HOW TO INTERVIEW A CONFINEMENT NANNY — A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR FIRST-TIME MUMS

Most families struggle not because they hired the wrong nanny, but because the interview felt rushed. Questions were skipped. Unclear answers were accepted. The deposit was paid before anything was properly sorted out.

Many parents walk into an interview focused on three things: price, availability, and years of experience. These matter, but they do not tell you how a nanny will actually behave in your home during the most vulnerable weeks of your life. The real problems — feeding confusion, hygiene shortcuts, job scope disputes, and communication breakdowns — almost never show up during the interview itself. They show up after she starts work, when changing anything becomes much harder.

This guide helps you prepare for the interview, know what to look out for, and make a confident decision before you pay the deposit.

Before the Interview

A good interview starts before you pick up the phone. Take a few minutes to get clear on your own needs first, so you are not making decisions on the spot.

Write down your must-haves before any call. How do you want feeding handled? Who takes care of the baby at night? What are your house rules? What kind of recovery support do you need, especially if you are having a C-section? Knowing your answers to these questions ahead of time means you will notice much faster when a nanny's answers do not match.

Also do a quick background check before you speak to anyone. Search the nanny's name or phone number on the Complaint Radar to see if any past families have raised concerns. If you are still shortlisting, browse nanny profiles on MummyNanny to compare experience and availability before scheduling calls.

1. Identity and Booking Safety

Start here, before any discussion of baby care or cooking. You need to know exactly who is coming into your home, under what agreement, and what happens if things change.

Ask for her full name as it appears on her IC or work permit. Ask whether she will personally be doing the job from start to finish, or whether someone else might come in her place. Ask how close her other bookings are to your due date. And ask what happens to the deposit if she cannot come, falls sick, or needs to leave early.

These questions may feel awkward to ask, but they are the most important ones. The complaint data shows that identity swaps, last-minute no-shows, and overlapping bookings are among the most common reasons families are left without a nanny on the day they give birth. Most of these situations could have been avoided by asking directly during the interview.

2. Postpartum Recovery Support

Recovery looks different for every mum. Some deliver naturally and bounce back quickly. Others, especially those who have a C-section, need much more hands-on support for days or even weeks. A good nanny understands this without needing to be reminded.

What you are looking for is whether she sees her role as genuinely supporting your recovery, not just completing a list of tasks. This means taking over baby care when you are exhausted, making sure you eat and drink enough, being aware of your physical limits after birth, and adjusting her routine based on how you are feeling each day.

Be cautious if her answers focus mainly on cooking or cleaning. A nanny who does not understand the difference between postpartum recovery support and household help may leave you doing more than you should during the most critical weeks of your healing.

3. Feeding: Approach and Agreement

Feeding is one of the most common sources of conflict during confinement. It is also one of the most important things to sort out clearly before the nanny starts.

The question is not just whether she knows how to feed a baby. It is how she makes decisions when things are not clear. What does she do if the baby keeps crying after a feed? How does she support breastfeeding if your milk supply is low? Will she follow your plan, or does she have strong views about how feeding should be done?

You are looking for patience, observation, and a willingness to follow your lead and check with you before making changes. Be careful if her answers sound fixed, or if she seems to decide things based on what is easiest for her rather than what you have agreed.

The Written Feeding Log

One of the most common complaints in real confinement experiences is feeding changes that were made without the parents knowing. A nanny giving more milk than agreed, switching to formula without asking, or using a bottle when a syringe was requested — these are not rare. They happen, and they are almost always discovered too late.

The simplest way to protect against this is a written feeding log agreed on Day 1. Every feed is recorded: the time, the amount, and the method. If the log does not match the milk levels, or you spot feeds that were never written down, that is a serious warning sign. A written log is not about checking up on the nanny. It is about making sure both sides stay on the same page.

4. Baby Comfort, Sleep, and Night Care

Newborns wake often. That is normal. What matters is how the nanny handles it.

