Tag: child safety

How to Spot Potential Problems with Your New Nanny

Hiring a new nanny for your children can be a stressful experience. Whether you’re hiring a replacement or hiring your first nanny, this can be a trying time for you and your children as you go through numerous interviews to find the perfect nanny for your family.

During interviews and the initial induction period, it’s important to be on the lookout for any red-flags about your new nanny and their behaviour to avoid a constant stream of new nannies in your children’s lives.

That’s why we’ve put together this guide to help you spot any negative traits when looking for a new nanny.

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Should you ask your nanny to get vaccinated?

The subject of vaccinations is a tricky one, with everyone having their own opinion on whether or not they wish to vaccinate their children.

However, in recent years it’s become common for employers to require that a nanny or other childcare provider has received their vaccinations. In particular, vaccinations for the flu, measles and whooping cough.

The reason for this is that even healthy people can contract any of these three illnesses, all of which are contagious and all of which can cause severe complications in young children.

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Online Learning Resources for Older Children and Teenagers

At some point during your career as a nanny you’ll probably be asked by one of the children in your care for help, whether it’s with homework, a school project or a personal interest or hobby.

We’ve put together a list of online resources that you and your children might find useful and are perfect for helping children and teenagers to learn online either with help or independently.

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A Guide to Keeping Children Safe Online

Gone are the days when children needed to ask parent’s permission to use the family computer to access the internet. The internet is now easily accessible to most children. With tablets, smartphones, laptops and games consoles, it can be hard to keep track of what children are doing and if they’re being safe online.

The internet isn’t all bad. It’s actually pretty amazing. The variety of websites, apps and other tools available allow children to play, learn and connect. To help encourage learning new skills, whilst also putting your mind at ease, we’ve put together this short guide to help keep children safe online.

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Travel first aid kit

Whilst being outside and exploring is a fun way for children to spend their time, sometimes these activities can lead to accidents. Common injuries that can occur include cuts and grazes, bumps to the head, sprains and foreign objects in the eye.

It’s always a good idea for parents and carers to be prepared by carrying a travel first aid kit. This means you can usually deal with any small incidents immediately, rather than having to find a first aider on site. Make up your own first aid kit or buy a small one to keep with you at all times.

Essential items include:

Small and medium bandages

Triangular bandage

Plasters

Antiseptic wipes

Nitrile gloves

Eye wash

It is also good to have a cold compress to treat bruising.

If a child has a more serious injury or you do not feel confident dealing with the injury, call the emergency services immediately to ensure they are treated correctly. Always have your mobile phone charged so they can be called should the need arise.

This blog was written by Train Aid, who provide paediatric First Aid courses suitable for registration on the OFSTED voluntary register. You can find upcoming first aid courses on the message board calendar.

First Aid for childcarers

One of the most common requirements for childcarers is a valid paediatric first aid certificate. All registered child minders have to hold this, as well as OFSTED registered nannies. Nurseries only have to have one member of staff trained but it’s good practice for most, if not all, staff to have done a course.

Accidents can happen at any time and frighteningly quickly. One of the biggest risks for small children is choking. The leading First Aid organizations in the UK have just published new guidance for managing choking in a baby. Instead of lying the baby along your arm and giving back slaps to dislodge the blockage they now recommend putting the child face down across your lap to administer back slaps. Changes like this are part of the reason a First Aid certificate should always be within date and fully renewed every 3 years.

It’s important to make sure the certificate specifically covers paediatric first aid as some treatment is different for children that won’t have been covered on an adult course.

Thorough First Aid training means a childcarer should feel confident about handling an incident and this will help them stay calm and remember what to do. A course should also involve hands on practice to ensure the techniques are correctly understood. No amount of reading can replace this practical component.

We urge parents to ensure their nannies and babysitters are trained in First Aid and support this petition to make it a legal requirement for all nursery worker to hold a First Aid certificate too. Please take a moment to read and sign.

First Aid courses are available through organisations such as the Red Cross and St John’s Ambulance, private providers and many nanny agencies.

Emergency planning

If you’re in the UK right now you won’t have been able to escape the weather forescats and the news reports of severe flooding, high winds and power outages, but how many nannies have an emergency plan agreed with the parents in case of disaster?

 

Imagine this:
Your workplace is on a flood plain and you start to notice water coming up through the drains. The river has flooded nearby fields and the road outside has started to flood. You start to worry that if you stay put you won’t be able to get your car out and will be trapped by the water. What do you do?

Or maybe you’ve been out for the day and as you return to your bosses’s house you find that the road is so flooded you can’t get by. Where do you go?

Obviously remaining in your charge’s home, where you employers expect you to be isn’t an option in either of those scenarios, but in the thick of an emergency situation it may be difficult to keep parents informed every step of the way. This is why a pre-agreed emergency plan that both nanny and parents are aware of is so important. Even if you don’t live on a flood plain you never know what might happen!

 

1. Agree a safe place, or two safe places in case one is also affected
If parents return home to find you gone and can’t get in touch with you they will know where to look. This might be your own home, your charge’s grandparents or a nanny friend’s. The idea is that you have somewhere to go away from the disaster, so the next street over probably won’t cut it. Make sure you know several alternative routes to get there too, and take natural obstacles like rivers into account.
 

2. Make a list of what to take with you

When you evacuate a house you need to assume that you won’t be back for a while. Some things, like a change of clothes and any special cuddly toys, you’ll take automatically, but your employer might want you to also take important documents with you too. Ask them if they have a file they would like you to grab on the way out, and if they don’t suggest they put one together.

 

3. Know how to secure the house before you leave

Obviously you and your charges are a priority but knowing how to switch the gas/electricity/water off (especially if it’s a gas leak or a plumbing disaster) could save time later.

 

4. Set an emergency contact

If you can’t check in with your employers for some reason, or they can’t reach you, designate a third party contact. That way if you have to leave your charge’s house and go to your agreed safe place you can leave a message with your employers and another person.

 

5. Have a waterproof emergency kit

Nannies nowadays usually have contact numbers on their mobile phone, and that’s fine until the network gets overloaded or your phone slips out of your pocket into the rising floodwaters. First item in your waterproof kit is laminated contact details for the parents and emergency contact. You should also laminate all your emergency information: your safe place, your ‘to-take’ list and instructions on how to secure the house. You should also have food and water, including baby milk if necessary (you can buy pre-sterilised, pre-made bottles), a first aid kit, and a torch and batteries.

 

It might seem extreme, and we hope you’ll never need to use it, but when it comes to you and your charge’s safety better safe than sorry!