When hiring a nanny for the first time, I knew we had to agree on rates, coordinate schedule availability and make sure personalities gelled. I didn’t think to ask about the best qualities in the nanny we found: a degree in early childhood education and a special interest in children with extra needs. Thankfully, we landed a nanny who had everything we wanted and more.
Sometimes we first-time parents just don’t know what we don’t know. What are those special considerations you should think of when trying to find the right nanny? What, in fact, do you need in a nanny?
Take some time to think about your goals. For example, if you’re looking for a long-term nanny, it may not make sense to hire someone who’s in university. If after-school activities are a priority for you and your children, you might want to look for a nanny who is experienced in handling a lot of activities at once.
One way of going about this is to write down a list of your three non-negotiable criteria, and then a list of optional ones. Someone who meets all three and has most of the optional ones is likely to be the best fit for you.
While every family’s requirements will be different, here’s what you should think about when hiring a nanny.
1. Interest in working with children
This may sound obvious, but a nanny should delight in being around children, above all else. Their desire to invest in the children’s lives should be the first thing parents look out for. It’s important to trust your intuition on this. If anything about the candidate strikes you as awkward, dishonest, wrong or unsafe, you should distance yourself from that person and continue your search.
2. Safety certifications and child care training
First and foremost, any nanny or babysitter should take a CPR training and certification course through the Canadian Red Cross.
Other training and certifications to look for may include:
- Water-safety instruction
- Baby care, child nutrition and child development classes
- A driver’s licence with a clean driving record
- First-aid certification
University degrees aren’t always necessary. What’s most important is having good references and experience.
3. Special needs training
If your child has special needs, whether those needs are from a disability, allergies or otherwise, it’s important that the nanny you hire is capable of handling that particular situation—though it’s not necessarily a requirement to have past experience with the same need or even special certifications. They should be quick to learn, and they should show proactive interest in familiarizing themselves with your child’s special need. One option is to offer to pay the nanny for any extra courses or certifications they may need to do so.
4. Caregiving philosophies
A lot of parenting philosophies are floating around these days: free-range parenting, attachment parenting, authoritative parenting, slow parenting. If any of these are important to you, it’s good to know your nanny is aware. Ask specific questions about your preferences, such as favorite type of carrier if you value baby-wearing, and you’ll get a good sense of their prior knowledge and current interest.
Also consider a candidate’s philosophy on screen time and even whether they’re willing to set their own phone down while caring for the children. Unless you have specific limits on screen time that are actively monitored, the best way to go may be to keep your home entirely screen-free while the nanny is with your children.
If there are any philosophy clashes, it’s not necessarily a deal-breaker. What is important in the partnership between parent and nanny is that both parties are on the same page when it comes to overall goals and rules in the house.
5. Ability to take on additional household responsibilities
While care of your children should be your nanny’s first priority, you may want your nanny to take on some household chores, too. Halls says reasonable chores to ask a caretaker to do include:
- Doing the children’s laundry and linens.
- Cleaning dishes the children and nanny use.
- Basic cleanup and organization of the children’s toys and rooms.
But some families may want additional household duties performed, and they can negotiate for that with some nannies. This should be determined together with the nanny, and an explanation, including extra compensation, should be included in a work agreement.
6. Personality similarities and differences
A personality match between nanny and employer is much like dating and can make or break a working relationship. So how do you know from an interview whether opposites will attract or repel? You need to ask the hard questions, such as, “What will you do if my child cries?”
Other good questions to ask a prospective nanny:
- Do you tend to keep a more structured or a more spontaneous schedule when you take care of a child?
- What kind of discipline technique do you prefer?
- What do you like least and most about caregiving and why?
- What kind of play do you enjoy with children?
And then ask your own children to talk with candidates. Even if the kids are shy, you’ll get an idea of how the nanny will interact with them. Children have good instincts; they’re likely to have a good or a bad feeling about a candidate.
Recognize, too, that a nanny’s personality can complement your own and benefit the children in a special way; it doesn’t necessarily have to be the same.
Rest assured, even those who have hired multiple nannies have a hard time prioritizing their wish list. It’s natural to feel queasy as you set out to search for a nanny for the first time. But it gets easier with time.