You want someone who is calm and patient through the night, who soothes the baby without rushing, and who is genuinely willing to take on night duty rather than treating it as the mum's job. Be cautious if she talks about "fixing" the baby's sleep quickly, or if she hints that she will be resting at night and expects you to handle the baby.

One pattern that appears often in the complaint data is overfeeding to make the baby sleep longer. A nanny who does this is prioritising her own rest over the baby's health. If she cannot explain her approach to night care clearly, or avoids the topic, that is worth noting.

5. Hygiene and Health

Hygiene is not optional when you are caring for a newborn. A newborn's immune system is still very new and cannot handle what is a mild cold or a minor infection to an adult.

Ask her to walk you through how she washes bottles, pump parts, and teats. Ask whether she washes her hands after every nappy change and before preparing milk. Ask what she would do if she felt unwell during the job. A good nanny has a clear plan: tell you right away, wear a mask if needed, and put the baby's health above her own income.

The complaint data shows that nannies working while visibly sick — coughing, sneezing, runny nose — and then denying or downplaying it is one of the most common causes of newborns getting ill during confinement. This question tells you whether she takes that responsibility seriously.

6. Daily Routine and Job Scope

Most confinement disputes do not start because someone did something terrible. They start because both sides remembered the job scope differently. What the mum thought was agreed and what the nanny thought was agreed turned out to be two different things.

The table below covers the key areas to go through during the interview. For each one, get a clear answer and note it down. Anything that is not discussed here is likely to become a source of confusion later.

Once you have gone through everything, put it all in writing before she starts. You can use the MummyNanny Job Scope Generator to structure and document all the key responsibilities, including feeding, night care, rest time, household duties, and extra charges. Ask her to review and confirm the job scope with you before any payment is made.

Confinement Food and Meals

Food deserves its own discussion. You are not testing her cooking skill here. You are checking whether she can plan meals clearly, adjust for your recovery needs, and stay open to your preferences.

Ask her to describe a typical day of meals and snacks. Ask whether she cooks for family members, and if so, whether that is included in her fee. Ask how she adjusts her cooking if you have dietary preferences or restrictions. Be cautious if she is rigid about her cooking style or dismisses your preferences without a real reason. You will be eating her food three to five times a day for 28 days. It matters.

7. Communication and How She Handles Feedback

This section is about one thing: what happens after she starts work and you ask her to do something differently.

The most reliable early warning sign in the complaint data is not a mistake. It is what the nanny does after the mistake is pointed out. A nanny who listens, adjusts, and moves on is someone you can work with. A nanny who argues, gets defensive, or quietly continues the same behaviour is a problem that will not go away.

During the interview, pay attention to how she responds when you ask challenging questions. Does she answer calmly and specifically? Or does she become vague, dismissive, or quick to remind you how many years of experience she has? The interview itself is a preview of what working with her will feel like.

8. Payment, Charges, and Agreements

Financial clarity must happen before you pay anything. Not after.

Never leave payment terms sitting in WhatsApp messages that can be read different ways later. Everything should be in one written document that both sides agree on before any money is exchanged. If she is vague about any of this, or pushes to "discuss later," that is a reason to pause before paying the deposit.

How to Read Her Answers

A good interview is not about finding perfect answers. It is about noticing patterns. Here is a simple way to think about what you are hearing.

A mum who notices two or more red signals but pays the deposit anyway because she is anxious about availability is one of the most common patterns in real complaint cases. The interview is your easiest chance to walk away. After the deposit, everything is harder.

The Interview Flow

Before You Pay

If anything is still unclear, it is better to ask again than to pay and hope for the best.

Once She Arrives

Hiring a good nanny is the first step. The first three days are when patterns show up. Follow the agreed feeding plan and written log from Day 1. Watch whether her behaviour matches what she said in the interview. Raise anything that concerns you early, while it is still easy to address.

For a full guide on what to look for in the first 72 hours, read our Confinement Nanny Red Flags guide.

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