Being a new parent is quite hard. There are so many things that you will need to look after and each of them revolves around the new life that you have brought home. After you have had a baby, everything you do will have to be according to your baby and their safety. New parents struggle with a lot of things at first but they eventually figure out everything.
One of the things that terrify the most parents is finding a nanny. While they will eventually have to go back to their professional lives and make earnings, the thought of leaving your baby behind is quite scary. Even though getting a nanny or finding a daycare is quite normal practice these days yet as a parent it can be tough.
The worst part would be to find a good nanny for your baby. It is hard to trust a random person and especially when it comes to your baby. But the process of finding and hiring a nanny can help you a lot as well.
The only thing that can help you trust a nanny with your kid is to find someone who you can trust fully. And this can only happen when you know everything about them. Interviewing potential nannies is a common practice but most parents do struggle with the interview as well. While it is pretty common to get nervous during an interview, you need to know that asking the right questions to the nanny can solve all of your problems.
There are a few questions that you must ask your nanny so that you can know what kind of person they are and how responsible they will be for the kids.
If you don’t know what to ask a nanny while hiring, then don’t worry you are not alone. To help parents like you, we have listed down some questions to ask the nanny. These questions would help you find the best nanny that you can find.
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Questions To Ask Nanny
1. “Where are you from?”
This is the first question that you might want to ask. Not that you can get a lot of insight from this question but it would be a great conversation starter that can help you to know a little bit about the upbringing of the nanny for your child.This can be answered with a lot of insight for a nanny as you would know whether they are an open person and how much they can tell you in this question, for example, they can answer the question by stating the state and city and you can lead to more personal question to know a little bit more about her life.
2. What are your experience and credentials?
One thing that you want to know first about your potential nanny would be her experience and what qualities they have.It would be better if you hire an experienced nanny rather than a beginner, for obvious reasons. The experience will tell you how much practice they have done and how good they are. This will certainly help you decide whether you would want to hire them or not because the experience will speak for itself. You can ask if they have gone through training or not.
3. What do you think are the qualities needed to be a good nanny?
This might be a trick question to ask and you don’t want to skip it. There are some obvious qualities one should have to be a good nanny and there are some of the qualities that you would want in your nanny specifically.So asking this question would help you to figure out what qualities according to them are enough to be a good nanny and what qualities they have. See if the answer is satisfactory to your needs and whether you think they have the qualities that you are seeking.
4. When did you last update your first aid training?
It is one thing to have a first aid training and it is another thing to be updated with the first aid training. The training won’t matter if it was done years ago, because they may not be able to recall it.So the point of asking this question is that not only should they have done their first aid training but they must have been updated with it recently as well. Your child can need first aid anytime and anywhere and they should be able to provide that.
5. What kind of food would you cook for our children?
Not many parents depend on the nanny for food requirements but some do and it may be included in their package as well. So if you want your nanny to provide food for your kid then you must ask the food-related question.You should ask what types of food they can cook and how they cook. Whether they would be able to cook some specific dishes for the kids or they will only heat the packed baby food.These are some of the questions that can give you an insight into their cooking skills. You should better communicate with the nanny about your food requirements for your baby or whether they would meet those requirements.
6. Are you working at any other job?
This is another one of the important question that you will need to ask. There are plenty of nannies who are working two jobs. This is why it is important to know what kind of jobs they are working apart from being a nanny and if that job is flexible or not.They need to give your child proper care and attention so you can be assured about the safety of your child. If the other job requires too much then the nanny might not be able to provide all of their attention to the job. So make sure you get the details right.
7. Are you willing to stay overnight with the children if required?
This is again a question regarding their availability for your child. If you are a working parent with a job that may not have fixed hours then you might want to ask this question.Parents with jobs that aren’t very predictable may need to work late or even can’t come home at night. This will require your nanny to be present with the child, especially if you are a single parent.So make sure the nanny can stay over time or for the whole time needed. Of course, this will affect the fees of the nanny, but your child’s needs are more important.
8. What age groups have you cared for?
If you are concerned about whether the nanny would be ideal for the age of the child then you can ask the question. If you want the nanny to be able to take care of a child who is less than a year old, make sure the nanny can do a good job at that.If they have cared for a wide range of children like from very early to adolescence then it would be great. You can also ask if they would be okay handling your child at this age.
9. How can you discipline the child?
Most parents do forget to ask this question to the nannies but it is an important question. The nanny won’t only be caring and providing security to the child but also shaping their personality. So you would want to know if the nanny can discipline the child as well as care for them.So ask your nanny how would she handle the baby if they throw a tantrum or demand something unreasonable?You want to know if they can deal with the child if they are being uneasy.
10. Ask the what-if questions.
Now that you have asked the important questions that are generic in nature. You would want to ask some questions that you are concerned about.The what-if question can involve situations that you are scared of or concerned about. Make sure you don’t have any doubt about how they will handle the child.
11. Discuss the fees.
Last but not least, you would want to get a nanny that you can afford and ask for a reasonable price. Of course, money is the most important factor here, but it does make a difference.You can make a contract on the fees and also the length they will provide the service.Ask them to take care of the baby for a few days so that you can make an informed decision.
Conclusion
So these are some of the most asked questions to ask a potential nanny. The goal of these questions is that you can get the nanny that you need. We have listed out some generic questions that you must ask your nanny and you can personalize them as well.That would be all for now and we hope you got everything that you have been looking for.
