Looking for nanny

My due date is about 11 Dec 2008, so is time to look for nanny. Our first option is looking for nanny around our area (toa payoh lorong 7), so that we can bring baby go and back from nanny house without driving. We do have few contacts, but most of them staying quite far from walking distance. Got 2 nanny staying nearby, but one is very calculative, another one not suitable due to her husband and mother in law are smoker. In short, is not easy to get a good nanny.

Yesterday husband and I designed and printed out a stack of flyers (Looking for Nanny!) :p At first we planned to distribute door by door, but at the end we gave up because we distributed selectively, and dont know why I felt 'pai se' when saw got people sitting at the living room. End up we decided to distribute the flyers in every post box at the first floor, fast and easy! Next week we will keep on distributing flyers if still no response.

According to experienced friend's advise, below are the things to check out when interview the nanny: -

• Where the baby cot will be - airy, drafy? too bright?
• General cleanliness and hygiene, e.g. floor, kitchen, toilet
• who else at the house, any smoker, children?
• General environment - noise, bright, airy, or dark
• ask nanny about her experience, when was the last baby, why stopped?
• what does she normally do with the baby? takes baby out to pasar / market?
• off days / sick days arrangement
• diapers - cloth or disposables?
• bottles and teats - how she sterilise?

Our 2nd option is childcare centre. But my concerns are baby may easier to get sick as there will be more infant in one rooms, virus easy to spread out if one of the baby is not feeling well. The fees is not cheap as well, it is affordable if I can get KKH staff price (about $750), but after transfer to IHIS, I believe KKH only will offer corporate rate which is about $1,300 per months.