New Nanny - how to get off to a good start

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We have hired our first nanny - never had one before. She starts next week. Am looking forward to it but also terrified I'll somehow do it wrong?!

How do we get off to a good start? Will be here on her first day, so what sort of things should I be doing/showing her/telling her about apart from obviously, the baby's routine, where things live in the cupboards etc. We have a baby and a 3 yo and she'll be working part time to look after both. She has already mentioned during interview that she'd need to get a good understanding of our approach to things like behaviour management, baby's routine, daily structure, meals for the kids etc.

Keen to ensure we start as we mean to go on - i.e. clear instructions so she can concentrate on getting on with the job rather than second guessing my vague waffling and we clarify the important stuff up front. Any advice and experiences welcome! TIA

Places to go - though if nanny is local they may already know where toddler groups are, where there are local walks, playgrounds, swimming pool, indoor play.

Write out babies routine. It will of course change over time but knowing the current routine can help when baby seems to cry without a reason.

Soothing methods used - some babies like to be held in certain positions for example.

Clothing, Bedding - where are spares, poo and vomit does tend to get everywhere at times!

Get your 3 year old to do a tour of the house and garden, show their favourite things including favourite shoes, boots, clothing, and to teach nanny the name that they use for things - does your 3 year old call anything a different name to what everyone knows it as?

Try to be as hands-off as possible, let nanny just get on with getting to know the children and your home. Go on an outing somewhere, so nanny can see how you handle your children when out and about, such as how much freedom to walk ahead you give your 3 year old.

Oh great ideas - thanks Nannynick! Am struggling a bit with behaviour management of my 3 yo at the moment - we're trying to ignore/walk away from bad behaviour and making a big positive fuss of good behaviour. However, sometimes, he hits or is very "naughty" and we're not terribly consistent in dealing with that. Think I will have to discuss this with the nanny and see if she has any suggestions.

As a previous nanny employer, my advice would be to raise any issues immediately, first time they come up. Even with our last wonderful nanny, there were quite a few little niggles with the way she did things. I am really non-confrontational, so tended to let things go if they weren't major issues, but then it became far harder to raise them if it was something she had been doing for months (e.g. displaying the children's art work all over the kitchen cabinets, not just in the playroom - not a biggie, put it really annoyed me, I felt odd about just taking it down, and wished I'd said politely that I'd prefer she didn't put art on the units the first time she did it, rather than trying to raise it 6 months later when it seemed far more of an issue).

I think it is very important on both sides to raise any issues, however small as soon as they become issues! I would prefer an employer to say to me , if there was something they were not happy with and we could have a discussion about it. Also, as a nanny it is better to bring things that you are not happy with to your employers attention. I had a problem recently about some holiday allowance, felt so much better when we sat down and talked about it as had been worrying about it...now all resolved by having a conversation and everyone happy!

You must make sure that you and your nanny are on the same page with discipline etc , as this is a must for a 3 year old, needs consistency etc.. Will also probably try and 'play' you off on each other initially , so it maybe wise to try and take a back seat and let him bond with the new nanny on a one to one basis.

Good luck with everything!