What Should Be Considered While Selecting a Nanny?

Finding a good nanny for their child can be a really stressful work for the new parent. In families, where both the spouses are working, it is important to hire a good nanny for the child to take care of the entire day. It is not an easy task to get the correct nanny or caregiver for your child. There are a lot of things to consider while choosing the right caregiver for your little one. As a matter of fact, babies learn so many things from their nannies. The basic mannerisms sometimes get transferred to the baby from its nanny. Hence, it is vital for the parents to appoint a right person for this virtuous position of a caregiver or nanny.

Here in this article, we have discussed about some of the very important points to consider before you appoint a nanny for your baby:

  1. Background Verification for Mental Assurance

The most important thing to consider while appointing a nanny is to thoroughly check her personal background. Consider hiring her from a reputed agency so that the agency does all the legal verification and documentation for you. The agency will act as a mediator between you and the nanny. They would responsibly administer your relationship and terms with your nanny in the right way. This is a both professional as well as personal relationship. You are buying a personal care from a professional person. It is better to ask for the nanny’s documents related to her residence, citizenship, and character certification. This would help you to ascertain a nanny of a good character for your baby. In case the nanny you appoint will be given responsibilities to handle some finances on behalf of you for your baby, you need to check her legal background as well. It is essential to check her credit liabilities in case you are allowing her to use your bank debit/credit card.

  1. Thorough Conversation to Understand the Person Better

Talk to the person thoroughly before hiring her finally. It is very essential for you to know her family background, and the jobs she has done in this field before. Ask specific questions to her related to her family and children. It is always good to hire someone as your baby’s nanny who has a child of her own. This would make her more responsible and experienced in a real way. Brief her responsibilities that you are going to render on her shoulders and notice her reactions to it. Her reactions will help you to judge her as a person. You will be able to judge whether she has chosen this profession only for money or she deserves to be in this noble profession. Try to know more about her parenting skills and discipline styles as you talk more to her. All this would help you to decide on whether to assign her as your baby’s nanny or not.

  1. References to Verify Her Words and Documents

While talking to her about her past experience, ask her about the references that she can give you about her past works. The references should be from the families she has worked before at as a caregiver, nanny or a day-care provider. Make sure all the references she is using are recent. In case she was on a break and have not worked in the past few years, make sure you know the real reasons behind it. Know about her duties as a nanny she has performed and the age of the child she has taken care of. Keep a note of all the information she has given during the interview and verify them all for your own good.

  1. Education and Experience in Real

Make sure that your baby’s nanny is well educated and has the practical knowledge required raising a baby. Go through her professional certifications to ascertain her intelligence. It is utmost necessary for nannies to know about pediatric CPR and emergency First Aid handling skills. Most of them are these days trained into pediatric CPR/First Aid courses. Choose from one such list to remain assured of her responses in any medical emergency. There can be really unexpected incidents after you leave the house for work and leave the child with the nanny. There can be no forecast for any of those incidents. This is why practical knowledge is very important for the nanny to handle any unexpected situation. Her social and communication skills will help her to manage any such situation better. You can be assured at your workplace and do not have to ring home after every hour.

  1. Physically and Psychologically Healthy Person

A physically and psychologically healthy person can best handle your child. Negative attributes in the nanny can have negative influences on your baby. Her standards of personal care and hygiene should be high. She is the one handling your baby’s feeding and cleaning. Her hygiene has to be well maintained for her to be given these important responsibilities.

  1. Nannies over the Age Of 30

Nannies over the age of 30 are better than the younger ones in terms of experience, motherliness, and caregiving. Younger women usually take up this work to earn money and lack practical experience. Mother of a child has all practical experiences of nurturing a baby and it helps her taking care of your baby as well. Women after the age of 30 are also calmer and patient with babies. They handle situations differently than younger women. They are much more matured and understand a baby’s need from its gestures.

  1. Having Her Own Baby

Nannies, who already are mothers in their real lives, are better capable of taking care of babies. They have real-life experience that makes them proficient in handling any particular situation. They can understand it better when the baby is hungry or wet. They can understand the need of the baby in a more accomplished way than anyone else. Having her own baby makes her apt in arranging every requirement of your baby. She is more compassionate and humble in taking care of the baby she is in charge of. Such nannies take up the job in a more motherly aspect and not restrict her services for a professional concern. She will not regret spending some more time than her allocated to take care of the baby when the parent have yet not reached home. It is very common for parents to reach home a little late than the scheduled time occasionally due to professional reasons. This is when they can request the nanny over phone to stay a bit longer with the baby and make it up for her later.

Conclusion

Even after so much of evaluations, the parents need to be alert and attentive regarding the nanny they have appointed. They should closely monitor her activities to justify their decisions. There is a lot of way doing that. You can either spend some time with them as they nurture your baby, or you can install CCTV cameras at home to track her daily activities. This would help you keep in touch with the baby and monitor its nanny’s activities as well.