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Nanny Questions

KayteeGeeKayteeGee member
in Working Moms
Hey ladies -
We are starting to interview nannies for DD who is due 9/3.  We will still be sending DS (3.5) to his DC. Long story short: I won't pull him out of such a beneficial environment to stay at home with an infant, but I simply can't do the bottles and packing etc.. that comes with infant DC, it's just too much.  The plan is to put DS in preK by the house a year from now (he has to be 4) and at that time Nanny will pick him up and watch both until we get home.
SO... my questions are:
1. Does anyone have a nanny who brings their child to your home? (one candidate has an 8 month old) and how does this work for you?
2. How should I bring up experience with EBF babies (DS was EBF and I hope to do the same).  I would really like a nanny who "gets" this.
3.  Would it be ok to specify that should DS have to stay home because he was mildly sick - like an EI, if he's got the flu and needs more that's different - that she would watch him, too?
4. Would you hire a nanny based on a skype interview?  One of our top candidates is moving to our state next month, she seems IDEAL on paper.
5. What do you wish you asked in interviews?
THANK YOU!!
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Re: Nanny Questions

  • TheBorg7of9TheBorg7of9 member
    edited August 2014
    1. Does anyone have a nanny who brings their child to your home? (one candidate has an 8 month old) and how does this work for you?
    I don't.  But I would probably consider it if my current nanny decided to have a kid.
    2. How should I bring up experience with EBF babies (DS was EBF and I hope to do the same).  I would really like a nanny who "gets" this.
    Just ask if they have experience with bottle feeding a breastfed baby.
    3.  Would it be ok to specify that should DS have to stay home because he was mildly sick - like an EI, if he's got the flu and needs more that's different - that she would watch him, too?
    Our nanny watches my two kids and the neighbor's baby too.  My older one is 2.5 and is in pre-school half days every day.   However, I pay her at a three-kid rate all day long because she has to do pick up and drop off and would have to watch him any day that the pre-school won't take him.  I would just present your idea in the interview and explain whether or not you'd be paying her more.
    4. Would you hire a nanny based on a skype interview?  One of our top candidates is moving to our state next month, she seems IDEAL on paper.
    It's hard to say, because I had all our nanny candidates play with our kids as part of the interview.
    5. What do you wish you asked in interviews?
    I did have to find three nanny interview in a short time because of weird circumstances.  I had six top questions, I asked on the phone. 1.) Do you think you can watch three little kids. 2.) Do you understand the hours I need someone 3.) Will you do light housework, including dishes, laundry and clean up toys.  4.) Are you authorized to work in the United States.  5.) We will be deducting taxes from your pay, are you ok with that? 6.) We have a dog.  Are you completely comfortable with dogs?
    Then, I called them in for a in-person interview and asked for their experiences.  I wanted examples, so I'd ask for a lot of examples.  For example, my baby doesn't like taking a bottle, have you ever helped a baby with this problem?  My toddler throws tantrums sometimes, how do you handle that or prevent it? 
    Other questions: Do you have all your shots and are you willing to get the flu shot every year?  Why do you want to be a nanny?  Why are you looking for a job right now?  Can I call your references? Do you smoke?

    Good luck!
    My TTC History:
    2009: missed miscarriage #1 at 9 weeks (trisomy 16)
    2010: Infertility
    2011: Diagnosis and treatment (low sperm count, anastrozole for DH, clomid for me + IUI)
    2012: Baby #1
    2014: Baby #2
    October 2015: missed miscarriage #2 at 11 weeks (trisomy 22)
    March 2016 BFP#5, due November 2016.

    My Charts since 2009

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  • KayteeGeeKayteeGee member
    THANK YOU! this is awesome.
    Thanks SOOOO much!  your arrangement sounds like what we want eventually (next fall) where nanny would pick up DS from preK.
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  • PSU_TexanPSU_Texan member

    Everything that TheBorg said for questions.  I found a book on Amazon called The Nanny Book to be helpful.  It helps you think through interviews, reference checks, contract ,etc.  The most important thing in my mind is that you know what you want so you can be clear up front with expectations.

    No I'm not a fan of having the nanny bring her child but I know others that make this work.

    No I would not hire over Skype.  Like TheBorg, part of our interview process was to see how the nanny candidate interacted with the kids.

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  • KayteeGeeKayteeGee member
    LibraryChica said:
    1. Does anyone have a nanny who brings their child to your home? (one candidate has an 8 month old) and how does this work for you? We do not. H works at home and didn't want to invite even more chaos. If our current nanny had a child we would consider it, reluctantly. A friend of mine has a woman watching her 2 kids (4 and 2) and the nanny's own (1). It works OK, but friend pays closer to an in-home daycare rate since she loses a lot of the nanny "bonuses" -- no light housecleaning for example and more TV than I would be OK with and they knew one another previous to the arrangement.

    This is my big concern, and I don't mean to sound entitled, but part of the reason we are getting a nanny for this LO is that I NEED help with the light housekeeping.  I just can't do it all, I need laundry (kids only) and dishes/bottles and clean up and maybe even dinner prep given DH and my current work situations.  I love DC, if DC could do the kids laundry and bottle prep etc I'd just send her to DC.

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  • DallasLonghorn97DallasLonghorn97 member

    A couple of thoughts for your questions....

     

    1. On our 5th nanny and none have ever brought their own baby. Although...our current nanny has brought over her 2 granddaughters a couple of times during school holidays to play with my older 2. It was worked fine.

    2. EBF - you need to do some education. I BF 52 months across my 3 kids and worked FT. Most will not be familiar with the ins and out of a BF baby, so just have clear instructions.

    3. I would ABSOLUTELY lay the foundation that her pay is based on occassional care for your older child. Just make sure that it's clear up front. In my opinion, everything evens out...she will have lots of "free" time during naps but then may be more busy when she has both. Doesn't mean you have to pay her differently IMO.

    4. Personally, I would wait to meet in person. My path has always been 1. phone interview/screen 2. in person interview (at a local starbucks) and 3. an in home visit/interview. There are certainly people who never got past step 2 after interacting with them live.

    5. We once hired a nanny who said she had graduated HS and based on several great recommendations. Ended up she had not graduated from HS. I should have asked for proof. This was the one nanny we fired (after 6 months). So ask for documentation - letters of reference, etc and actually call/follow up on those. I think it's really really important to be 100% clear on your expectations....how MUCH tv per day is OK? are you ok with snacks past a certain time (when it's close to dinner) are there certain things not ok to do or feed your child. Some of this stuff won't matter initially, but as baby gets older it will. Be clear about paid vacation and holiday time.

    4.

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