Finding Your Ideal Nanny in Singapore (6 Golden Tips)

Is there such thing as an “ideal nanny” in Singapore?

You bet!

Now that we know how to find a nanny and hire babysitters with MEIDE, how about aiming to get the IDEAL NANNY for you and your household?

Truly, average nanny services already serve a great help to many families here in Singapore. Less than ideal nannies exist around, and parents tend to close one eye so long as they do their jobs adequately well. Then, we have the golden crop of sitters, who are always in high demand and have fully booked schedules. So, how do we find the one nanny that is our ideal nanny?

Let us at MEIDE Babysitters give you our special insights from years of nanny service experience, and directly from the words of parents, nanny coordinators, and nannies themselves too.

1) Be Specific And Realistic With Expectations

As our nanny coordinator Ms. Ashley laments, many parents calling nanny agencies either do not know what they want exactly, or are clueless about what to expect realistically from nannies.

The range of expectations start from daddies of twin babies who wonder if their nanny candidate can change a diaper, to first time mummies who expect the nanny to clean the whole house whilst cooking 4-course meals and taking care of their newborn.

In reality, many nannies lie somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. There are younger nannies who mainly only have experience taking care of their own children and relatives’ kids. There are also older nannies who have worked for decades with numerous babies and parents. As expected, nannies with greater experience and more qualifications will charge a higher rate.

However, the topic in this article is not about the babysitters’ rate (read here to learn about what affects the babysitter rates). Instead, what we want to highlight is that the process of finding one’s ideal nanny, begins from one’s predetermined set of expectations. Since a nanny is deemed “ideal” when all (if not most) expectations are met or exceeded, parents should start by writing down this set of expectations first!

Then, review this “list” with experienced parents, or trusted platforms (like us!) to evaluate how realistic it is, in consideration with your budget and timeline too.

Tip: Know the 5 good physical traits of nannies here, and the 5 goals we encourage nannies to achieve here. Find out what a nanny can do at your house (job scope) here too!

2) Start Your Nanny Search As Early As Possible

Depending on your luck, you may find your ideal nanny on the first try, or it may take weeks and months before even getting close.

The earlier you begin this process, the higher chance you have for finding the best nanny you desire! Remember that finding your ideal nanny is not a 1-way process. For example, the nanny may fit all the ideal characteristics you listed but is not available for the date, time or location that you need him or her for.

Hence, if you start early, you get a priority on reserving the nanny for his or her date and time, once you have chosen your nanny!

If you want to get priority and urgent nanny services, contact nannies and platforms like us at MEIDE Babysitting early. We have mummies and daddies who have already arranged nanny services 12 months ahead. What is more – you can simply get started by requesting our nanny services via this convenient online booking form here. We have all fields already ready to speed up the nanny search process for you.

3) Cast Your Net Wide

Reach out to as many potential nannies and babysitters as possible!

There are numerous ways to find a babysitter. Although our industry is not the most seasoned at the global level, Singapore does have a handful of companies providing nanny services.

For your convenience, MEIDE Babysitters has compiled a table of the most common agencies and their costs of babysitting services here! (Scroll to the end for the summary table).

Did you know that despite being a nanny service ourselves, we are not hesitant to share that there are other nanny companies around in Singapore too and encourage clients to always do their due diligence and homework before engaging services.

The more avenues you seek, and the wider you cast your net, the more nannies you will be able to reach out to. This way, you can increase the chances of finding the “ideal nanny” to match your list of requirements.

Yet, we know that this is not for everyone because of the time-consuming and laborious process. Plenty of resources and effort is required too.

You don’t have to do it yourself all the time

The good news is: MEIDE Babysitting is here to reach out to AS MANY NANNIES as possible, within the shortest possible duration of time, all for you. We do this based on each client’s personalized requests. Whether you need an urgent nanny for your sick child, or a fast replacement for your current nanny, we will handle your needs uniquely.

