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[quote=Anonymous]First, screen for a nanny who has a) been with the same family for a few years.  I have an average of just over 2.5 years with my families.  The shortest amount of time I was with one family was 8 months, and that was an after-school job where I stayed for one school year.

Second, screen for personality match.  Do you LIKE your nanny?  Ask her what kind of families she likes to work with.  Ask her to describe her ideal working relationship and ideal job situation in detail.  Does she seem casual or more reserved?  Does she seem to want a lot of feedback or more free reign?  HOW does she prefer to receive feedback (email/text, in person, via logbook) and how often (daily notes, weekly check-in, formal monthly or quarterly review)?  Think carefully about what kind of relationship YOU and your partner are comfortable with.  Will you want/need to be very hands-on employers ("we want baby to nap from 9-10:30, 1-2, and 4:30-5") or do you want someone who can take basic directions and run with it ("we want baby on a consistent nap schedule, preferably in her crib as much as possible, but no CIO").  Do you want someone very educated about infants (who will likely come with her own opinions as well) or someone who is less experienced but more willing to follow your lead?

Third, screen for someone who actually knows what the job entails.  While it's pretty reasonable for a nanny to say that she needs to get out of the house once in a while for her own sanity, the reality is that cold and flu season with an infant should be mostly indoors, which can be boring and isolating.  You can ameliorate this to some extent by offering say, one outing a week to starbucks, or wifi use during naptimes, etc., but you need to be on the same page.  The same goes for how often you and your partner will be around.  If one or both of you likes to work from home regularly, be clear about that up front and discuss how to handle that.  Same goes for any friends or relatives who might visit.  How often will they be there and how will it impact nanny?  And make sure that nanny has worked with at least one infant this age before full time as a nanny (day care doesn't count).  You want to know that she understands that it will be a little boring and lonely, and that baby might cry a lot or otherwise be difficult.  Also be clear up from about what kinds of housework you are asking for.  Be reasonable and remember that the infant stage is short.  If baby drops a nap, will nanny spend all available downtime folding laundry?  That leads to burnout.

Finally, once you hire her, be pleasant and respectful and UP FRONT in your communication and trust that you have done your due diligence and don't need to micromanage.

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