OP, I agree that unless it's impossible to afford to pay FT wages while you are on maternity leave, you need to hire someone FT and pay them for FT hours from the start.

Is this your first baby? If so, you'll probably want to find someone who would be willing to start out being available for some overnight duty while you and baby get used to each other. Then when you do start working again, you'll need additional time to relax, and having that FT help available will let you do just that when necessary.

If this is your second baby, you may want/need more help with your oldest than you think you will, and having someone available for FT hours will be a huge blessing, allowing you to have double coverage and spend some extra time with your older kid.

Either way, nothing always goes exactly as planned when it comes to babies, and unless you have family in the area that can potentially step in to cover your needs a lot of the time, IMO hiring someone FT from the start is the way to go.

op,

We ended up finding our full time nanny this way. i needed someone part-time to help out when dh returned to work. i took full 6 weeks to recover from c-section and had to EP for almost a yr, as bf-ing didn't work out. nanny was in b/n jobs at this point --had just finished working for previous family for 6 yrs. she helped us out for 4 hrs a day when dd was 6 weeks old as a favor to my friend, mutual acquaintance. after a week or so we realized that we really liked each other. we gradually upped her to 6 hrs and then 7 hrs. she took 3 weeks off unpaid during december/january. i returned to work at 14 weeks and she came on board full time. we were both lucky. she had turned down more money from another family b/c she didn't like the vibe she got from them. a month after i returned to work, my onsite day care called and said we were off the waiting list, but we had already committed to her. DD is now 29 months old and DC#2 arrives in 4 weeks. intend to pay her for both kids as soon as we return from hospital. Dh and I plan to rest during the day so we can be awake for night feedings, etc. also hope to spend time w/ DD when not nursing DC#2.

There was a thread maybe a week ago where the MB was baffled as to why the nanny she hired for when she would go back to work, but only paid her for 3 days per week before then, was flaking now that it was time to go full time. Nannies work full time schedules or they work part time schedules. Anyone working part time either has other commitments or they don't want to work tht many hours. Anyone working full time is dependent upon the income. Either hire a temp nanny for now, hire your eventual full time nanny and pay her for the schedule you want her to be available for, or expect to be here again in a few months wondering why things didnt work out and have all the MBs tell you it wasn't your fault.

Would you want to take that risk financially. Would you be ok with at will payments for three months. Hire a short term, then lomg.

Anonymous wrote:You hire a full-time nanny-the nanny you want for the long haul-and pay her full-time. Most nannies are looking for full-time hours and will not accept fewer hours (even temporarily). If you want to hire and keep a nanny...this is your best option.

This. Most nannies who are willing to accept part-time either can't handle/don 't want full-time, or are desperate for a job, but will quit if something comes along. Begin as you mean to go on.

You hire a full-time nanny-the nanny you want for the long haul-and pay her full-time. Most nannies are looking for full-time hours and will not accept fewer hours (even temporarily). If you want to hire and keep a nanny...this is your best option.

We are expecting to have our baby in early May. Since I have some work flexibility, I am planning on taking 3 months off, but really easing back into work 1 day a week in the second month, and then maybe 2 days a week in the second month. I am hoping I could hire someone who can make that transition with me, but realize it will not be full time hours, until after month three. I don't want to get a part time person, have the baby get used to them, and then have to hire another person. Am I being realistic? What would the best way to handle this be? I might be open to doing 50% in month 2 (Even though I will be home for mat leave)- but curious to know how you have handled the transition if you are easing back into work.