Male or female au pair?

What fits our children?

Before you settle on a male or female au pair, it is worth looking at your children: how do they spend their free time? What do they enjoy? How active are they? And what kind of caregiver would they like?

Especially for families with sons, we have had very good experiences with male au pairs. If the children, for example, enjoy playing football, going to the skate park, romping about outside, roughhousing or playing games consoles together, a male au pair can be a really good companion. Not because these interests are reserved exclusively for boys or men, but because among our male applicants there are repeatedly au pairs who share exactly these interests and so quickly find their way to the children.

For families with daughters only, we often recommend a female au pair. Especially as the children get older, topics such as bodily closeness, changing clothes, puberty or very personal conversations can play a role. Here too, it is about what your children will feel comfortable with in the long term.

If you have both daughters and sons, look at where the focus of childcare will lie. Which child spends particularly a lot of time with the au pair? What joint activities are planned? What personality would do your family good – calmer and patient, or active and full of energy?

Our tip, therefore: do not first ask yourself "would we rather have a man or a woman in our house?", but "who could our children imagine spending their everyday life with?"

Because in the end it is not gender alone that decides a good match, but the combination of personality, interests, temperament and the needs of your children.