Definitely good to have. It puts a lot of pressure on the nanny knowing she can never take a day off without causing the family major problems. I hated being the only caregiver and having to go into work sick sometimes because they had no other options.

You need to network with parents and nannies, OP.

I have a few back-up options:

- a close friend who is semi-retired, loves our kids, and loves the extra cash. She's often available on short notice because of her semi-retired status.
- a woman in our neighborhood who is a live-in housekeeper with a family but likes to pick up extra work in the evenings or on weekends
- an agency I use - MetroParentRelief - whenever I will need all day care for a couple of days and my first backup isn't available

My backup care is my friend's dad who is a retired widow, my neighbor who works from home (though she's asked to be a last resort and prefers nap times and not more than 1-2 hours of awake time), and a friend in my DD's toddler playgroup who is a SAHM.

Hi - we used care.com to search for nannies that wanted part time work and found a few people. We interviewed them and told them exactly what we were looking for and found one we really liked. She came and sat for us a few times when we were out but close by.

We now call her when we need care. If she isn't working that day she comes over. It is not perfect and she is not always available for us since we can't guarantee her hours but it does cut down on some of the missed work.

I've seen a number of people talk about back up child care when their nanny or day care isn't an option. We have a nanny and no back up care and are wondering if there is some pool of nannies or specific day cares that are basically just back up options. We'd like to have back up care but don't really know how to even approach it. Do people advertise that they are seeking a back up nanny, etc.?