by Here is a question from Jason. He asks, “What kind of nanny help should we look for in providing care for our twins?” Now, in Jason’s case, twins are going to be the first children, and both he and his wife are trying to continue working.
Jason, the type of nanny you need really depends on the working arrangements after the twins are born. If mom will be taking time off from work to stay home with the twins for a while, perhaps a nighttime nanny would be of the most benefit to you. That way the nanny can help relieve some of the burdens of caring for and feeding the twins at night so that you and your wife are not carrying that full burden yourselves.
Finding a Twin Nanny
First of all, always get a referral. You may wonder, where am I going to get a referral for a nanny for twins? That’s where your local multiples club comes in handy. So you can always Google your town and multiples club, or mother of twins club, and you’ll find one. You can also check out this complete list of every Twins and Multiples club in the United States so you can find a location close to you. So go there, ask for a referral for nannies, and they’ll give you somewhere, a good place to start.
Just because you have twins doesn’t mean that you need to find a nanny that necessarily has experience with multiples. That may be an advantage, or a disadvantage, based on the nanny. Look for if this nanny has worked with multiple young children before, not necessarily twins. If a nanny’s been able to juggle very young children before easily, then it may be a good fit for you with your twins.
Now, one question to consider is, do you want this nanny for just the infant months with your twins, or do you want this nanny to also help with your twins as they move into the toddler stage as well? So, just because a nanny’s really good with infants, that doesn’t mean she’s going to be good with toddlers later. So you need to consider how long this nanny will be helping with your children.
Always remember that you must do some kind of trial run with your twins and the nanny. You don’t want to just interview the nanny in isolation without the kids present, because you want to get a feel for how she interacts with them and how your kids respond to her. This does mean, of course, if you’re trying to plan for a nanny while you’re pregnant with twins that you may be able to filter out and interview some of them, but when it comes time to actually meeting the twins it’s going to have to wait till after they’re born.
Other Twin Dad’s Experiences
I’ve chatted with several fathers of twins that have had nannies. Listen to their stories for tips on how they found a good nanny and how that worked out with their twins:
- Finding a nanny for the children (even before the twins were born)
- Deciding when to move on from a nanny
- Benefits of having a nanny for twins
- How one couple found the perfect nanny
This question was originally addressed on the Dad’s Guide to Twins Podcast Episode 36: Finding a Nanny for Twins, Biggest Help with Newborns, Work Promotion vs. Family.
Picture by Larry Jacobsen
