Hiring a first time nanny?

[Anonymous]

We had a wonderful nanny when we lived in DC, we have since moved and are desperate to get DD out of a bad daycare. We have been on waitlists for some time and it still looks like we won't have a lot of luck any time soon.

Our former daycare teacher mentioned that her sister was looking for a nanny job and she spoke highly of her. The potential nanny has a child the same age as our DD, but she has never nannied before. She has had extensive babysitting experiences (which I have to get references for), and plans on bringing her child with her every day. DH works from home, so he'll be here if there are any issues.

So, she is very affordable, and I think she's just trying to get her foot into the nannying world, which is fine by us. Our income level has dropped significantly and we couldn't afford a nanny like our former one (she had extensive experience and education). But, I noticed when she was here, she only focused on her child. I think she was assuming that we would watch our daughter (of course we were), but I was thinking that it was odd that she didn't really try to bond with DD much. I'm assuming that would change if she came to work for us.

Anyways. That was a bit of a red flag, but I think that's something we can see improves...Perhaps give her a trial?

I will mention that one reason we like her is the she is willing to do all this legally, get re-certified in CPR, etc. She has a lot of friends in our region who are nannies (like her sister), so she knows all the parks, libraries, etc. Also, her son seems to be thriving.

Is there anyone been through this that could shed some light on this?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't have a problem hiring a first time nanny if she had experience in childcare and DH was around all the time. Everyone has to start somewhere...

But the not paying attention to your child is a HUGE NO (and this was when she was on her best behavior!). Yeah, no - absolutely not.

[Anonymous]

The problem here really is not that she does not have any previous professional nannying expertise under her belt.

The deal-breaker is that she gave more attention to her own child vs. yours.

That action in itself speaks VOLUMES...Keep searching for your perfect nanny because she is definitely not it.

GL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problem here really is not that she does not have any previous professional nannying expertise under her belt.

The deal-breaker is that she gave more attention to her own child vs. yours.

That action in itself speaks VOLUMES...Keep searching for your perfect nanny because she is definitely not it.

GL.

This is silly. Did she soeak to your child or just completsly ignore her?

[Anonymous]

I have only seen two nannies in the library and the park with their own children and a second child they were watching - both pay infinitely more attention to their own child.

I would look for a nanny (if you really need the discount in price) who has an older child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have only seen two nannies in the library and the park with their own children and a second child they were watching - both pay infinitely more attention to their own child.

+1

I'm the nanny who made a post here several months ago after observing some very disturbing behavior by such a nanny at an indoor playground (where she basically completely ignored her charge in favor of her son, even when said charge was trapped under a ride on toy car, crying).

Since then, I have carefully observed a few other nannies with their own children in tow at the park, library etc, and in every case the nanny is clearly favoring her own child.

I'd hold out for a different situation. On some level, daycare with several children being treated roughly equally is preferable to a single caregiver with two children in her care and a BIG bias.