Found a nanny! Advice on how to help her transition?
*sparky*
member
So we have settled on a nanny and I have not even had this LO yet. She is still with her other family for the next few months, but only PT so she does have some availability before I go back to work. When we found a nanny for DS, she had to start right away because we had suddenly pulled him out of DC, so there was no transition time. Therefore, I'd like to take advantage of her availability this time around, but at the same time I don't get paid at all while on leave, so I need to be cautious about how much I bring her in.
So if you have been in this position before, WDYD? Would you bring her in for a few hours here and there during your leave, or wait until maybe the week before and have her come in for a couple of days? What else should I do to get her ready to start?
Re: Found a nanny! Advice on how to help her transition?
I would bring her in starting maybe 2-3 weeks before you go back to work, for a few hours each time. Maybe there's a project that you'd like to work on at home, and could do while she's there taking care of the baby?
Then you could graduate to going out for a few hours (6 week checkup? shopping for new clothes before you go back? Get your hair/nails done?)
To get her ready, I'd start tracking eating/sleeping/pooping habits a couple of weeks before, so she has a bit of an idea of the baby's schedule. I'd make sure you start documenting anything you want done (I was very specific that I wanted DD1 to go outside for some part of the day, as long as it was above 30 degrees... stuff like that). Get emergency phone numbers together. I also had a journal ready for the nanny to track things, to make the evening handoff easier. (DD2 had some digestive issues and lost a ton of weight, so I was pretty crazy about tracking eating/pooping at the beginning).
Good luck!