Nanny here who has done shares for several years. I recommend you start your search when you have enough information to decide what you need. You'll want to know some basic things like what your work and commute time will be when you return to the office, what tasks you need your nanny to help with (to determine pay), what type of parenting style you are look for. I am would be more willing to accept an employment offer four months out from a family who appears know what they need then from someone who has a lot loose ends dangling.

I also recommend finding a share partner first. One reason is that you need to know where the nanny will work and what hours work best for both families, among many other details. Your share partner may not want to host or may have pets the nanny is allergic to or live near a different metro stop and the nanny must be willing to travel to either location. Another reason is that sometimes an existing share opens up because one family is moving away/kids starting school/etc. You can score a nanny with a great recommendation from a family who already knows her worth.

Finally, you should be comfortable guaranteeing the candidates position when you make an offer. If you hire months in advance then you'll want to give some sort of insurance to let your nanny know you aren't going to flake on her. That means signing a contract and committing whether you've secured a share partner or not. Otherwise, when another interviewer says they are willing to start her next week, a bird in hand...

It will also be an adjustment at whatever age or period that the nanny share starts, therefore it is simply postponing the inevitable. The parents can have the selected nanny spend a few days with each family separately before the share begins to help with getting acquainted with the individual babies.

I spent six weeks.

Getting to know the needs of one baby at a time is the best thing for the children. It's a huge adjustment for two at once who are accustomed to being the only one.

Yes, one is crying while tending to the other. Twins are used to having to wait their turn if they have only one adult.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's never too early to start looking, imo. I'd recommend not you not immediately jump into a share. Your baby needs time to acclimate to a new caregiver before suddenly adding a new child on top of that.

I beg to disagree - the nanny share can take place from the onset with adequate preparation and an experienced nanny. A two to three month lead time should suffice. You can interview several applicants to select someone who is the right fit for you.

How many shares have you nannied? And how did they go?

I am in my second nanny share, the first was a major learning experience and went ok but not great and I believe that was because of my inexperience with shares. I assumed then that having taken care of multiples that it would be a similar role for the most part - not so! In my current role, it is going quite well; the babies are 10 and 11 months now (3 weeks age difference) and I started with them at 3 months. The parents hired me before babies were born, this is not typical and I do not necessarily recommend it as many things can change within that timeframe. What I would recommend is ensuring that the nanny you select has very good communication skills and the other family in the share are people you feel comfortable with and can talk and discuss concerns and changes easily.

I would start about 2-3 mos. prior to your due date. Starting too soon would be risky since that would allow a prospective nanny too much time to wait....She may choose to back out if she gets a different offer.

Waiting too long will rush the process on the other hand and will make the whole process too stressful.

Good luck to you!

As a nanny id like to say no sooner than 1-2 months in advance. Why? Many first expecting parents seem to always change plans last minute or the pay isn't within their budget anymore. Please have in mind what benefits you'd like to offer, the pay you know can afford ect before looking. A new born should probably not be in a nanny share, perhaps after 6-8 months. For a good nanny, I'd say be willing to pay between $16-$20/hr.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's never too early to start looking, imo. I'd recommend not you not immediately jump into a share. Your baby needs time to acclimate to a new caregiver before suddenly adding a new child on top of that.

I beg to disagree - the nanny share can take place from the onset with adequate preparation and an experienced nanny. A two to three month lead time should suffice. You can interview several applicants to select someone who is the right fit for you.

How many shares have you nannied? And how did they go?

Anonymous wrote:It's never too early to start looking, imo. I'd recommend not you not immediately jump into a share. Your baby needs time to acclimate to a new caregiver before suddenly adding a new child on top of that.

I beg to disagree - the nanny share can take place from the onset with adequate preparation and an experienced nanny. A two to three month lead time should suffice. You can interview several applicants to select someone who is the right fit for you.

If you don't know how long your maternity leave will be, some nannies may be hesitant to commit, thinking that you might decide to stay home. So, if you start looking before the birth, be very clear that you do intend to go back to work, but just don't know exactly when that will happen.

Anonymous wrote:It's never too early to start looking, imo. I'd recommend not you not immediately jump into a share. Your baby needs time to acclimate to a new caregiver before suddenly adding a new child on top of that.

Pardon my typo.

I started our search after our kids were born - about 2 weeks into my 3 months of leave (with the intent that the nanny would overlap with just my last week before returning to work.)

So that was a little more than 2 months before I needed the nanny to start work.

That interval worked well for us. You could start a little earlier but not a ton or you won't capture nannies who are currently employed but don't yet know their positions are ending, etc...

That said, if your baby is born in June you will be looking for someone to start right around the time when lots of long-term nanny positions end (the start of the school year). So that could be great timing for you in terms of the candidate pool, and might mean that more nannies than usual would know that their employment would be ending. So starting in May might be worth a shot.

Also, start with your neighborhood listserv (or nearby neighborhoods if you know anyone who can post a job for you.)

Family to family referrals often bring great candidates, especially if a nanny has been with a family for years but their kids will be in school full-time. A family that wants to help their beloved nanny find his/her next position would be a great resource for you.

Good luck and congrats on your baby!

It's never too early to start looking, imo. I'd recommend not you not immediately jump into a share. Your baby needs time to acclimate to a new caregiver before suddenly adding a new child on top of that.

We're expecting our first in June, and I will take maternity leave (TBD in length). I think we'd be open to either a nanny or, ideally, a nanny share. How many months in advance should we be looking? I assume we'll want to interview several candidates to find the right fit, and it would take even longer with a nanny share to find the right fit in nanny AND in other share family. We're in Arlington, in case that's relevant.

I'm sure this has been asked before but couldn't quickly find any posts on it using the search.