How to Hire a Baby Nanny

Once you've hired a nanny, it's important to maintain a good relationship and communication. After all, this is a person who is going to become your child's confidant, simply based upon the number of hours they spend together.

Frost likes to be optimistic and says if the hiring process is done properly there is no reason for a lack of trust, but that making an effort to keep open the lines of communication is necessary. She strongly recommends a nanny diary so the parent can track development process, daytime activities, nap and feeding schedules, and who Nanny and Baby meet during the day.

Generally, she says, a child who looks happy is happy. She does caution not to read too much into a child who may cry when Mom leaves, or immediately abandon the nanny when Mom comes home as that's more apt to be a case of separation anxiety than unhappiness.

"Take 20 minutes every week or so and sit down and look at the diary and talk about how things are going and your goals for the coming week or so," says Frost. "This allows us to feel that we're a part of the child's daytime life, and the nanny to feel they're an important part of the family."