A CV can look excellent and references can be impeccable. A professional nanny can leave an exceptionally pleasant impression during the interview. Yet none of these things, on its own, answers the most important question:

How will this person treat my child when I am not there?

That is exactly where serious nanny selection begins.

A nanny is not just someone who makes sure a child is fed, safe and put to bed on time. She spends hours in direct interaction with the child: responding to their attempts to communicate, reacting to crying and frustration, setting boundaries, talking, comforting, encouraging independence and taking part in everyday routines.

Research in early childhood development consistently shows that the quality of relationships and everyday interactions a child has with adults is an important part of their developmental environment. This, of course, does not mean that one nanny “determines” a child’s development; development results from a complex interplay of the child’s individual characteristics, the family, biological factors and the wider environment. But precisely for that reason, the quality of everyday care, relationships and stimulation a child receives cannot be treated as an unimportant detail.

That is why a professional assessment of a nanny should not end with checking her previous experience. In fact, that is where it only begins.

How to recognise a good nanny?

Parents often ask: “What qualities should a good nanny have?” This seemingly simple question has no simple answer.

Reliability, experience, responsibility, knowledge and a warm attitude towards children certainly matter. But the quality of care cannot be reduced to a list of desirable traits.

Much of it only becomes visible through the way an adult communicates with a particular child. Does she notice the child’s signals, can she wait, does she adapt her communication to the child’s age, how does she react when the child refuses to cooperate, does she stay calm when the situation becomes demanding, can she set a boundary without humiliation, intimidation or a raised voice?

In other words, it is not enough to assess what a nanny knows – it is important to try to understand how she applies that knowledge in her relationship with the child.

A nanny’s experience is not the same as professional competence

“How many years have you worked as a nanny?” is one of the first questions in almost every interview.

It is important, but it is not enough. The number of years tells you how long a person has done a certain job. On its own, it does not show the quality of her work, her ability to learn or the way she understands a child’s development and behaviour.

That is why the question about years of experience should be followed by others:

• What did the nanny learn in her previous positions?
• How did she change her approach when something was not working?
• Can she describe a situation in which she made a mistake and explain what she would do differently today?
• How does she respond to feedback from parents?
• Can she explain why, in a given situation, she chooses one course of action over another?

Such questions reveal something a CV can hardly show: a person’s ability to reflect on her own work.

Why does the way a nanny responds to a child matter so much?

One of the key concepts in the modern science of early development is responsive caregiving.

The World Health Organization describes it as a caregiver’s ability to notice, understand and respond to a child’s signals in a timely and appropriate way. In everyday life this can look quite ordinary. A baby turns her head away because she has had enough stimulation. A two-year-old becomes irritable when tired. A preschooler withdraws when he needs time to adjust to a new situation. An adult sees the behaviour; a responsive adult also tries to understand the signal behind it.

Research shows that what matters for a young child’s development is how an adult communicates and responds to their needs every day – how sensitive and responsive she is and how rich her verbal responses are. When a nanny carefully follows a child’s signals, responds to them in a warm and appropriate way, talks with the child and encourages communication, this is associated with more favourable developmental outcomes, including language development.

It is important to stress, however, that a child’s development never depends on one person alone. It is shaped by the family, the child’s innate traits, the environment and many other factors. So research does not say that one nanny’s behaviour determines a child’s future development, but that the quality of everyday care and relationships is one of the important parts of the child’s developmental environment.

A practical message for parents: Observe the quality of the interaction between the nanny and the child, not just the routine that gets done.

Understanding a child’s emotions is sometimes wrongly equated with being permissive. It is not the same thing. An adult can recognise that a child is frustrated and still hold the boundary. A child may be angry because he has to leave the pool, and the adult can accept his displeasure without changing the decision. A good relationship with a child does not mean removing every frustration from their life. What matters much more is how the adult guides the child through that frustration.

“I’m patient” does not tell us whether a candidate really is patient

Almost every nanny will answer “yes” to the question “Are you patient with children?” However, such an answer says little about how a person will actually react in a demanding situation. That is why situational questions from everyday life with children are more useful during an interview.

