Well, DS starting Nursery he was allowed two up-to-2-hours free visits to settle him in. He only had one as it was a last-minute thing for me and the first visit DS wanted to join in and the second I left for about an hour and he didn't miss me at all. The next day I was at work again. BUT I'd hope that should I be employing a Nanny we could have a 2-hour trial so I could see if DS was OK with her.

Should I require a second, longer trial I would think that some sort of recompense would be in order.

20 an hour... I don't know about rates. But trying to chop you down too much shouldn't be on. I don't think that if you come to interview already having stated your rates that anyone has any ground to knock you down. I researched Nursery rates before getting DS into a Nursery because I wanted one nearby I could afford. If these people haven't done this for a Nanny then I wouldn't want to work for them.