Find the right nanny, the right way.
A Nanny on the Net is an independent guide to in-home childcare — plain-spoken help with finding, interviewing, screening, and keeping a wonderful caregiver for your children.
Where to begin
Everything a family needs to know, one step at a time
Decide what care you need
Full-time or part-time? Live-in or live-out? A nanny, an au pair, or a day care center? Start by defining your family's childcare needs, then compare your options in our nanny care vs. day care guide.
Interview & screen with confidence
Great hiring decisions come from good questions, verified references, and a careful background check. Use our interview and evaluation guide and learn what makes a great nanny before you meet a single candidate.
Put it in writing
A clear work agreement protects everyone — schedule, pay, duties, time off, and house rules. Our work agreement guide walks through every clause, and the pay & tax FAQ covers your obligations as a household employer.
A little history
Helping families and caregivers find each other since 2002
A Nanny on the Net began more than two decades ago as one of the web's early destinations for families searching for in-home childcare. Parents from every state — and caregivers from all over the world — used these pages to learn how professional nanny relationships are built.
Today the site continues in that same spirit as a purely informational resource. No listings, no sign-ups — just honest, practical guidance drawn from decades of collective experience in the childcare field, with references to authorities such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Red Cross where it matters most.
Live-in arrangements
Room, board, schedules, and privacy — what both sides should expect. Live-in guide · Live-in FAQ
Working with agencies
What placement agencies do, what they cost, and the questions to ask before signing anything. How agencies work
Ages & activities
Development milestones and screen-free activity ideas a good caregiver keeps in their back pocket. Kids' corner
Quick answers
Wages, screening, benefits, taxes, and more — the questions every family asks first. Hiring FAQ · Pay & tax FAQ
Why in-home care
One caregiver. Your routine. Your home.
For many families, the case for a nanny comes down to individual attention. One consistent caregiver can adapt to your child's temperament, follow your routines, and give the kind of one-on-one nurturing that group settings simply cannot match. Children in home care are also exposed to fewer seasonal illnesses than children in large group care — a practical consideration every parent of a toddler understands.
That said, in-home care is not automatically the right answer for every family or every budget. Day care centers offer structured socialization, licensed oversight, and predictable costs. The honest comparison — including the trade-offs — is exactly what our guides are for. Start with nanny care vs. day care, then look at what families typically offer and expect when they hire.
Safety first: whatever care you choose, the American Red Cross recommends caregivers hold current CPR and First Aid certification — and there is no reason a nanny caring for your children should not.
For caregivers too
Thinking about a career as a nanny?
Professional nannying is real work with real standards — experience requirements, certifications, references, and contracts. Our caregiver pages explain how to build a nanny career, the qualities families look for, and what live-in life is actually like. Organizations such as the International Nanny Association publish professional standards worth knowing whichever side of the interview table you sit on.
Explore the caregiver guide