For example: “It’s time to leave the house and you have an appointment you shouldn’t be late for. A three-year-old refuses to get dressed. After several attempts he starts crying, throws his shoes and says he won’t go. What would you do?”

What matters here is not only the nanny’s final answer, but the way she thinks through the situation. Would she react with a threat, a raised voice or a punishment? Would she label the child’s behaviour as spoilt, try to end the unpleasant situation by promising a reward, or show that she understands the reason for the resistance, calm the situation and still hold the necessary boundary? This is especially important because an adult does not behave the same way in ideal and stressful circumstances. Research on caregiver sensitivity shows that the quality of interaction can also be linked to the adult’s own characteristics and circumstances; stress, for example, can make sensitive responding harder. That is why it is useful to observe a candidate in situations that require flexibility and self-control, not only during a pleasant conversation.

Working with children requires not only understanding children’s emotions, but also the adult’s ability to regulate her own reactions. Tiredness, frustration and stress cannot be avoided entirely, but it is very important how an experienced nanny recognises her own tension and what she does so as not to pass it on to the child.

There is no such thing as “the best nanny”

There is another common mistake in nanny selection: the search is usually aimed at finding a universally best nanny. Children are not the same, families are not the same, and the demands of one position are not the same as those of another. One child readily accepts new people and enjoys a high level of interaction, while another needs more time and more gradual contact. One family expects a high level of independence from the nanny, while another wants important decisions to be agreed in detail with the parents. A child’s age, temperament, developmental level and individual needs all change the way they respond to their environment. That is why a nanny who was an excellent choice for one family is not necessarily the right choice for another.

Professional selection therefore means assessing not only the quality and competences of a candidate, but also how well she fits the child’s needs, the parents’ expectations and the specific requirements of the particular position.

References matter — but they are not enough

References from previous employers should always be checked. Besides asking “Were you satisfied with the nanny?”, it is useful to ask:

• How did she react in stressful situations?
• How did she take feedback?
• Did she respect agreed boundaries?
• Was she reliable?
• How did she communicate problems?
• Why did the position end?
• And one very simple question: would you hire this person again?

References should be seen as one source of information within a wider selection process, together with identity and employment history checks, relevant qualifications, the interview and other checks that are appropriate for the position and permitted by law.

What questions should you ask a nanny in an interview?

A good interview should not be a theory exam. Its purpose is to reveal how the nanny thinks. That is why situational questions are particularly useful for understanding her way of thinking and her decision-making process.

What to observe during the first meeting between the nanny and the child?

The first contact can be significant, but it should not be turned into a test in which the child chooses the nanny.

A child who immediately approaches a stranger has not thereby confirmed her professional competence. A child who hides behind a parent has not rejected the nanny. Keep in mind that the relationship between a nanny and a child develops over time and through repeated interactions. Research on children’s relationships with professional caregivers shows that children can develop meaningful relationships with the people who regularly care for them, while sensitivity and the characteristics of the environment itself are relevant to the quality of those relationships.

So during the first meeting, observe the nanny:

• does she immediately try to win the child over, or does she observe first,
• does she follow the child’s interests,
• does she adapt her way of communicating to the child’s age,
• does she respect the child refusing physical contact,
• can she be present without imposing herself.

Professional boundaries in a private home

A nanny often enters a very intimate space of family life. She hears conversations, knows the routines, witnesses stressful situations and knows things that people outside the household do not. That is why professional discretion is not an added bonus – it is an integral part of professional conduct. A close relationship with the child also does not mean taking over the parental role.

A professional nanny should understand the limits of her role, the family’s rules, how to communicate with the parents and the limits of sharing information about the child and the family’s private life. It is especially important to clearly define rules on photographing the child, social media, communication with third parties and the protection of private data.

Signals that call for further checks when choosing a nanny

Some warning signs are obvious: CV details that cannot be confirmed, significant contradictions during the interview, references that cannot be verified or unexplained gaps in employment history can all be early red flags.

