Nanny Interview6-month-old · scorecard

Hire for trust, score for truth

Keep him safe, healthy and secure; engage him awake; run the home during naps; and always tell us the truth.

Interview questions1–14
1
Walk me through your childcare jobs, most recent first — the ages you cared for and why each ended. Are you currently working for another family? If so, what ages and what hours?
▾
Tests: Reliability, stability, and whether another job would compete for her time.
✓Listen for: Clear reasons for leaving, year-plus stays, warm specifics about past kids; open about any current job and hours.
✕Watch for: Vague exits, badmouthing every family, unexplained gaps, or an undisclosed or conflicting current job.
2
When I call your last family, what will they say you were great at — and what will they say you struggled with?
▾
Tests: Integrity and self-awareness (she knows you'll verify).
✓Listen for: A real strength and a genuine growth area; relaxed about the reference call.
✕Watch for: “They'd say I'm perfect” or discomfort at the idea of a call.
3
Tell me about your background — your education, your family, and whether you have children of your own.
▾
Tests: Context, stability, and hands-on experience raising children.
✓Listen for: Open and warm; relevant training or real parenting experience; a stable home life.
✕Watch for: Evasive about basics, or dismissive of the question.
4
Why babies, specifically? And where do you see yourself over the next year or two?
▾
Tests: Genuine vocation vs. job-of-convenience; likely tenure.
✓Listen for: Authentic warmth for this stage; plans that fit a 1–2 year commitment.
✕Watch for: “I just need a job,” or plans that signal a short stay.
5
What would you want to know about my son before your first day — his routine, naps, feeding, his likes and dislikes?
▾
Tests: Genuine interest in this baby, and whether she asks good questions.
✓Listen for: Asks specific, caring questions about his routine and cues unprompted; wants to match what we do.
✕Watch for: Few or no questions; assumes she'll just do it her own way.
6
Walk me through what you'd actually do with my son for an hour while he's awake. What do play and reading look like at 6 months?
▾
Tests: Real developmental knowledge vs. vague good intentions.
✓Listen for: Specifics: tummy time, narrating, peekaboo, board books, textures, mirror, songs; notes he mouths everything.
✕Watch for: Generic “play and read” with no detail, or toddler activities.
7
A 6-month-old can't tell you what's wrong. Tell me about a time you worked out what an upset baby needed when it wasn't obvious.
▾
Tests: Cue-reading, patience, emotional warmth.
✓Listen for: Talks through cues — hungry, tired, overstimulated, teething; stays patient and soothing.
✕Watch for: Frustration in the story, “just let them cry it out,” no curiosity about why.
8
What's your experience starting a baby on solids, preparing or cooking baby food, and getting a baby onto a feeding and nap schedule?
▾
Tests: Hands-on skill for exactly the stage he's entering.
✓Listen for: Knows 6-month basics: single-ingredient purées, allergen care, never forcing; has kept a baby on a routine and follows the parents' plan.
✕Watch for: No solids experience and no curiosity, or would impose her own schedule over yours.
9
When the baby naps, what do you do? Which household tasks are you comfortable doing — cooking, tidying, his laundry — while staying within earshot?
▾
Tests: Initiative and judgment; what she'll actually do during downtime (your concern).
✓Listen for: Monitors first (earshot / baby monitor), then productive: his laundry, dishes, meal prep, tidying; baby stays the priority.
✕Watch for: “That's my break,” unwilling to help around the house, or leaves the monitor behind.
10
What do you do if the baby seems unwell during the day? And what do you do if you wake up sick — even something minor like a cold or a cold sore — on a workday?
▾
Tests: Protecting an infant from illness — his and hers — and good hygiene.
✓Listen for: Watches for fever or off-feeding and calls us early; stays home rather than exposing him to anything contagious; careful, consistent handwashing.
✕Watch for: “I push through it,” downplays a baby's symptoms, or comes in while contagious.
11
Do you have first-aid or CPR training? Have you ever helped a choking baby or toddler — show me exactly what you did. And tell me about any time a child got hurt or scared you: what did you do, and did you tell the parents?
▾
Tests: Real emergency readiness and honest disclosure — not just a certificate.
✓Listen for: Current infant first-aid/CPR; can demonstrate back-blows / infant response; a calm, concrete story; told the parents and changed a habit after.
✕Watch for: No training and no interest, freezes or goes vague on real use, or hid an incident from the parents.
12
Tell me about a time you disagreed with a parent's rule or approach. What did you do — and what did you do when they weren't there to see?
▾
Tests: Coachability, backbone, and whether she follows rules unwatched — your core concern.
✓Listen for: Followed the rule anyway; raised it openly with the parents; spoke up directly only on genuine safety.
✕Watch for: “I did what I thought was best,” or any hint she bent rules once out of sight.
13
Are you comfortable with a baby monitor or camera on while you work, a background check, and providing a recent medical certificate — a clean bill of health confirming you're free of TB and other communicable diseases?
▾
Tests: Transparency and a clean bill of health — and her reaction tells you a lot.
✓Listen for: Relaxed, even welcomes it; sees it as normal for a baby's safety; willingly provides a current health certificate and consents to checks.
✕Watch for: Defensive, negotiates the camera, or resists the health certificate or basic checks.
14
Tell me about a time you made a mistake with a child that the parents would never have found out about. What did you do?
▾
Tests: Honesty when no one is watching — the most important trait.
✓Listen for: “I told them anyway.” Disclosed something she could have hidden.
✕Watch for: “I've never made a mistake,” or a story where the point is she got away with it.
House rules — read aloud & confirm8
Read each rule aloud and get a clear spoken yes. Tap to confirm they agreed. Watch their reaction — easy agreement is good; hesitation or pushback on a safety rule is a flag.
Never take or carry the baby anywhere without us present.
Always stay in the same room as the baby while he's awake.
Put him to sleep only in his own crib — on his back, bare crib.
No smoking, and nothing inappropriate, around the baby.
Give no food or drink without our prior approval.
No medicine of any kind without our explicit go-ahead.
Bring a change of clothes for each shift.
Follow our instructions exactly — when unsure, ask us first.
Scorecard — tap to rate9
Safety & vigilance
Non-negotiable
1 · Concern5 · Excellent
Health & hygiene
Non-negotiable
1 · Concern5 · Excellent
Integrity & honesty
Non-negotiable
1 · Concern5 · Excellent
Rule adherence & boundaries
Non-negotiable
1 · Concern5 · Excellent
Warmth & attunement
1 · Concern5 · Excellent
Developmental engagement
1 · Concern5 · Excellent
Conscientiousness & initiative
1 · Concern5 · Excellent
Reliability & stability
1 · Concern5 · Excellent
Communication & coachability
1 · Concern5 · Excellent
Before you decide
Call two references. Ask each: “On a scale of 1–10, how likely are you to rehire? Why not a 10?” The “why not a 10” is where the truth lives.
Run a paid 2–4 hour trial with you nearby. Watch how she holds him, narrates, handles a fussy moment, and respects the crib and same-room rules.
Verify the non-negotiables in writing: infant CPR/first-aid, a recent medical certificate / clean bill of health (fluorography plus communicable diseases), ID, and a background check.
Watch the small tells. Does she get on the floor with him, talk to him, ask about his routine, wash hands unprompted? Those beat any answer.
—
Score the competencies to see a result.