What needs to go in the nanny manual?

[lobsters]

It's almost time for my nanny to start and I'm trying to get organised. I want to put a manual together with things she might need to know, so far I have the following what have I forgotten

• my/DH contact details
• my parents' contact details just in case
• DD's doctor/ medical history/ regualr medication
• activities DD attends

There has to be more than this, I was planning to just take her through her routine in the first few days rather than write it down

I'm not a nanny, but if I were, I think it would be useful to know about things like how to turn the heating/ hot water on. How to set/ unset the house alarm (if you have one.) Whether you double lock the front door on exit. Where window keys are kept (in case of fire). Where you keep the spare loo rolls (if they're not in the bathroom.)

Stuff that you won't cover in your day walk-throughs, but that someone would need to know if they're in your house without you around.

Do a walk through of your day and think of things she might need to know as the adult in the house, rather than just things child-related.

I totally agree - i always feel terrible if i have to interrupt my bosses day to ask her questions like where the immersion heater is!

Tiny little thing but in a previous job, the car alarm used to go off regularly for very little reason. I dont drive, but it was handy to know where the spare key was kept so i could turn it off if necessary!

Where your stopcock is in case of water leak, and where your fuse box is. Spare keys for sheds/garage etc. Map of the local area, unless she knows her way round. Also if your DD has a certain toy she likes to sleep with/ carry, make a note of that too. Plus a rounh guide to your DD's average day, meal times, nap times etc.

I agree with fuse box, stop cock etc also whereabouts of first aid kit(s), names of any friendly neighbours who might help in emergencies.
I also did 'favorite meals, favorite snacks, and favorite games to play' lists. And a list of forbidden things e.g. no fast food, no toy guns to be bought.
And I would write down the routine - just because it's good to have something to hand if you want to discuss any problems (e.g. you can see that dd normally only has a 1 hour nap after lunch so please don't let her sleep for 3 )

And instructions for the washing machine (if nanny is doing children's washing) - my first nanny could never 'work out' how to work ours..for as long as we employed her

where the electric / gas meter is when they come to read it
where the main trip is when power goes off when bulbs blow

And where to find torch etc when power goes (we are rural and have lots of power cuts so I go through the whole power-cut routine with our au pairs (and previously nannies))

what days the rubbish/recycling goes out- sounds utterly random but i didnt know for the first few weeks so didnt put it out if it was full and missed the rubbish collector

if you have a computer, set up a "guest" account on there with no password so if she/he needs to go online to check maps or places to go etc, they can without being on your site iygwim

even silly little things like "the kitchen taps need to be run for a few minutes before they become hot" or any little quirks like "cystern in loo will make noises after flushing-just run cold tap"

hth
milk xx

Rubbish is a good one to remember although I wouldn't expect a nanny to put the bins out - but what goes into which bin (we have 3 different colour bins and then boxes for different types of recycling so it's quite complicated here). One of our nannies used to put everything into whichever colour bin they were collecting that week because she swore they just mixed it all together and put it in landfill anyway.

If a younger child who doesn't speak too clearly yet, but, makes certain noises for things, pls write them down. Can be frustrating for both nanny and child if nanny doesn't know that GICK GICK GICK in baby language could possibly mean DRINK,

I use an address book and write everything down in that.
Friends contact details
School info
local doctors dentist etc
Allergies
Likes and dislikes
rules
what jobs need doing
daily routine
where things are in the house

hth

Local information (if she is live-in / new to the area) such as bus schedules, local gracery store, etc.

Would also outline which hospital you want the kids to go to in the event of an emergency.

And I would include a map of locations she will frequent in the first few weeks of the job (kids' school, activities, frinds' houses, etc.)

I would find little things like their favorite/least favorite sandwich spread, comforter, friends names really useful. As well as the obvious emergency contacts etc.