Others can be more subtle:

• the nanny describes every previous family as problematic or demanding, or says they did not respect her,
• she cannot name a single situation in which she made a mistake,
• she gives an almost perfect answer to every question, but struggles to explain why she would act that way,
• she shares private information about previous employers that is not relevant to the conversation,
• she does not respect agreed professional boundaries even during the selection process.

No single circumstance automatically means a nanny is unsuitable, but inconsistencies and repeating patterns justify further checks.

Education or experience – which matters more?

A diploma alone does not guarantee good work with a child, but neither do years of experience guarantee that a person understands a child’s developmental needs or has improved her skills and practice over the years. Research on early education and care makes a useful distinction between structural quality – such as staff education, conditions and organisation – and process quality, meaning what the child directly experiences through interactions with adults.

It is precisely the quality of interaction that is an important part of the assessment.

For a nanny in a private home, it therefore makes sense to look at the whole picture: relevant education and professional training, experience, safety knowledge, quality of communication, professional ethics, the ability to reflect and behaviour in direct work with the child.

Why is a trial period important?

An interview shows a nanny in a controlled situation, while everyday life, especially a busy one, is not a controlled situation. For example: the child wakes up in a bad mood, plans change, the parents are running late and two children want attention at the same time. The child completely refuses the activity the nanny prepared. Situations like these can provide additional information about a nanny’s skills that is hard to assess in an interview alone.

So during a trial period, you should not only watch whether the nanny is “likeable to the child”. It is important to observe:

• whether she accepts instructions,
• whether she asks questions when she doesn’t know something,
• whether she notices the child’s signals,
• how she reacts when a plan fails,
• how she communicates a problem,
• whether she respects the family’s routines and boundaries,
• whether her behaviour is consistent over time.

What is a parent really choosing?

At the end of the process, a parent is not just choosing someone who will be in the house while they are away, but an adult who will respond to their child hundreds of times. When the child falls, gets angry, refuses to cooperate, can’t do something, feels embarrassed, gets scared, seeks comfort, or makes something they are proud of and looks to an adult to check whether anyone noticed. Much of the relationship between a child and a nanny is built in exactly these small, everyday moments.

That is why professional nanny selection is not a search for the perfect CV, nor a search for the person who makes the best first impression in an interview. It is a much more careful attempt to answer the question:

Who is the person we can trust with our child’s safety and with a significant part of their everyday experience of growing up?

References and sources

1. World Health Organization, UNICEF & World Bank Group. (2018). Nurturing Care for Early Childhood Development: A Framework for Helping Children Survive and Thrive to Transform Health and Human Potential. The core international framework for responsive caregiving, safety, health, nutrition and early learning.
2. World Health Organization. (2020). Improving Early Childhood Development: WHO Guideline. Evidence-based recommendations on interventions that support early development and responsive caregiving.
3. Bratsch-Hines, M. E. et al. (2020). Infant and Toddler Child-Care Quality and Stability in Relation to Proximal and Distal Academic and Social Outcomes. Child Development. A longitudinal study of caregivers’ verbal interactions, sensitivity and stability of care in relation to later language, social and academic outcomes.
4. Ahnert, L., Pinquart, M. & Lamb, M. E. (2006). Security of Children’s Relationships With Nonparental Care Providers: A Meta-Analysis. Child Development, 77(3), 664–679. A meta-analysis of 40 studies with 2,867 children on attachment relationships with caregivers outside the parental relationship.
5. Howes, C. & Hamilton, C. E. (1992). Children’s Relationships With Child Care Teachers: Stability and Concordance With Parental Attachments. Child Development, 63(4), 867–878. A longitudinal study of the development and stability of a child’s relationship with a professional caregiver.
6. Loi, E. C. et al. (2017). Quality of Caregiver–Child Play Interactions With Toddlers Born Preterm and Full Term: Antecedents and Language Outcome. Early Human Development, 115, 110–117. Findings link greater sensitivity/responsiveness, verbal elaboration and lower intrusiveness with better receptive language outcomes.
7. Ragni, B. et al. (2021). Intervention Programs to Promote the Quality of Caregiver–Child Interactions in Childcare: A Systematic Literature Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. A systematic review of interventions aimed at the quality of interaction between professional caregivers and children.
8. Vandell, D. L. et al. (2010). Do Effects of Early Child Care Extend to Age 15 Years? Results From the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Child Development, 81(3), 737–756. Long-term results of the NICHD longitudinal study on the quality of early childcare and later developmental outcomes.
9. Shonkoff, J. P. & Phillips, D. A. (Eds.). (2000). From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development. National Academies Press. A foundational multidisciplinary synthesis of scientific knowledge on early development and the role of relationships and environment.
10. Lobo, E. et al. (2024). Practices and Outcomes of Responsive Caregiving on Child Neurodevelopment and Mental Health Across Diverse Cultures: A Scoping Review. A literature review of responsive caregiving practices and developmental outcomes in children.
11. Howard, S. J. et al. (2024). Measuring the Quality of Adult–Child Interactions in the Preschool Years: A Systematic Review. Educational Psychology Review. A systematic review of research on the quality of adult–child interactions and their links with developmental outcomes.
12. National Scientific Council on the Developing Child / Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University. The Science of Early Childhood Development. A scientific synthesis on the importance of stable and responsive relationships in early development.

