Beginning a nanny search can be a daunting task.  Determining whom to entrust with our children’s care can be a stressful decision.  Sharon Tepper, a local “mom-trepreneur” started Brownstone Nannies, Inc a nanny referral service in Park Slope, to help other parents navigate this process.  Here, she provides some tips for you in your search.

Here’s what Sharon focuses on when interviewing potential candidates:

1. Length of previous employment. Has this person had a series of short stints with many families?  Or longer-term engagements where she’s cared for children through all their different stages of growth.
2. Communication. The parent-nanny relationship becomes almost as important as a marriage, and communication is key!  You need to be able communicate your priorities, and trust your nanny to make independent decisions based on them.
3. Patience. The cornerstone to working with kids.  It takes a lot of warmth and a true love and respect for children.
4. Common sense. When interviewing a candidate, Sharon always presents them with several scenarios we’re all bound to encounter when caring for small children.  How have they responded to a medical emergency?  How do they manage a toddler’s tantrum?
5. Flexibility. Parents’ work schedules may change and they need a nanny to accommodate these changes.  An extremely long commute to work can be a hindrance to possible scheduling changes.  Flexibility also includes an openness on the part of the nanny to each parents’ preferred child-raising methods, including sleep training, food, and TV policies.
6. Nanny’s own family and upbringing. How has the nanny raised her own kids?  What values has she imparted to them?