When you have young children and you are looking to go back to work, you may find yourself in a position where you and your partner are considering hiring a nanny.
While the majority of people would love to have a real-life Mary Poppins living in their home and caring for their children, it is unfortunately not so straightforward! Unfortunately, the process of choosing the right person to look after your children is going to be more challenging than the one portrayed in that movie!
There are some simple tips that you can use to ensure that your newborn child or older children will get the care that they deserve and that you will get the peace of mind that you need when you go to work. So, read on for some of the top tips that you can use to choose the right part-time, full-time, or live-in nanny for your family.
Check The References
The most important part of choosing a nanny is to ensure that they are safe and that your children will not be in danger. So, be sure to check their references by calling their previous employers and get the necessary background checks completed.
This will also help you to establish the role they had in the past their style of working, and if they were a nanny or a nanny housekeeper, which will help you to choose the responsibilities that they have in your home.
Check Education and Additional Training
It is usually desirable to hire a nanny who has a background in childcare, child psychology or has extensive experience. However, as nannying has become more of a professional role, you may find that some candidates have undertaken additional academic courses to help them in the role of being a nanny when working with children who have intellectual or behavioural complexities, which is a plus! You will also want to ensure that any nanny that you hire has additional training in areas such as first aid and CPR.
Interview Each Candidate
You will need to take the time to interview each candidate, which may seem intimidating, but there are some core questions to ask, such as ‘if my child throws a tantrum, how would you react?’ If you have a child with a diagnosed condition such as autism spectrum or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, it is incredibly important to ask more thorough and extensive questions. This will also allow you to assess how you feel about this person; do you trust them? Do they answer questions directly or not?
Test Runs
You will of course need to arrange a time where your children or your child will be able to interact with the nanny. This will help you to predict if their relationship is off to a good start and if they are willing to follow the rules and boundaries that you put in place. Both the nanny and your child should appear completely comfortable with each other and should be having fun.
Ask Your Children
If your children are of an age where they can talk, it may be worth asking them what they think as well. After all, they are going to have the most interaction with the person that you hire, so you need to hire someone they like as well.
