We are often asked, ‘How far in advance should I contact you to find childcare’?
The short answer is, as early as possible — but if you’ve left it to the last minute, we may still be able to help.
The longer answer is this: The most incredibly organised parents on our books contact us to arrange childcare before the baby is even born. (Our record so far is 18 months in advance. We love these parents but are also slightly scared of them.) At the other end of the scale, some contact us the week before they want to start. For most families, it’s around 2-6 months in advance.
If you know that nanny share might be an option for you, there’s no downside to registering well in advance. It’s a quick form, and there’s no charge. Registering early means we can keep an eye out for you in the background and if a great match comes up, let you know about it.
The only issue that registering early occasionally throws up is when families turn down really great matches as they’re waiting for their absolute perfect, 100% match (which may or may not exist).
Just like house-hunting, job-hunting and dating, it can be tough to figure out when to take the match in front of you and when to hold out.
Often a family registers with strict criteria and then loosen them as time goes by. Sometimes by the time they reach their critical deadline, they’ve already said ‘No’ to a couple of matches that they would now – on reflection – love to have gone with.
There’s no hard and fast rule about this. Like anything it’s judgement and luck. Our number one piece of advice to a family that wants to nanny share is: be flexible.
You can sign up for our Family Finder tool here to find a local family to share with, or register here if you’re ready to look for a nanny. After you do, and we take a look at your criteria, we can help you figure out what your chances are of finding a great family near you and how long it might take.
Sign up for our baby & toddler nanny service