Selecting someone to take care of your children is not an easy feat. You’re typically going to be interviewing strangers, so you have to ask the right nanny interview questions and get a good feeling about the person you choose to hire.
Here are some helpful nanny interview tips and examples of nanny interview questions to ask a potential nanny that you should focus on, and these can give you ideas for additional questions to ask.
Updated in 2021.
Keep reading for your free nanny printable list of interview questions and your checklist for finding a nanny. It is ultimately very important to hold an interview and ask specific and behavioral interview questions for nanny before you select who will care for your child.
Questions to ask during your Nanny Interview, a Nanny Interview Questions Printable Checklist
Grab your question list for nanny interview here!
General Background Questions
These are the usual starter questions for someone you will interview, so a nanny interview is no different. Ask her about herself, her hobbies, and her interests. Ask the potential hire why she wants to be a nanny, and what interests her about your specific need. It is also important to ask the nanny about her previous experience caring for children, their ages, and a little about her duties.
Is she CPR certified, or willing to get the certification? Has she ever had to handle a medical emergency? Does she have a vehicle and is she willing to drive children to a doctor or hospital if needed? Is she willing to submit to a background check?
What does she love about children and what do children love about her? How does she feel about light housekeeping, especially in the areas the children will play? Ask about living arrangements and transportation, if not a live-in nanny. Ask about any health issues and whether the nanny smokes or drinks.
Discuss Your Family’s Specific Needs
I was still pregnant when we were hiring our nanny. We didn’t really know what a typical day would look like post-baby and with me returning to work, so a lot of these questions were general care and not specific to our lifestyle. If you already know what you will need, this is the time to bring it up.
Ask what activities the nanny does with babies and toddlers (or other ages as appropriate). Is the nanny willing to adjust her schedule if you have to work late, or leave early for a meeting? Ask her to tell you about a typical day she will have with a baby or a toddler. Is the nanny willing to keep a daily log?
Ask her if there is a task she will not do. Ask about her philosophy on raising children. How does she discipline children? How does she comfort them?
Considerations if You’re Seeking a Live-In Nanny
There are more topics to ask if you want to hire a live-in nanny as we did. Ask her about her sleeping and eating habits and needs. Find out if she has any pets she wants to bring with her. Ask if she has any family or friends who may visit, and decide how you feel about guests. Does she keep her living area clean and is she quiet? How does she feel about living with a family?
The nanny should have some questions for you, and those might spark other questions as well. If the interview goes well and you feel like you connect with the nanny and she with you, then you should introduce her to the children unless of course, you are still expecting as I was.
Download this Nanny Interview Questions Printable
I have put together a nanny interview questions printable that includes questions to ask a potential nanny, and of course, you should add any that you can think of that are specific to your situation. These helpful nanny interview tips and printable nanny questions to ask will get you started and get a good conversation going in the nanny interview. You should also ask your potential nanny if she has any interview questions to ask the family.
Hiring a nanny interview free printable. Grab this Nanny Interview Checklist!
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P.S. If you are looking at hiring a nanny, I have prepared a Nanny Contract Template to help you hire your own nanny.
Read other posts from this childcare and nanny series.
Do you know what to ask a potential nanny? Grab your Nanny Interview Questions Printable Checklist!
Nicole @ The Professional Mom Project says
This is so helpful! I ended up putting my son in daycare but had I hired a nanny I would really have appreciated your checklist and thoughts on what to consider asking in an interview. I’m sure many people will find this useful. #KCACOLS
Julie says
Thanks Nicole 🙂 Did you go through a decision process to pick day care? I’d love to have you guest post on that if you’re interested.
Nicole @ The Professional Mom Project says
Hi Julie – yes we did see quite a few although where we live there are huge waitlists for daycares. I’d love to do a guest post please feel free to email me! Hope you have a great weekend 🙂
tracey bowden says
I can imagine you have to be really thorough when interviewing for a nanny especially a live in one. This is a great checklist and I’m sure someone in a similar position will really benefit from your advice and experience. #KCACOLS
Julie says
Absolutely, it definitely takes thinking about a lot of things, because it is difficult to cover everything until you’ve experienced it. Even now I keep coming up with more topics. Thanks Tracey 🙂
tori says
Thank you for this! The printable check list provides so many questions I wouldn’t have even thought of asking. Providing this information is so helpful, and hard to come by. Good job, mama!
Thanks for linking up with #KCACOLS. Hope you will come back again next Sunday!
Tori
http://www.themamanurse.com
Julie says
Thanks Tori!!
