When should I get serious about looking for a nanny?

[Anonymous]

I will be in the market for a nanny next year when my second child is born. I'd love to find someone experienced in infant care, and heard DC Urban Moms and Dads is a great place to find someone. I'll be looking to bring someone on board in September and thought that might be good timing for a family who's children are going to school and no longer need a nanny. So my question is, when do I start looking? When might a family, or nanny, start thinking about sharing information about the availability of someone great? TIA for your advice.

[Anonymous]

If you are going to be looking for a Sep 16 start date, start looking in Apr or May.

[nannydebsays]

OP, not to get way off track here, but are you taking a longer than usual maternity leave? I was counting backwards on my fingers, and if you plan to take a 12 week leave you are about 4- 6 weeks pregnant. I think it's great you are looking ahead, but 10 months out from the potential start date is a lot!

That said, if you know friends who know people looking to help their nanny find a new position, it never hurts to network through neighborhood listserves and so on. A nanny whose charges are headed to FT school who doesn't want to be the housekeeper/nanny might be interested in making a change.

As a nanny, I would be willing to meet a family up to 3 months before they would need me to start, and IF they were willing to prepare and sign a contract AND to pay a significant retainer, I might even sign on as much as 8 weeks in advance of the start date.

More than 8 weeks out though, for me, is too much time for people to change their minds on all sorts of things, including whether mom is actually going to go back to work.

Good luck with your search next summer!

[Anonymous]

When are you due and how many months do you plan to be at home?

[Anonymous]

I am planning to take an extended leave from work. It's too early to start looking now, but I wouldn't want to miss out on a great candidate. Since employers know when their children are starting school, and whether their nanny will not be on board past the start of school, I was curious when they might start sharing info about a nanny's availability.

Thanks for your feedback!