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As promised, I continue here the list of questions for my prospective nanny – and the reasons for every question. I started it in these articles – click here to read part1 and here to read part 2.
Nanny or a babysitter with baby

Question: How will you play with my baby during the day?
Reason: To see what activities she has on her list. Will she read to my baby, sing songs, play outside – or will she glue him to the TV or stick in the pram and go to shops.

Question: What will you do if you feed him and he spits out the food?
Reason: Eric often does that just because he is playing. It can be annoying to a person who doesn’t know him and they could even punish him – I wanted to make sure it doesn’t happen. I also wanted to make sure she won’t force the food on him.

Question: What will you do if you are walking with him in the pram and he starts crying and fighting to get out?
Reason: This is a real life example. I wanted to see if she will discipline him – and if so then how, how does she handle child’s resistance.

Question: What will you do if he chokes on food or a toy?
Reason: This is to see she knows first aid. If she’d say “Heimlich maneuver” I would never hire her – that’s not done on babies under 12 months.

Question: What do you think about spoiling the baby by too much attention?
Reason: I don’t think babies under 2 can get too much attention – the more, the better, so this is to make sure we’re on the same page.

Question: What do you think about holding a baby in your arms?
Reason: I didn’t want her to smother him with hugs and kisses – but I also didn’t want her to never touch him. Babies need to be touched and held, so I wanted to hear something indicating a healthy balance.

Question: Why do you want to care for children?
Reason: To see if she likes what she does or it’s just another gig. When they answer this, the words don’t mean much (no nanny will admit she doesn’t like kids) – I was looking for the body language.

Question: What was your previous job like and why did you leave it, please tell me about it.
Reason: To see if she had disputes with the previous family, or if she tends to quit easily.

Question: What do you think can happen to my baby and how will you prevent it?
Reason: To see if she’s aware of the safety issues and trained to watch for those.

Question: Do you have any conditions (health-wise) I should know about?
Reason: To make sure she doesn’t have contagious diseases and that she’s not going to get a heart attack or a seizure, all alone with my baby.

Question: Do you smoke/consume alcohol?
Reason: Alcohol – no need to explain, no one wants a person under influence near their kids. Smoking – being an ex-smoker myself I didn’t want a smoking nanny, I know for sure that she would have lit a cigarette on every walk they’d take. I quit smoking especially to get the poison out of my system before getting pregnant – so why ruin all the efforts now.

Question: Can I see your references
Reason: If a nanny has good references – she’ll be showing those off. If she’s being funny about references – that’s a red light.

Question: What would you like to know about my baby?
Reason: To see if she is trying to understand what are your babies’ needs and interests.

And now comes the important part – everything I’ve shared with you so far REALLY WORKS. I know because thanks to this system I’ve found a great nanny. I am not going to reveal her name – because I’m afraid you’ll steal her from me. Just kidding :) but seriously – she’s awesome.

She pays attention to Eric and watches him walk and talk. She lets me know what new words and things he learns. She knows when he’s tired and tries to be closer – so that if he falls she could catch him. She changed the hour when they used to go the playground – because she noticed that he is sleepy in the morning and active in the afternoon. She knows when he has a wet or dirty diaper and needs to be changed. And as a final proof – when she leaves for the day, he comes running and gives her a big hug.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this article. My next one will be out really soon – subscribe and you won’t miss it.