Moms, where did you find your best nanny?

[Anonymous]

And how long does it take you to hire a nanny? How many of them you have to check before you hire the right one?

[Anonymous]

We had the best luck with recommendations from our friends' long-time nannies. They knew who was available and they didn't want to recommend anyone who wasn't good to their employer's friends. When we were looking, people told us to allow about six weeks, because nannies generally aren't looking for work months in advance (so if you find someone you really like three months before you need her, you're likely to have to pay her before you need her to keep her from finding another job.)

We hired the first person we interviewed -- had a good feeling about her -- but we called three references, in addition to the friend's nanny who recommended her, and also did a tryout day (where we paid her to work for a day in which we were sometimes home and sometimes not, so we could see how she interacted with our baby and how our baby seemed when we left and came back.)