Kayla Arnold says
Great advice! Thank you for sharing! #KCACOLS
Trista, Domesticated Momster says
This is such great advice for anyone looking for a nanny. I am glad that I have been financially able to stay home with my kids…thinking of them in someone else’s care stresses me out. I don’t even like leaving them with their father sometimes lol jk. Thanks so much for linking with #momsterslink…hope to see you this week!
Julie says
Haha that comment about the husband is funny. That’s wonderful that you can be home with them. 🙂
Healing Mama says
What a great checklist. It takes all of the guess work out for busy parents.
Julie says
Thank you 🙂 It does help to have a list to start from, and of course build more questions from there.
Cascia Talbert says
Great tips! I sure wish I could afford a nanny.
Julie says
It all depends on your agreement with them. We structured our contract so the nanny wouldn’t cost us more than day care would have.
Jamie @ Medium Sized Family says
I think the process of finding care your child can be very overwhelming. This is some great info. Thanks for sharing at the Friday Funday Blog Hop #FFBH!
Kimberly H. Smith says
Very thorough, Julie! Thanks for sharing this on Traffic Jam Weekend. We are featuring it for this week’s party going live today at 5:00 pm CST.
Julie says
Thanks so much Kimberly!
Nikki Frank-Hamilton says
These are great questions, it’s so hard to know if you are choosing the right person, one that will spend many hours with your child, and watch over them. Shared, many parents need this!
Julie says
Thanks Nikki! I agree, it is a complicated process to pick someone to care for your little ones.
Kelly says
This is really helpful for parents – a lot of times, when you’re talking to someone, you get sidetracked as you talk (or at least I do!). Having a list helps keep you on track and makes sure you remember the important questions. Thanks so much for making this a printable – very cool!
Julie says
I agree, I really can get side-tracked and wish we’d had asked something but forgot to. Of course, even with a good list we may sometimes come up with other questions later.
Brandyn says
Great questions! I know how picky I am just finding a babysitter for short amounts of time, so I can imagine how stressful it can be to look for someone to watch your child for long stretches of time! This is sure to be helpful for those seeking this sort of arrangement!
Thank you for sharing with us at #MommyMeetupMondays!
Julie says
Thanks Brandyn! Yea and some of these questions can also be applied for babysitters too I’m sure.
Jen says
Love this, I shared for others as mine are too old for Nanny. However your printable is so darn cute!! Great job!
Julie says
Aww thanks 🙂 Glad to hear you liked my first printable 🙂
Bread says
This is really useful for people looking for a nanny. And some of it can be transferred to looking for a child minder too.
Julie says
Is a child minder like a babysitter? Because I agree, a lot of these can be transferred to other child care topics.
Michelle says
You did good here. So much to think about when leaving our children in someone else’s care. I like the print out. I was a nanny for five years and the relationship I had with the family will be with me forever.
Julie says
Oh Michelle that’s awesome and I bet you did have a special relationship after 5 years. I would love to have you share your experience in a guest post, let me know if you’re interested 🙂
MMT says
This is a brilliant idea…It is such a huge decision it pays to be prepared in advance.
Thanks for linking to #coolmumclub, I’m off to share!
Julie says
Thanks lady 🙂 It is a huge decision!
Samantha says
It has to be so difficult to find someone to mesh with your family so well, especially when it’s a live-in nanny! These questions are so great, and I would not have thought of all of those on my own. You are so helpful!
Julie says
Thanks Samantha! It helps to have the questions in advance because I don’t know about you, but I get flustered talking to new people heh. It definitely is difficult finding someone who fits right in with your family, but at least you can find someone you respect and who respects you and your space and just work from there to build a relationship.
kid can doodle says
Good one! Wish I’d had something like this when I was looking.
Erin @ Stay At Home Yogi says
This is really helpful! Some of these questions I never would have thought of on my own, I love how thorough you are!
Julie says
Thanks Erin 🙂 I sat down and found my notes from when we were interviewing, and then added a bunch more.
Patti says
I like that you ask the important questions up front. I’m sure this helps in the transition.
Julie says
Thanks Patti! There’s just some general questions you have to get out of the way first before you really can start getting to know the applicant.
Jennifer says
I worked as a Nanny for over 6 years and 4 different families… I WISH they had been this organized in our interviews LOL.
Julie says
I know we had a list of topics when we interviewed, but we weren’t this organized either heh. Would you be interested in guest posting about your nanny experience? Thanks Jennifer!
Elle Spann says
thanks for this! sending to my sister!
elle
Southern Elle Style
Julie says
Thanks Elle! Does your sister blog?