This is actually kinda funny:

I really loved this one candidate and had her come over to interview and meet the baby and DH. And our old dog. She came in and was really lovely. DH then fell down the entire flight of stairs and cracked his head on the hall table. He was bleeding profusely and needed stitches. The commotion caused our port old dog to poop himself right next to DH! I quickly called my MIL who lives just across the street and she ran over still wearing the pajamas. My FIL then followed with possibly the world’s largest first aid kit and started asking DH questions to test if he had brain injuries. The lovely nanny just stood there holding the baby for me.

The nanny was pretty horrified. I get it! I would have been too! She politely declined a rescheduled interview saying the commute was longer than she anticipated,

Anonymous wrote:We had one decline to interview because, like you OP, our daughter was a little older and she only wanted to start with a newborn.

Another said that our pay was too low for her experience. This wouldn't in and of itself bother me except in this case we had clearly stated what we were offering per hour in the original posting AND in the very first email communication we had with her before even moving to the interview stage. We spent 20 minutes on the phone and another 30 minutes on an in-person interview with her, still annoyed about that. Although I guess her utter inability to identify important information when it's readily available means we dodged a bullet with her anyway.

Doubtful. She most likely got a better paying offer and was hoping you’d match it because she liked you.

We had one decline to interview because, like you OP, our daughter was a little older and she only wanted to start with a newborn.

Another said that our pay was too low for her experience. This wouldn't in and of itself bother me except in this case we had clearly stated what we were offering per hour in the original posting AND in the very first email communication we had with her before even moving to the interview stage. We spent 20 minutes on the phone and another 30 minutes on an in-person interview with her, still annoyed about that. Although I guess her utter inability to identify important information when it's readily available means we dodged a bullet with her anyway.

I think it was because I used the term “light housekeeping” when I meant child-related tasks. I actually saw her eyes widen.

Frazzled parents who were snapping at each other.

We had three in a row decline our job offers. I think it was because our former nanny sat in on the interviews and she asked tough questions.

Very messy and cluttered house.

Anonymous wrote:Two candidates were allergic or didn’t like dogs.

Same.

Our neighbor with a trump sign in her front yard had several nannies call right before the interview and bow out!! You know they got to the house, saw the sign, and turned around!!!

So funny! They found someone but she only lasted a couple weeks and the mother decided to SAH.

Baby Wise. We wanted to follow Baby Wise initially and several nannies simply said no. We ended up dropping the whole thing and I’m glad we did. I’m also glad they all told us the dangers of Baby Wise.

Nanny for 20 years and I've declined because:

-family wouldn't pay above board
-didn't want their kids to go on any outings
-the dad was very condescending to the mom during the in person interview and it made me SO uncomfortable. I was honest with them about why.
-family wouldn't offer GH or wanted to bank hours
-the very overbearing grandmother visited several times per year for weeks at a time

Anonymous wrote:We honestly were confused why the agency sent her to us - we got the impression she only wanted to dump the baby in the crib and watch tv all day. Her jaw dropped when we said we'd like the baby to go to various parks and go on walks and story time each day, and no screens when baby was awake, and we wanted her to do the baby's laundry during nap time.

Not exactly a response to the OP, but I had an agency give me someone like this too. We had a snoo, so I could see the baby was in his crib crying all day. She also was appalled that we wanted to pay taxes. It was horrible and we fired her, but I’m just not surprised an agency sent you someone like that.

Two candidates were allergic or didn’t like dogs.

We honestly were confused why the agency sent her to us - we got the impression she only wanted to dump the baby in the crib and watch tv all day. Her jaw dropped when we said we'd like the baby to go to various parks and go on walks and story time each day, and no screens when baby was awake, and we wanted her to do the baby's laundry during nap time.

If you know (obviously).

We had one great candidate decline consideration because she only starts with first-born newborns. And we had a three year old and a newborn.