Hellobee Boards

I was a nanny for several years, and although I was usually looking for long term jobs, I know some don't mind doing short term positions. Some college students(who are still highly qualified) are usually up for this. I would start looking at the end of the summer maybe. You don't want to look too soon because peoples plans change so much! I never got paid vacation, if I didn't work I didn't get paid regardless if I were sick or the family didn't need me that day/week. I did work it out so if I were sick I would do a make up day on the weekend so I could get full pay, but honestly I hated this and would have loved at least 2-3 days a year of sick pay. Since you are thinking short term, maybe you could work something fair out, but you probably wouldn't want to give a bunch of sick time/vacation time if you only plan on the nanny being there for a few months.

I think you should be able to find someone for a short-term gig. Just be clear about what you're looking for in your advertisement.

@Bao: Holy moly, you didn't get any paid sick days? This astounds me. I assume that most nannies wouldn't go to work if they were ill, but not offering paid sick days really encourages poor choices. I just don't get what parents are thinking there.

I think you should definitely be able to find someone for a short term position. I took one when I wasn't sure if I wanted to nanny or teach - in fact someone looking to get into teaching but hasn't found a full time position might be a great fit for the time period you need.

I would start looking mid fall but don't be surprised if it is hard to find someone since sometimes people looking for short term work might not know if they are available until closer to the start date. Also consider looking for someone who is interested in becoming our is a baby nurse (which is just the term got an infant exclusive nanny, they usually just stick to short term work) In my experience they are much more expensive than a traditional nanny sure to the short term nature of the work but someone looking for references and to break into the field might be a great choice- obviously I would still look for experience etc but it might be more for family or less formal positions.

I think you can leave the vacation time unpaid add long as you are up front about it. Especially in a big city a good nanny should be able to fill at least part of that time if her budget dictates it.