Questions to ask when interviewing a nanny

[Anonymous]

I will be interviewing nannies for a position to take care of our infant full time, and preferably as part of a share. If the interview goes well, I will get references and also ask about salary. I also know to ask about how to handle vacation days, snow days, etc. What other questions should I be asking? What type of experience is most important?

[Anonymous]

Beats me. I hired someone with zero experience nannying and it worked out great. I asked if they see themselves more as a leader or a follower and why, if they would run outside to empty the baby's trash while the baby was napping, what symptoms of illness would prompt them to call me, where they lean on CIO.

[Anonymous]

What do you most care about, OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Beats me. I hired someone with zero experience nannying and it worked out great. I asked if they see themselves more as a leader or a follower and why, if they would run outside to empty the baby's trash while the baby was napping, what symptoms of illness would prompt them to call me, where they lean on CIO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you most care about, OP?

Hm - safety and trustworthiness would be number 1 of course. My friend had a nanny cam and noticed one nanny stealing and a later hire left a baby alone in the bath! Experience in taking care of an infant, and preferably multiple kids at a time since we hope for a share, and a calm attitude in doing so. Reliability and punctuality so we don't have to worry about being late to work. Also, cleanliness - we don't expect her to do housework other than to clean up after herself and the baby, but I am somewhat of a cleanliness fanatic so no dishes in the sink, clean up your crumbs, etc. Easy to communicate with during the day (texting, picks up phone, etc). Good with pets.

This was actually a helpful exercise, thank you!

[Anonymous]

Ask her to describe a typical day?
Does she like being outside/going for walks etc
Are you ok with her watching TV if the baby is awake? If youre not then you need to ask her her thoughts on this and make sure youre on the same page.
Do you want her doing anything in the house for you while the baby is asleep? babys laundry and stuff like that? If you do you need to ask her if shes ok with doing that.
What would she do if both babies are crying at the same time?
What is your approach to sleep? Does you kid fall asleep while being rocked? are you expecting her to do that? I assume not if youre doing a share but just checking.
Does she enjoy reading books, singing, playing on the floor,
I personally hate imaginative play, like playing dinosaurs, I will do it for a few mins to give DD an idea but then i'm done. I will happily go outside though even if its chilly and I love reading books, so ask whatever is more important to you. Hopefully she will be honest.
Is she ok coming to work if one of the kids is sick?

[Anonymous]

Nanny here. I think it is important not to list a series of things you want, because that gives a candidate the opportunity to just not along, or worse yet to misunderstand or misinterpret what you are saying. I think it is much better to ask broad open ended questions. I agree that the questions should be tailored toward what your priorities are.

For example, if you are very anti-TV, if you are a family who tries to eat only whole foods prepared from scratch, and if you are a family that highly prioritizes physical fitness and getting outdoors, then you could ask things like, "tell me some activities you enjoy doing with kids" (see how many of the activities include physical exercise and/or involvement with nature), "what kind of foods do you like to feed the kids? Can you give me a sample menu for a child at age 2?" and "what are your feelings on screen time, both for the kids in your care and for yourself during down times?"

[Anonymous]

Ask for PROOF of her Infant CPR certificate and proof of her pertussis and flu vaccines. Nannies lie about having these all the time.


Since she is going to be in a share caring for another child along with yours I would make sure she had multiple experience. Handling two babies is very, very difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ask for PROOF of her Infant CPR certificate and proof of her pertussis and flu vaccines. Nannies lie about having these all the time.


Since she is going to be in a share caring for another child along with yours I would make sure she had multiple experience. Handling two babies is very, very difficult.

How do you know that nannies lie abouthow see things? Where is your proof?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask for PROOF of her Infant CPR certificate and proof of her pertussis and flu vaccines. Nannies lie about having these all the time.


Since she is going to be in a share caring for another child along with yours I would make sure she had multiple experience. Handling two babies is very, very difficult.

How do you know that nannies lie abouthow see things? Where is your proof?

*lie about these things

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask for PROOF of her Infant CPR certificate and proof of her pertussis and flu vaccines. Nannies lie about having these all the time.


Since she is going to be in a share caring for another child along with yours I would make sure she had multiple experience. Handling two babies is very, very difficult.

How do you know that nannies lie abouthow see things? Where is your proof?

I've had conversations with several nannies about vaccines. Especially the foreign nannies who think that a vaccine will make them sick. Apparently they lie frequently and no one thinks to ask for proof of vaccination. I've also spoken to nannies who admitted they lied about CPR training and college.

In my current job, I was interviewed by two very smart employers who never asked for either my CPR certificate or proof of vaccinations. I had the CPR card in my purse and easily could have gotten a proof of vaccination from the pharmacy.

They also never asked to see a picture ID so they could have run a very expensive background check on someone else!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ask for PROOF of her Infant CPR certificate and proof of her pertussis and flu vaccines. Nannies lie about having these all the time.


Since she is going to be in a share caring for another child along with yours I would make sure she had multiple experience. Handling two babies is very, very difficult.

How do you know that nannies lie abouthow see things? Where is your proof?

What proof do you want, PP? I've talked to lots of other nannies who told me they lied to their employers about a lot of things (including vaccines and CPR). You either believe them or you don't but why would anyone lie about having lied in this instance?

[Anonymous]

If you want to be part of a share, I would think you should find the other family first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you want to be part of a share, I would think you should find the other family first.

+1 The nanny candidate might love you and hate the other family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ask for PROOF of her Infant CPR certificate and proof of her pertussis and flu vaccines. Nannies lie about having these all the time.


Since she is going to be in a share caring for another child along with yours I would make sure she had multiple experience. Handling two babies is very, very difficult.

Handling TWO babies is very very very difficult?
Man, how do all the millions of families in the world do it? I know how my mom did it and how I and my friends feed, drive, play with our 2-4 kids. If a nanny started soap boxing about providing childcare for 2-3 kids is think she was loony. This is par for the course.