Nannies, Babysitters & Parents - Connecting

Bringing a Nanny Home

 

Now that you’ve selected the best nanny for you, it is time to take it to the next step: bring him or her home. To do this, you’ll need to take into consideration your family members that share the home with you.

 

Make sure that by this time your children have met the nanny and understand the role that the nanny will play in their home. That means exploring the necessary questions that they may have, such as “Is this person someone I have to listen to?” Have a good heart to heart talk with your child to insure that these things are well understood.

 

Having a family dinner for the first few nights at least will help to keep the relationship working well. There are several jobs that you have at this point.

 

1. You need to reassure the nanny that you stand behind them by allowing them to make decisions for your child and to honor the steps and decisions that the nanny makes. If your child approaches you and says that the nanny is being mean, don’t attack the nanny, even if you feel it the right thing to do. Instead, the child should be told that nanny is right.

2. You should also make sure that the nanny knows that you and your child have an open communication with each other. If the child does have complaints or there are problems with the two of them getting along, you’ll want to play the mediator but from a back point. In other words, don’t critic the nanny in front of the child or the other way around.

 

Establishing the routine for the day will be one of the first things to do. This means that you’ll need to pay close attention to the things that need done and how they will get done. A great way to do this is to write out a schedule that allows for some flexibility. Do this with the nanny, or even allow the nanny to do it.

 

Communication Is Key

If any one thing will make the largest difference in the success you and your nanny have its communication. You should set up a time to meet with the nanny one on one each week. Here, talk about concerns, questions and progress. This is a great time to sit down with a cup of coffee and talk about the future too. Make it positive and something that you both look forward to.