When we talk about the highest standard of childcare, it is easy to go wrong right at the start.

The highest standard does not mean a more expensive version of the same service. Nor does it mean more people in the household, unlimited nanny availability, a perfectly organised schedule or the ability of a family to hand more of its obligations over to someone else. A family with almost unlimited resources can give a child more educational opportunities, travel, space, time with professional educators and logistical support. But none of these things, on their own, defines the quality of childcare.

A child does not experience the price of a service, but the adult who notices their emotions, needs and interests. The child experiences the tone in which a boundary is set, the predictability of everyday life and the way an adult responds when the child is tired, frustrated or overwhelmed. It also matters how much the child’s world changes when the family travels, whether the people who care for the child pass on what is important to each other, and whether adults help the child develop their abilities or simply do everything for them.

That is why the highest standard of private childcare sits in a very specific place: at the intersection of exceptional personalised service and the science of child development.

Between luxury and science

The literature on luxury services asks what makes an exceptional service for the client, while developmental psychology asks what makes good care for a child. A top-tier private childcare service has to answer both questions at once, because the parent who engages professional support and the child who experiences that service every day are not the same person.

When the best service becomes invisible

Academic literature on luxury services is considerably younger than literature on luxury goods. That is precisely why, in 2020, Wirtz, Holmqvist and Fritze set out to lay the theoretical foundations for studying luxury services as a field of its own, pointing out that a top-tier service cannot simply be understood by applying the logic of luxury products. This is especially important for childcare in private families. A family does not entrust a professional nanny with a hotel booking, a car or a wardrobe, but with what is most precious – part of their child’s everyday life.

That is why a top-tier private childcare service cannot be defined by the parents’ comfort alone. Well-organised support should reduce their unnecessary operational burden, but at the same time preserve and enhance the quality of the environment in which the child grows up. When such a system works flawlessly, the family hardly notices much of its complexity.

The schedule needs to work in practice, and important information must not get lost between shifts. That way, a parent does not have to keep coordinating the very people they hired so that a certain part of family life could run peacefully. Excellent service is therefore often not the one that keeps giving the client more, but the one that asks less of them.

The most important resource is not luxury

One of the key findings of developmental psychology is that the quality of a child’s care depends to a large extent on how an adult recognises the child’s needs and how they respond to them. One of the key concepts in the research literature is caregiver sensitivity: the adult’s ability to notice the child’s signals, interpret them correctly and respond to them in a timely way that fits the child’s need and developmental stage.

