Help me with some good "what if" questions for potential au pair / nanny

[Strix]

I need some good questions to really suss out the childcare skills. "What would you do if..." type questions.

I have one on stroppy child protesting lunch contents as they are walking out the door for school. I need some more, and thought the fantastic wisdom of MN could help...

I'm really trying to get a feel for her approach to discipline, but some first aid / emergency type questions would be good too.

keeping a kind-of a bit-poorly child entertained/looked after at home?

definitely ask how she would react to a child banging their head (iirc the "right" answer is to keep an eye on them - and if they become drowsy or sick get help - but check - I'm not a nanny!)

if you're worried about first aid and accidents etc - ask her about your house and potential hazards.

also don't just ask "what would you do if..." ask if they can give examples of similar situations and how they handled it.

I always ask "if an accident happens and my dd falls off the step onto the concrete in the garden and her head is bleeding, what is the first thing you would do".

Grim scenario I know but an eye opener of a question. You have no idea how many people have said "I'd call you" or "ummmm I don't know, I haven't thought about it".

Good first aid what ifs could include....

What if (child) put hand on stove and burnt it?
What if (child) pulled something off stove and burnt themselves/other child?
What if (child) appeared to be choking?
What if (child) was hot, what would you do (expected answer: take temp, dose w calpol, then ask how much, how often, etc).
How high do you think temp could be without getting worried?
Perhaps construct scenario with ill (older child) and sleeping baby, what would she do, when and how?

I think a lot of people might know the basics ("take temperature, give calpol"), but might not know the details or have thought through the logistics of juggling multiple children.

Re: discipline. What to do when......

Tamtrums.
Refusals to do as asked.
Sibling fighting.
Extreme tiredness leading to all of any of the above.
Refusal to put on shoes/coat/hat.
Crying when mummy leaves in the morning.
Punishments, sanctions, threats, rewards (does nanny use any/all of above?)

Also, road safety with multiple children and vehicles in tow (pram/buggy, scooter, bicycle).

Also, what meals does she like to prepare? Our first and much loved nanny was keen to douse DD's meals (age 9 months) in BBQ sauce in an effort to make it more palatable (sp?) to Little Miss Fussy.....

(aurgh!)

(Sorry, should be tantrums.....)

And you were okay with that bbq thing?

No! Absolutely not! We didn't ask her enough questions about her meal preparation before she started (first child, first nanny, etc).....

(it didn't matter in the end, as she was a lovely nanny in every other way, we just had to keep an eye on her meal prep and do a certain amount of guidance...... Dd would have been fed sausages, chicken nuggets and various bottled sauces constantly from 9 months onwards if we hadn't intervened....)

I am fairly hands off re: childcare though, so would prefer NOT to have to be hovering w "guidance" if possible.....

oh, okay. I got confused by "lovely nanny" folled by "bbq sauce". I get it now.

Haha, yes, somewhat mutually exclusive when read together....

What would you say if my child called you a poo

Used this at last interview and helped me pick the right candidate immediately

In reality I think that if you are going for an AP who is bright but with only sporadic babysitting experience (i.e. loads of the German arbitur types I like to hire who have been great) you may need to sit them down and train them when they arrive on most of the things here. We have a detailed safety "manual" type thingy which helps and also talk about menus and food hygiene and also go over activities they like etc.

Things like: what would you do re a tantrum/ if my child called you a poo/road safety I would however expect them to have sensible answers to without total guidance from me.

For me it tends to come down to whether they're proactive or generally just too laid back (for me). If they're proactive about life generally, they tend to be more on top of things even if they're somewhat lacking in experience.

At the start of this year we took our new AP to the Princess Diana playground and watched her in action with the kids. It was a crazy busy day - it did give me some insights into how she perceived risks and where she needed training.

For a nanny obviously you would expect to see first rate sensible answers to all those points raised though.