By Filipino Nanny | Updated 22 August 2026
A nanny role should be matched to the children’s actual ages and routines, not treated as one generic childcare job. Newborn care, toddler care and school-age support place different demands on the working day, so families should define the age-stage responsibilities before comparing candidates.
This guide focuses on role scoping. It does not assume that nationality determines childcare ability; relevant experience, references, communication and any role-specific certificates should be assessed for the individual candidate.
What our family enquiries show about age-stage needs
In the agency’s current dataset of 203 client enquiry submissions, the free-text field contains 33 entries mentioning “baby”, 5 mentioning “newborn” and 24 mentioning “school”. These are keyword mentions, not verified child-age records, and one enquiry can contain more than one term.
The useful lesson is not that one age group is “most in demand”. It is that families arrive with different age-stage constraints, and a brief needs to state those constraints clearly before matching begins.
Method: WPForms client-enquiry entries held by Filipino Nanny, covering 13 April 2025 to 20 August 2026. Counts are case-insensitive keyword mentions in the free-text enquiry field and are not completed-placement statistics.
What should families define for a newborn nanny role?
For a newborn or young baby, the brief should make the expected routine explicit. Families should discuss feeding arrangements, naps and settling routines, outings, laundry or preparation connected to the baby, how parents want updates communicated, and whether any night or weekend work is actually part of the role.
When comparing candidates, ask for evidence of relevant newborn experience rather than assuming that general nanny experience automatically transfers to every age stage. If a particular certificate or specialist skill matters to your household, ask to see it.
If you are planning childcare around the end of maternity leave, use our return-to-work childcare planning guide before writing the job brief.
What changes when the children are toddlers?
Toddler roles usually need a clear rhythm around meals, naps, play, outings and the family’s approach to routines and boundaries. The nanny may also need to manage transitions between home, nursery, activities or siblings’ schedules.
The important hiring question is whether the individual candidate has handled similar ages and routines before. Ask for real examples: what did a normal day involve, how were handovers managed, and how did the candidate communicate changes to parents?
What does school-age nanny support usually involve?
For school-age children, the role can shift towards school runs, after-school care, activities, meals, homework support and coordinating the child’s timetable during agreed working hours. Families should state whether term-time and school-holiday hours differ, because that can materially change the job.
Our enquiry data includes free-text school-related requirements, which is why the application brief asks families to state days, hours and start date rather than relying on a broad “part-time nanny” label.
When does the role become a nanny-housekeeper role?
A nanny can reasonably have child-related household tasks written into the job, but substantial wider housekeeping changes the role. If the family expects regular cleaning, household laundry, wider meal preparation or other domestic work alongside childcare, compare a nanny-housekeeper role instead of quietly expanding the nanny brief.
Our nanny-housekeeper duties guide explains how to separate childcare responsibility from wider household work.
What evidence should you check for the individual candidate?
- Relevant age-stage experience: what ages the candidate has actually cared for and in what setting.
- References: what previous employers can verify about duties, dates and performance.
- Communication: whether the candidate can communicate clearly with your family for the role required.
- Certificates: ask to see current evidence where first aid, DBS status, driving or another qualification matters to the brief.
- Availability: whether the candidate’s preferred hours, days, location and live-in/live-out arrangement match the family’s requirement.
Filipino Nanny’s candidate application asks candidates to state their working-arrangement preferences, weekly hours, available days, years of experience, DBS status, first-aid status, driving-licence status, preferred working locations and start date. Those declarations still need to be assessed against the individual role.
How should a family write an age-stage job brief?
- List every child who will regularly be in the nanny’s care and their current age.
- Write the normal weekly hours and days, not just “full-time” or “part-time”.
- List the childcare duties that recur every week.
- Separate child-related household tasks from wider housekeeping.
- State school, nursery, activity or travel requirements that affect the day.
- Identify any evidence or experience that is genuinely required rather than merely preferred.
Use our nanny job-description template to structure the brief, then compare nanny interview questions before meeting candidates.
Which working arrangement should you compare next?
Age stage is only one part of the role. You also need to decide whether the position is full-time or part-time and whether a live-in or live-out arrangement fits the household.
If you already know you need in-home childcare, review our Filipino nanny services in London. If you are still comparing childcare categories, start with childcare options for working parents.
Key takeaway
“Nanny” is not a complete job description. The children’s ages, routines, weekly schedule and the boundary between childcare and wider household work should be clear before candidate matching begins.