Nivison, Fearon, Jenkins and Madigan (2026) published an extensive umbrella review bringing together the results of meta-analyses produced over several decades of research. Their findings point to links between caregiver sensitivity and various aspects of a child’s socio-emotional and cognitive development. Among other things, the authors also examined its link with attachment – the bond a child develops with the person who cares for them on a continuous basis. Attachment does not simply mean that a child is “attached” to a particular person. It describes how the child develops and organises a sense of security in that relationship. Secure attachment develops through repeated experiences in which the child learns that the adult is available and reliable, and that they will recognise the child’s need for help, comfort or protection and respond to it. Such a relationship gives the child a secure base from which to explore the environment, learn and gradually develop independence (Nivison et al., 2026).

A systematic review and meta-analysis by O’Neill and colleagues found higher levels of caregiver sensitivity among caregivers of children with more secure and more organised attachment patterns in the preschool years. Findings like these show that the quality of professional childcare cannot be judged only by whether a nanny “loves children” or how many years of experience she has.

So what matters greatly is how a nanny understands a child in a given moment. Can she recognise when what looks like disobedience is actually tiredness, frustration or overload? Does she notice that the child needs help before the situation turns into tears or conflict? Can she tell the moment when she should step in from the moment when it is better to give the child space to try something on their own? Can she set a clear boundary while staying calm, consistent and emotionally available? These are not optional extras for a professional nanny. They are the core of quality childcare.

Professional excellence is not just something you find

Research on the quality of childcare indicates that professional competences are not fixed. Meta-analytic literature on the professional development of caregivers shows that targeted, well-designed training can improve knowledge and skills, as well as certain aspects of the quality of adult–child interaction. Professional development should therefore not be seen merely as a formal line added to a CV after a seminar. When it is based on relevant knowledge, clearly defined goals and is applicable in practice, nanny training can genuinely improve professional work. Professional excellence is developed, nurtured, deepened, improved and maintained throughout a career.

Top-tier care does not mean removing every challenge

This is where the logic of luxury service and the logic of child development part ways most clearly. In top-tier services for adults, reducing the client’s effort is often a value in itself. But a child is not an adult luxury-service customer.

A child is not just a user of a service, but a developing person who needs enough room to gradually build independence. A professional nanny can dress a four-year-old far faster than the child can dress themselves. She can hand them everything they ask for, solve every conflict for them, organise every minute of their day or prevent almost every small frustration. At first glance, that kind of availability can look like an exceptionally high level of care.

Developmental psychology, however, shows that more help does not necessarily mean more support for development. One explanation comes from Self-Determination Theory (SDT), according to which autonomy is one of the basic psychological needs. For children, supporting autonomy does not mean the absence of rules, boundaries or adult guidance. It means that the child, in line with their age and abilities, gets the chance to choose, try, solve simple problems and gradually become independent.

A large cross-cultural meta-analysis covering 238 samples and a total of 126,423 participants found that parental autonomy support is associated with greater child well-being, while psychologically controlling parenting is associated with less favourable outcomes. These findings were observed across different cultures and developmental periods (Bradshaw et al., 2025). Although this research concerns parenting rather than the work of professional nannies, it points to an important developmental principle that is also relevant to professional childcare: quality care does not mean removing challenges from a child’s experience.

A competent professional nanny can judge when a child needs help and when they should be given time and space to try something on their own. Top-tier care, then, does not remove every effort from a child’s life; it distinguishes unnecessary difficulty from a challenge that is good for development.

Anticipation is a higher form of personalisation

In a top-tier private service, a client should not have to keep repeating information the system should already understand. In private childcare, anticipating needs is even more valuable – but only if it is based on knowledge. A professional nanny who knows the child can predict that a change of time zone will probably affect their rhythm. If she knows the family’s logistics, she can prepare in advance what is needed for a trip; when she knows the family’s rules, she does not need to ask for the same instructions every morning.

This is not “mind reading”. It is a combination of expertise, experience, knowledge of the particular child and professional judgement. But anticipating a family’s needs has its limits. Professional autonomy does not mean taking over the parental role.

