth it to have them just give us someone already vetted.

Save your sanity and get help! Look on care.com, Sitter City, or the local nanny/babysitter Facebook groups. You'll definitely be able to find someone, but I agree that you might have to lower your expectations regarding quality for this short-term period. Also agreed that if you can work from home, this will be a good extra layer of oversight.

Get a backup sitter either from an agency or word if mouth.

is it over the summer? you would probably be able to find a college student home over the summer who could pick up the gig. You post on your neighborhood listserv and/or facebook and vet candidates as they come in (talk with them, ask for a few refrences etc). In my experieince, you should start looking about 4-5 weeks ahead, if it is over the summer. You are working from home, so that can provide an additional layer of 'protection/' awarness.

Frankly, you are likely to need to change your expectations regarding the 'quality' of what you are looking for. You are working for a two week babysitter and not a nanny. You want someone responsible, kind, with good judgement, etc. Your nanny might cook super nutrituous toddler meals; with a two week babysitter, your kid might eat mac n' cheese and cooked carrots/broccoli ever day. The person probably won't be doing the dishes or putting the kids' laundry away etc. Your child might read less books with the babysitter, etc. The level of maturity in a full-time nanny vs. someone to do a two week babysitting gig is probably a little different.
things have not always been perfect, but this general strategy has worked for us over the summer.
Also, there are frequently nannys that are between gigs; you might have a friend of a friend who is done with a nanny who has a few weeks before her full time job starts up.

Our nanny is taking a two week vacation in a few months. She is wonderful and absolutely deserves some time off.

What do other people do in this situation? Two weeks is a lot of time for us to take off work. We can work from home, so we could try and patch together enough breaks in our work day to cover the kids. That would be fine for a day or two, but two full weeks would be rough. We don’t have any family or friends who aren’t working. The kids will be 9 months and 2.5 years. Honestly just the baby we could handle, and the 2.5 year old takes a long afternoon nap, but in the morning, he really needs to be out playing at the park for a long stretch. Are there places you can do drop in care? We’re in Columbia Heights. Or are there temp nannies? How do you vet them?