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[quote=Anonymous]We have had 3 nannies and none have worked out.  I genuinely believe that we are a good family to work for - we pay well, have reasonable hours, good vacation time, paid days off, and both me and DH are very laid back (probably to a fault...sometimes we need to be more direct with our wishes, but we are working on that).

A brief history (though you can skip the details and go straight to the end for the question):

1st nanny:  Nanny share with 2 babies. Nanny had big personality which made the babies laugh, but she always tried to leave early or give us 1 day notice for doctor appointments and other activities she couldn't miss, and finally we put our foot down and told her she couldn't leave early the next day to attend her nephew's graduation and she YELLED at us for several minutes while holding one of the babies. In retrospect, I suspect that her glowing references may have been fraudulent.

we switched to in-home daycare which was wonderful.  Fast forward several years and I had DD#2 and hired Nanny #2:

2nd nanny: Where the first nanny was loud and boisterous and confident, this nanny was sweet as can be and gentle. She was a great employee - always arrived early, told me about appointments weeks in advance and tried to reschedule our nanny days to accommodate both of our schedules, picked up around the house.  But, she was too sweet to manage my 4 year old and she provided no discipline or rules. DD acted out to test boundaries and learned there were none.  Also, nanny couldn't juggle both kids at the same time.  So, we loved her personally but she wasn't a good fit for our family.

3rd nanny: We tried a young nanny - just 24. She was sweet and fun and creative and came up with all sorts of activities for DD, at first. But after the first few weeks, nanny stopped being proactive. She would still take the girls out to do activities, but only if I micromanaged and gave her a schedule. She was still sweet with the kids, but definitely ws not committed to the job.  6 months later and she's pregnant and I realized she was just biding her time with this nanny job until she could be a stay at home mom.

I don't think any of these nannies had huge red flags (well, maybe the first one in retrospect), but I can't help but worry that it may be a reflection on our own judgment as we've never had a nanny last more than 8 months.  Let's hope that we as a family aren't the problem, and accept that we may be a bad judge of an applicant's suitability.  I'm now in the process of hiring AGAIN. I'm losing hope that we can find one of these wonderful nannies I read about on these boards that stay with a family for years.  Any tips on ensuring the nanny will be a good fit?  Great interview questions?  Tips on interviewing references?  This time I've decided to try a nanny agency as well as continue to interview nannies on my own.  At the very least, I'm hopeful that any nanny provided by an agency will at least be professional and committed to her position.    [/quote]

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