Adding a full or part time nanny into your family life is not a small thing. This person will become, if all goes well, like a member of the family. You want to be sure that the family—at least those members who are old enough to understand—know what to expect and how to behave, particularly if your new nanny is replacing a cherished one.

Prepare your family

Whether your nanny is going to live in or out, be there full or part time, you need to prepare your family for the changes! Little kids, in particular, need to understand what’s going on, who this person is, what this change means in their lives, how they should behave with Nanny and so on.

If you’ve never had a nanny before, see if Nanny can visit with your family a few times before starting work. This transition will allow Nanny AND your family to get to know each other a little bit before the ‘big day’. Set it up as a welcome party but don’t make it overwhelming: even an experienced nanny is going to be a little bit nervous so putting her too much on the spot isn’t the best start.

If you have had a nanny leave your employment, someone that the kids were attached to, they need to understand that this isn’t happening as a personal attack on them and most particularly, need to understand that the new nanny is not the enemy! It can be hard for little ones to endure change, so hopefully this isn’t a regular occurrence for you, but change is part of life: so look upon the whole process as a lesson for everyone. The key in this case is preparation: the new Nanny shouldn’t be a surprise.

Prepare your Nanny notebook

A Nanny notebook is a place—either a physical notebook or a digital system—where you keep all the important information about your family: kids’ routines, medical information such as conditions or allergies, medications required, emergency telephone numbers, and more.

It can also contain the everyday information: snack preferences, names and numbers of friends’ parents (for play dates), a general routine of the day as you expect it, things about the house that she may need to know (like where the spare key is kept!). You’ll be giving your new nanny a lot of information on day one, and expecting her to retain it all might be a stretch, so having the notebook means it’s all there for her to peruse at her leisure, and keep on hand for emergencies.

You can also use it as a place for the Nanny to record information that you want her to keep track of in your absence, such as nap times / durations, feeding schedule (for babies) and so on.

Contracts and responsibilities

If you hadn’t already done so when you hired your new Nanny, now would be a good time to set up a contract for their employment. It will not only set out the details of pay, vacation time, and working hours but can even include expectations with regards to daily duties (To clean or not to clean? To cook or not to cook?) This way, when you get to their anniversary of working for your family, you have a point of reference to discuss any areas of improvement or areas where Nanny is exceeding in the role. It’s easier for everyone if you are all on the same page with regards to expectations and responsibilities.

SOSsitter.ca is a Canadian portal designed to help you find local caregivers in your area, easily and quickly. The nanny who is right for your family is only a click away.