On top of broadcasting messages to our own database of sitters, MEIDE also has plenty of connections to partner agencies and individual nannies. We do all the hard work of calling nannies one by one, sending SMS-es, WhatsApp and Telegram messages, emailing and much more. We even have specialized pools of nannies for specialized requests like “nanny for special needs”, or “nanny for hotel stays / short stay tourists and expats”.

Now, you know why some companies (like us) stand out especially in helping parents find their ideal nanny!

4) Set Your Budget Reasonably

FInally, we see the elephant in the room – pricings of your “ideal nanny” and budget constraints.

To have an ideal nanny, one must be reasonable with compensating the nanny for his or her work too. Start by knowing what the current market rate is, for your set of requirements. Taking care of multiple kids is most definitely more expensive than taking care of just one. Hence the market rate for different sets of requirements is variable too.

Just like you have a set of criteria for the ideal nanny you desire, many babysitters also have a set of criteria that they look for in their “employers” or “parents” whom they service. Usually, the price is a top consideration.

Of course, as an established nanny platform, we perfectly understand that each household would have a certain budget for nanny services. Hence, we include a section for you to indicate your budget within our booking form. Moreover, you can set a range, or even list it as a budget per hour, per day, per week or per month for us. Our friendly and efficient nanny coordinators will take note of it and discuss the budget and practicality with you once you have submitted the booking form to us!

5) Interview and Rank Nannies By Merit

Just like any effective and efficient employer, mothers and fathers should interview their babysitter candidates to sieve through the suitable and non-suitable ones.

During this process, parents can rank the nannies by merit, but it is vital to remember that ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison’. There is no one-size-fits-all formula for the ‘ideal nanny’. Instead, the merits of each nanny is often unique to the specific household’s needs.

Hence, for you as the parent, you can have multiple profiles presented to yourself. Then, ideally, this should be followed by a schedule of interviews and practical assessments. However, do parents really have such luxury of time often?

Some parents are lucky and can get a good nanny within the first few hires. Yet, sometimes you change nanny after nanny, with each presenting new problems for your family and child. Is this bad luck? Possibly, but there is one way to overcome this bugging headache.

Get over the hassle by hiring a trusted agent or platform (like us) to handle the multiple and repetitive processes. This means sieving through resumes, conducting interviews and practical assessments for you countless times until achieving the “ideal nanny” match.

In fact, because an established nanny agency would be so familiar, this process simply becomes a day-to-day task. Now, you can simply get just one (or sometimes, several) nanny profiles that you will find to be an “ideal” match immediately!

6) Build Human Relationships (Beyond Contracts)

Yes, although a proven platform like MEIDE will draft out and provide you with written agreements, you’d want to build a proper and lasting relationship with your nanny beyond the contract.

Easier said than done, but building a relationship simply starts with communications! Start conversing and communicating as soon as you can with your nanny. Preparing for your nanny requires certain knowledge too that you can find HERE (courtesy from us too).

Although a written contract is very helpful in laying out the dates, timings, salary details and other transactional information, it does not substitute the real-world nanny-parent relationship.

Instead, the relations between both parties are built based on mutual communications, trust and reciprocity. This is independent on a black-and-white contract. With or without a written agreement, we believe an “ideal nanny” situation can only exist if healthy and happy “nanny-parent” relationships are built. Whilst this discussion goes beyond the scope of our read, we can recommend multiple links and resources for you:

• A useful succinct article on relations here
• How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• Surrounded by Idiots: The Four Types of Human Behaviour (or, How to Understand Those Who Cannot Be Understood) by Thomas Erikson
• Simply Said: Communicating Better at Work and Beyond by Jay Sullivan

So, why not get started with simply putting conscious effort – communicating with your nanny, supporting agents, and  focusing on kindness and considerateness?

That way, you are a sure step towards getting the “ideal nanny”. In fact, with effective relationship-building, you are going to have  more than just “ideal nannies” but also plenty of fulfillment and joy in life!