Discretion is not silence

In high-profile HNW and UHNW families, privacy is often cited as one of the hallmarks of a premium service. In top-tier private childcare, such as Kolibri Babysitting, it is infrastructure. A professional nanny may know where the family is staying, when they travel, which school the child attends, who enters the residence, what the family routines are, and a great deal of information that should never leave the professional context.

Discretion is not the ability to say nothing – a top-tier nanny must also know when information has to be passed on. Relevant information must not stay with one nanny if another needs it to take over care safely. The highest form of discretion therefore requires clear judgement: who needs to know, what they need to know, why they need to know it, and who has no legitimate reason to know. That is professional discretion.

The highest standard is not perfection

There is one more important distinction. Top-tier childcare does not require a perfect adult. Sometimes even the best professional misjudges a situation, a trip turns chaotic, or two people don’t always get along perfectly. That is why the highest standard of childcare is not the absence of mistakes; it shows in what happens afterwards and how the professional nanny responds: whether she can recognise her own mistake, accept feedback, adjust her approach and repair her relationship with the child after a conflict.

So what does the highest standard of childcare look like?

When knowledge from developmental and work psychology is combined with empirical research on the quality of childcare, children’s autonomy, professional competences and the organisation of expert services, we do not arrive at a single profile of the “ideal nanny”, nor at one model of engagement that would be best for every child and every family. That is why the highest standard cannot be defined by one person, one qualification or one organisational formula.

It is best understood as a set of interconnected principles: developmental appropriateness and emotional security, respect for the child’s autonomy, expertise and sound professional judgement, continuity and predictability of care, clearly defined professional boundaries, quality communication with parents, and the ability to recognise risk, preserve relevant information and adapt to changes in the needs of the child and the family.

The highest standard, then, is not the standardisation of the child, the family or the nanny. What is standardised are the quality criteria, while the way they are achieved must remain tailored to the particular child and the family’s personal context.

References

• Nivison, M. D., Fearon, P., Jenkins, J. M., & Madigan, S. (2026). Annual Research Review: The role of caregiver sensitivity in children’s developmental outcomes — an umbrella review. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
• O’Neill, M. C., Badovinac, S., Pillai Riddell, R., Bureau, J.-F., Rumeo, C., & Costa, S. (2021). The longitudinal and concurrent relationship between caregiver sensitivity and preschool attachment: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS ONE, 16(1), e0245061.
• Bradshaw, E. L., Duineveld, J. J., Conigrave, J. H., & Steward, B. A. (2025). Disentangling autonomy-supportive and psychologically controlling parenting: A meta-analysis of Self-Determination Theory’s dual process model across cultures. American Psychologist, 80(6), 879–895.
• Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & Sanz-Vergel, A. (2023). Job Demands–Resources Theory: Ten Years Later. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 10, 25–53.
• Horm, D. M., File, N., Bryant, D., Burchinal, M., Raikes, H., Forestieri, N., Encinger, A., & Cobo-Lewis, A. (2018). Associations between continuity of care in infant-toddler classrooms and child outcomes. Early Childhood Research Quarterly.
• Wirtz, J., Holmqvist, J., & Fritze, M. P. (2020). Luxury services. Journal of Service Management, 31(4), 665–691.

Author: Kolibri Babysitting

Does the family need someone to look after the child for a few hours while the parents are out, or everyday help during the working week? Are they looking for a professional who will take on a significant part of organising the child’s day over the long term, travel with the family, work across several residences, cooperate with other members of the private staff, support the child’s development or education, and work in an environment where discretion, flexibility and continuity are just as important as the childcare itself?

All of these services belong to the field of childcare, but they do not come at the same price.

The hourly rate for an occasional babysitter is not the market price of a professionally trained nanny. A babysitter, a professional nanny and a trained specialist nanny are not just different names for the same job – the difference is defined not by the job title, but by the level of professional responsibility. To understand why prices differ, we first need to distinguish between the different forms of childcare in a private home.

