I was told by our agency that the summer (esp. towards the end) is great because many families with older kids let long-term nannies go as the kids start school and don't need a FT nanny anymore.

As it turns out, this was true for us. Didn't plan it this way, but my maternity leave ended at the very end of July. And we found a wonderful person, who had been with her family for 14 years -- the family adored her but simply couldn't justify the FT expense anymore, and had begun to drastically reduce her hours in the last year.

Their loss, our gain ...

I have no idea. I hired someone excellent around February. It was simply when my maternity leave was ending. I'd assume end of the school year, end of summer, and right after holiday bonuses are given are all great times to look for a new nanny.

May/June or September/October seem to be common end dates for long-term relationships.

In my experience, I've found that October/November was the best time of year as well. Summertime has a much larger pool of caregivers, but most of them are temporary summer job seekers.

Is there a "best" time of year to find truly excellent, professional nannies who are looking for full-time, long-term work?

One friend suggested to me that October is the best time, because families will let their nannies go after the school year starts. I assumed people would plan that out ahead of time, but maybe I am wrong.