When to look for a nanny

[AGoodDay]

We want to get a nanny and would need her to start next January, so a while away yet. But if we can't find one we like who wants to work for us then dc will need to go to nursery.

From what I can gather it's normal to start looking about 6months before for a nanny, whereas I'm probably already a bit late looking at nurseries.

So do I try and get a nanny willing to wait before starting, or wait and hope there are still nursery places if needed?

If it makes a difference I'm only looking at part -time, but can be flexible about days/hours.

3 to 4 months I would say. Please do not assume a nanny will be a her... a few of us are men

No harm in placing an advert sooner but it is hard for someone to commit to something too far in the future. Make your advert as specific as possible - for part-time list the desirable days and hours and then put something about how flexible you could be with those days/hours.

Would you rather they start of a few days both of you together to settle in?

NannyNick - the ones advertising near me happen to all be women, I've nothing against a man though. But thankyou for that advice, I'll wait till the summer I think then. I know you don't speak for everyone but would you prefer 2.5/3 full days or 5 mornings/afternoons?

Yes some settling/trial days, but I don't want them to start early as we won't need anyone over Christmas and I'd assume they'd want to do their thing then anyway, plus if anything significant comes up I'd want fine to sort an alternative. So closer to interview than starting I guess. Besides I wfh (and am aware this will make finding someone harder) so I'm hoping settling should be fairly easy (DC normally ignores me when we have people round and is used to me being unavailable when working).