Occasional babysitting

Occasional childcare usually means that a person spends a limited time with the child, keeps them safe, follows the existing routine, prepares a simple meal or organises play while the parents are away. For a family that needs a few hours of help or an occasional evening of childcare, this can be the right model.

Professional nanny

A professional nanny position can involve a very different scope of work and responsibility. Depending on the role, a professional nanny may be expected to understand the developmental needs of a particular age, organise the child’s day independently, plan age-appropriate activities, look after the child’s clothes and equipment, keep track of school, doctor and activity schedules, keep records and report to the parents, travel with the family and cooperate with other professionals and members of the private staff.

Trained nanny

A trained nanny is a professional who, in addition to hands-on experience with children, has completed structured professional training in childcare in a private home. Unlike experience gained purely through practice, training should provide systematic knowledge of child development, safety and first aid, care, nutrition, communication, professional boundaries and other areas relevant to a nanny’s everyday work.

Depending on her experience, further training, specialisations and professional focus, a certified nanny can go on to build a career in long-term career nanny positions or specialise in particular areas of professional childcare, such as newborn care, working with twins, educational support, travel or other specific family needs. The term “trained nanny” describes not just a job title, but the level of professional competence a person brings to the role.

A nanny for whom childcare is a profession (Career Nanny)

A professional nanny (Career Nanny) is someone who has chosen professional childcare as a career rather than an occasional source of income. Such a role can be rota, live-in or live-out, and usually involves long-term responsibility for organising the child’s everyday life. Families who choose this model usually want consistent quality of service over time: a professional who knows the child, their routines, needs and the family system well.

Depending on the child’s age and the specific role, a nanny with this profile may be expected to plan and run age-appropriate activities, organise the child’s schedule, look after the child’s clothes and toys, communicate with the school or nursery, travel, and coordinate with the parents and other professionals.

If a family wants a nanny who is ready for a multi-year commitment and long working hours, who has international experience and experience of travelling with young children, speaks foreign languages, holds relevant qualifications and has a high level of responsibility, they are no longer looking for the same profile that the market offers for occasional childcare.

Travel Nanny

A Travel Nanny is not simply a nanny who likes to travel. Working with children during intensive international travel requires a high level of organisation and adaptability. Time zones, accommodation, staff, schedules, food, climate and daily routines all change. A nanny may work in a hotel one week, a private villa the next, on a yacht during the summer, and then return to the family’s main residence.

Governess

A governess is not just another word for a nanny. It is a different professional profile, in which the child’s education is one of the central elements of the role. Her work may include supporting the school curriculum, teaching languages, helping with homework, private tuition, organising educational activities, exam preparation and communicating with schools, tutors and other specialists. Professional governesses are in particularly high demand among international families whose children move between countries and education systems, as well as families who want additional academic structure.

Newborn Care Specialist

When a baby is born, and especially twins, some families are not looking for a classic nanny, but for a professional who specialises in the newborn period. A Maternity Nurse, Newborn Care Specialist or Multiple Birth Specialist may be engaged for the first weeks or months of a baby’s life. Such roles usually include intensive day and night support, newborn care, helping parents establish an everyday routine and working within the recommendations of healthcare professionals.

The difference between these models is not only organisational. Research in child development points to the importance of the quality of interaction between a child and the person caring for them. A large umbrella review published in 2026 in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, which brought together 17 meta-analyses and hundreds of primary studies, showed that caregiver sensitivity – an adult’s ability to recognise a child’s signals, interpret them correctly and respond to them in a timely and appropriate way – is linked to attachment security, cognitive development and language development in children.

So, how much does a nanny cost?

If a family is looking for a trained nanny, a Career Nanny, Live-in Nanny, Rota Nanny, Governess, Travel Nanny or another specialised childcare professional, the question of price no longer has a universal answer. You are no longer paying only for the nanny’s time. You are paying for experience, expertise, responsibility, availability, flexibility, discretion and the professional’s ability to work within a specific family system.

So perhaps the best question is not “How much does a nanny cost?”, but “What level of support does your family really need?”