You rarely have an option with a good nanny. The good ones stay until the lastchild is in school generally so their last exposure to newborns is as long ago as their youngest charge. You can hire a Newborn Care Specialist but she won’t stay past six to nine months and will not work at all with your older child.

MB here.

I put tremendous value on a nanny who has a long-term track record with a family.

Infant skills really aren't that hard, and infants aren't infants long. I'd absolutely go with someone who has longevity, wonderful reference from their current employer, love for kids of all ages, experiencing supporting a whole household (not just one baby), etc...

Ask the candidates what they have done to maintain those skills. I nanny for 4yo twins but ai babysit often and I seek out families with infants to keep that skillset fresh. A nanny friend just ended her job with elementary schoolers. She didn’t do much babysitting, so she took a class on newborn care to brush up on the current guidelines. A good, career nanny will be able to tell you how she is maintaining and improving her skills.

I echo the above. First, only a good nanny would be kept for years. Second, the baby-stuff comes back for nannies.

There was a thread on this earlier - on how the good, experienced nannies only start with newborns and stay through the beginning of school. Very enlightening.

I agree with the pp above. This is your second child and I assume you haven’t cared for another newborn or infant, daily, in over 6 years; it’s not unusual for a parent to forget the ropes on how to care for a child that young, especially if they haven’t in so long or only did it once in their life time. However, it’s very unlikely that a child caregiver with many many years of experience, will forgot how to take care of any child of any age.

I highly doubt that those who’ve been with those families that long will let you down. Do you know how many children those families have and at how young the children were when the nanny started caring for them? And I’m sure you have or will speak to those parents and they can give you piece of mind. I personally would go with a nanny that has dedicated many years to one family, caring for multiples then a nanny who only has recent newborn/infant experience and has been from job to job.

I think a lot has to be said for a nanny that has stayed committed to one family for so long. Plus, you have to realize that a nanny had probably worked for several families over the years, therefore always practicing her baby skills. Where as as a parent you usually do it once or twice and are done.

I am currently looking for a new nanny and have met a few great candidates, but am torn on who to hire. I have a 6 year old and a 5 month old so they have very different needs. Many of the nannies I like best have been with their current families for a very long time (like 5-8 years) and are finally leaving now that the youngest is going into K. My only hesitation with them is whether or not they will be able to seamlessly go back to working with a young baby since they haven't worked with one in so long. Does all the baby stuff come back to them? I feel like it hasn't for me as a mother as much as I thought it would (could be the sleep deprivation). I definitely want someone who can get the baby on a good schedule, help establish better sleep habits, etc. So am I better off hiring someone who has more recent baby experience? Curious what others think about this.