Childcare for toddler during birth of #2?

[bnus]

We are a recently transplanted American family without family or close friends here in North/East London and are due in November with our second child. In an ideal world, our 3 year old daughter would be with family or one of our close friends that she knows well while we are in active labor. Clearly these aren't options for us. We have used two sitters here that we really like but both hold regular 9-5 day jobs and don't have the flexibility to be on call and available for long, unpredictable stretches of time. The ideal candidate seems like it might be someone retired, unemployed or a self employed / freelance person. But how to find a person in this situation who is also great with and interested in kids, trustworthy, reliable and close by?? Seems like a tall order. We had a 50 hr labor last go around and I am as much worried about a repeat of this as I am about who will be with our daughter during this time. Any suggestions would be welcome!!

Have you thought about a doula? There are loads of good ones in London! Go to www.doula.org.uk

Hth

You should ring around local Ofsted registered childminders - your local council's Family Information Service should be able to give you a list. Many can do ad hoc care or unsocial hours/overnights, and at least you will be able to know they are experienced, probably have Ofsted reports, CRB checked, first aid trained (obviously check on their cerificates yourself) etc etc. You will be able to sign a contract with them in advance, so you will have the peace of mind that they will be on hand when you need them.

It might be worth talking to this emergency nanny (sorry can't do links)

www.mummyknowsbest.co.uk/emergency_nanny.htm

She covers north London.

Good luck!!

is your dd in a nursery? if yes I would ask them if they know someone who could babysit, some nursery nurses like to earn extra money this way.
but anyway, most nurseries offer emergency childcare which might be an option for you.
we were in a similar situation, our ds attended a nursery and for weekends/nights we had a list of babysitters.

1. nursery worker who lived local
2. neighbour
3. best friend

we gave all of them a list of important phone numbers and the daily routine a good few weeks before the due date. in the end my best friend looked after ds whilst I was in labour on a nice sunday morning. all went really well.

BNUS - I could maybe ask my nanny if she'd be willing to help, we live in Finsbury Park (N4 3SJ) and if it was during the week then she could have your LO with my 2.5 yr old son; and weekends would be less of an issue.

No idea how much she'd want an hour though, email me on [email protected] if you'd like me to see.

We're in a similar situation and will be asking her to watch our son when I go into labour so I totally sympathise!