We started looking in early Sept for mid to late Oct. I agree that most nannies are looking to start soon after the offer is extended.

My other advice would be that the process moves quickly. We did 3 rounds of interviews (video screener, park visit, home observation) in like 10ish days. If you take too long, you’ll find candidates withdraw to accept other offers.

2 months should be fine. A lot of nannies will need jobs in September.

TES684 wrote:OP here - I wasn't really expecting a nanny to "wait for me," I was thinking they would just know when their services wouldn't be needed any longer with another family, e.g. if kids were starting school. That said, I know COVID will make this tricky because families are unlikely to be certain what school is looking like even next fall (I don't think we are going to see any normalcy until at least 2022). But I guess the consensus is that I am way off base, huh? I'm such a planner, I hate this idea of having a baby and having NO idea what their childcare will look like. What if I can't find anyone at all and I can't go back to work? Ugh!

I worried about that too. That's why I started looking six weeks before I had to go back to work. To be honest, we found someone who would be okay - she wasn't great, we weren't enthusiastic about her, but we thought the baby would be safe with her. So we kept looking, knowing that we might offer her the job if we didn't find someone else. But luckily we did.

And I'll just tell you now - nannies are people, not robots. People get sick, have emergencies, shit happens. So line up your backup care - you can do that before your nanny search starts. We have a neighbor who is a writer and has always worked from home (she flat out said, call me last), we have my friend's retired father (great with infants, but energetic toddlers wear him out after an entire day), and in an emergency DH or I can either bring our kids to work or work from home with them. If we have a planned reason our nanny will be out (surgery or vacation or something) we can fly in my MIL. So we have a decent number of backup options.

TES684 wrote:OP here - I wasn't really expecting a nanny to "wait for me," I was thinking they would just know when their services wouldn't be needed any longer with another family, e.g. if kids were starting school. That said, I know COVID will make this tricky because families are unlikely to be certain what school is looking like even next fall (I don't think we are going to see any normalcy until at least 2022). But I guess the consensus is that I am way off base, huh? I'm such a planner, I hate this idea of having a baby and having NO idea what their childcare will look like. What if I can't find anyone at all and I can't go back to work? Ugh!

You’ll find someone.

If you want to have it all figured out before the birth, interview around your seventh month for a start date a week before your due date. Expect to pay for 30-40 hours per week through your maternity leave. Tag team with the nanny, get some sleep, take a shower, have her handle the baby clothes and bottle sterilization, etc. If you don’t want to go that route, wait to interview during your maternity leave.

OP here - I wasn't really expecting a nanny to "wait for me," I was thinking they would just know when their services wouldn't be needed any longer with another family, e.g. if kids were starting school. That said, I know COVID will make this tricky because families are unlikely to be certain what school is looking like even next fall (I don't think we are going to see any normalcy until at least 2022). But I guess the consensus is that I am way off base, huh? I'm such a planner, I hate this idea of having a baby and having NO idea what their childcare will look like. What if I can't find anyone at all and I can't go back to work? Ugh!

I’m an aberration, because I look 1-3 months ahead. Most nannies look to start immediately to at most a month out. If you’re going with a agency and you think you’re going to be harder to place (special needs, lots of experience and education, weird schedule, etc), give them a few extra weeks.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - woah! So I have to wait until May or beyond? That sounds incredibly stressful. I was thinking I was going to start my search in February or March.

Unless you intend to start paying her in March, wait until a month before you want her to start. No nanny is going to wait for you.

Another one here to say IME nannies generally look when they're more or less ready to go with a new position. Our nanny was available immediately, though she was willing to wait a couple of weeks for us since we interviewed 'early,' but it can and does usually happen very quickly once you find the right nanny.

That said, with you looking at a Sept. start date you might get lucky looking early. the beginning of the school year is probably the biggest scheduled turnover time for nannies, since that's when kids start moving on to kindergarten. So, you could try. But honestly, you really don't have to worry about starting a few weeks before you return to work. There are a ton of great nannies in this area and the ones who are looking are usually available more or less immediately. And the PPs who've said you'll want to see the nanny interact with your baby are spot on.

I hired my nanny (who I adore) from care.com. I think I posted the job on a Sunday, texted with her maybe Wednesday, met her Sunday, and she started Monday. So about a week from posting to starting. Maybe this is unusual, she was the 5th nanny I interviewed, and we just clicked. I was super stressed about the process too, but most nanny’s I met with were looking to start pretty immediately. There are some good resources online about how to interview and hire nannies.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - woah! So I have to wait until May or beyond? That sounds incredibly stressful. I was thinking I was going to start my search in February or March.

Don’t waste your time. Probably 95% of nannies looking in February would be looking for positions to start in the next couple of months. Even if you do sign someone up so early, really, there is no guarantee a nanny won’t change her mind for whatever reason and then you’d be even under more stress that you lost someone you have lined up. By same token the nanny would be worried that you may change your mind - e.g. decide to quit your job and stay with the baby. It’s just too early and too uncertain for a nanny to really make such a firm commitment when the baby is still not here. You’d also be able to much more concretely describe what you want / need from a nanny once the baby is born. So, you could keep an eye on nanny ads, work on formulating an ad, decide where you want to place that ad, put notice on neighborhood list serve or an agency, but do not expect to seriously interview someone until July / August.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - woah! So I have to wait until May or beyond? That sounds incredibly stressful. I was thinking I was going to start my search in February or March.

You are going to want to see how the nanny interacts with the baby. If the baby is still inside you, that would be super awkward. You are going to want to be able to share as much as you know about your baby - he likes to be swaddled but with his right arm out, she likes to face this window when taking a bottle, etc.

OP here - woah! So I have to wait until May or beyond? That sounds incredibly stressful. I was thinking I was going to start my search in February or March.

I started my nanny search six weeks before I had to go back to work. So, while on my maternity leave. It took the full six weeks (minus 4 days).

We used an agency and told them what our household was like, that we wanted someone long term (like over five years), that we have a dog, etc.

Generally nannies are not going to plan to come to you five months before you're ready for them to start. That's simply not how the profession works. So you're not going to line up a nanny in May for September.

Start looking from May / June. I found interviewing nannies helpful. In my experience most are looking to start as soon as possible or within the next month. So you don’t want to look too early cause they wouldn’t wait for you, unless you’re willing to hire a candidate a bit earlier. But you don’t want to leave it also too late that it becomes stressful. So start putting ads / feelers for nannies in May, with objective to be seriously interviewing by July.

If I am not due until May, 2021, when is the right time to start a nanny search and what is the best way to do it? We would need someone to start in September, 2021. Seems crazy to even be thinking about this now, but I don't want to turn into the women I know who have been looking for a nanny while they are on maternity leave. I want someone lined up and ready to go.