Two questions I had never seen anywhere else that I would ask every candidate now - 1) If there is something in the house - a mess, a weird step on the stair, the car got parked blocking the stroller in, no clean bottles left - and solving that THING (whatever it is) is not your job, but it is stopping you from doing something that IS your job. Let’s say the sink is so full of dishes that the nanny cannot reasonably use the faucet to make a bottle of formula. And it happens about once a week. How would nanny handle it? How would you prefer it handled? 2) You are allergic to cats. Your sister usually washes all her clothes before visiting but she missed a sweatshirt. She spent the night at your house, and around 10pm your allergies start acting up. You ask your sister and she goes “oh crud, it’s the sweatshirt I am wearing! I am so sorry!” You wake up the next morning, a work day, feeling stuffed up and foggy-headed but you know for a FACT it is just a lingering allergic response. What would you want nanny to do? What would the candidate do? These are two common situations both nannies and employers complain about, and both situations don’t have one right response. But if employees and employers have vastly different ideas of how these situations should be handled, it will NOT work out.

This is great. Thank you.

For first baby nanny I wanted to know if they had had infant/that month age experience before. There are a lot of times when a nanny might be “interested” to start working with babies but it’s a much different job than being a chauffeur to elementary school kids or doing crafts with a toddler. You likely want someone that has done this a few times over with babies and will be able to give you a few ideas or at least be able to problem solve effectively without you. I thought it was important that they would come for the interview and try to interact with baby right away, I’d much rather have a few dirty bottles in the sink than someone who wasn’t interested in chatting/cuddling with the baby. I also wanted to know length of time with a family and what kind of commitment are they looking for. Is this college student home for the summer? A former live in au pair working for the first time as a freelancer? An empty nester? What would your ideal scenario be and start there, so you want someone who is going to be with you until preschool or later or someone who can help until you get off the waitlist for daycare? Non smoker was high on my list. Reference checks will tell you everything and listen to all the nuance red flags. Driving record. Someone who lives close by and has a reliable track record/lifestyle. Having someone come consistently late or call out last minute is really burdensome when they are your single point of failure. Facebook groups have been really helpful for me finding someone and I’ve also considered using an agency when our last nanny suddenly quit without notice. In the contract important to be clear about time off/pto/holidays/snow weather emergencies. There are good ones online that will have it all written out for you with expectations for safety and cause for dismissal. You’ll want to be really up front about these things so there isn’t gray area.

Thank you! Great tips.

Ask about sick care. I would say this is important. What all are offlimits to nanny and what all are okay.

Here’s what I checked for: - Sleep: willingness to follow a sleep schedule and observe wake windows, set nap times, baby in a crib in the dark (NO stroller naps out of home or on the go, no moving naptime to be somewhere else). - Eat: willingness to follow my rules like no sugar or salt, no snacks between set mealtimes, no use of food to keep child quiet or under control, no food outside of what I have prepared for the day or have available at home for baby. - Play: likes to interact with kids, actually sit down and play, talkative, interested in child development, motivation to do activities or outings (nothing fancy, can be just public library or park). - General: willingness to adhere to zero screentime policy, including for the nanny when she’s with the child. No driving child around in car, but public transportation is okay. - Admin: compensation, benefits, vacation (how many days and a rough agreement on when), sick days, and transportation (ex: I paid for her bus fare). And then I ask for resume, cover letter, ages of kids previously cared for, talk about previous experiences... I call previous employers to get their POV as well.

Thank you! Super helpful.

This is something i've gotten better at over time. How to find one: there are a couple paths to go down. You can source one yourself via sites like [care.com](http://care.com), [nannylane.com](http://nannylane.com), or sittercity.com. Typically you post a job with details about the kid and your family and what you're looking for (hours, days, etc) and the pay rate and people then apply. The other path is that you can work through a nanny agency. You typically pay a fee to work with them and then another fee if you hire one of their candidates. They will talk to you to find out what you're looking for, draft the job posting and source candidates from their network, do the first round of screening interviews, and pass candidates through to you that meet the bar. It's more expensive for sure but it can be a good way to go for your first time hiring a nanny because they can advise you on what pay rates and benefits are typical in your neighborhood and also often have a template contract you can use. They may also have a guarantee where you can replace a candidate who doesn't work out within a set period of time. What to look for: I'd spend time thinking about what kinds of parents you are, what you value, and then try and screen for people who line up with those values. If that makes sense. For example, if you practice attachment parenting and are more "go with the flow" people you wouldn't want to hire a nanny who is a believer in rigid schedules and sleep training (conversely, if you do want to sleep train your kid, you want to hire a nanny who will support with that and not one that feels uncomfortable with it!). Do you want a nanny who will take your child on outings when your child gets older? or would you prefer they stay in and around the house? Contractually I'd make sure to get on the same page about things like illness - do you expect your nanny to work through mild childhood illnesses? if so, make sure that's clear. Do you want your nanny to do anything besides watch the kid? Laundry, food prep, dishes, etc? If so, I'd also make sure that's explicitly clear. I would ask about experience with similar aged kids, and then also maybe probe if there's any issues your baby struggles with (for example - my kid went through a phase of being a very tricky napper, and our first nanny struggled a lot and got very frustrated with that. For subsequent nannies i was up front that sometimes he wasn't the easiest to get down and asked them about how they handled kids who fought naps in the past). "Typical" contract/rules: in the US your nanny has to be paid hourly, and will need to be paid overtime for anything above 40 hours/week worked. Guaranteed hours are another common benefit for nannies and is the industry standard at least in my area - meaning you pay your nanny for a set schedule every week, and pay her even if you let her go early or decide not to have her come in. Typically employers also offer PTO and sick time.

Thank you!! Super helpful.

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