Tag: nanny

Why You Shouldn’t Micromanage Your Nanny

Many of us are familiar with the frustration that comes along when your boss or manager constantly breathes down your neck telling you how to do your job. It’s undermining, infuriating and annoying, and if done often enough, it can make you hate your job.

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Many of us are familiar with the frustration that comes along when your boss or manager constantly breathes down your neck telling you how to do your job. It’s undermining, infuriating and annoying, and if done often enough, it can make you hate your job.

Now imagine how your nanny feels when you tell her exactly what time she needs to put your child down for a nap, how many grapes he can eat, which games she should play with him, even what shape to cut his sandwiches. Sound familiar?

Your nanny is good at her job. You checked her references, read her resumé and can see she knows what she’s talking about. Bear in mind that a great many nannies have more experience with childcare than most parents have at simply being parents. She’s been doing the job a long time, it’s her life, her passion, and you need to learn to let go of the reigns a little and trust her judgement.

It probably won’t be easy, especially if you’re a new parent, it can be difficult to relinquish control to someone new and to put faith in them being able to care for your little one the way you would. However, if you don’t do this, there’s really no point in hiring a nanny in the first place and all your micromanaging will result in a frustrated nanny, a tense relationship between you and your nanny (that your child will probably pick up on) and you’ll find yourself feeling tired and on-edge, when you should be more relaxed and confident that your child is in capable hands.

That’s why we’ve put together our top tips to help keep your micromanaging to a minimum:

Continue reading “Why You Shouldn’t Micromanage Your Nanny”

Social Media for childcarers

Social media can be a great personal and professional tool. It enables you to keep in touch with family, friends and organisations that you’re interested in (like us!), get ideas and share your own thoughts and ideas with others. But what if you’re sharing more than you think?

Social media can be a great personal and professional tool. It enables you to keep in touch with family, friends and organisations that you’re interested in (like us!), get ideas and share your own thoughts and ideas with others. But what if you’re sharing more than you think?

Privacy and safety aren’t just concerns for high-profile families. Everyone should be aware that sharing information can be detrimental to children’s safety and it’s particularly relevant for nannies, who often have a lot more freedom during the working day to use social media, and may use it to organise spontaneous nanny meet-ups or share photos of day out. But it also means increases the risk of child abduction or images being used inappropriately. Armed with information from social media sites an abductor could identify a child from photos, find out their name, age, places they go and maybe their likes and dislikes, and even pass themselves off as a trusted friend, convincing the child to come with them.

Some parents are happy for pictures and details of their children to be posted on social media sites. As long as the risks have been discussed and everyone has agreed boundaries of what is appropriate this is between the childcarer and the family. Photos and details should never be posted without express permission. If a family are happy for photos to be taken of a child but not happy for them to be shared then childcarers need to make sure any photos with their charges are safe. Agreements about social media should be written into a contract, or provided as a separate policy.

The safest thing to do is avoid putting photos, names and places on social media sites.  Once the information has been shared there is nothing to stop someone with access to it sharing it with others.

Keeping children safe isn’t the only consideration. Childcarers with open profiles need to be careful what they say as potential clients and employers could trace comments back to them. Sharing photographs of nights out is also risky, and many nannies refuse to have their employers as friends on Facebook for this reason. A timeline full of tweets complaining about children’s behaviour, while possibly light-hearted, gives a bad impression of a childcarer’s ability and commitment. Employers and agencies can easily search the internet and if they find something which reflects badly on a childcarer it will probably colour their opinion, which may mean losing out on a job.

We’re not saying you shouldn’t use social media at all – we love it! But we are saying be safe, and follow these tips:

– Check your privacy settings

– Think twice before posting comments about your work

– Don’t post photos, names or places on social media sites without verifying the security of the site and gaining permission

When’s it due?

Only around 4% of babies are actually born at 40 weeks, commonly known as the due date. 80% of babies are born 2 weeks before or 2 weeks after. That leaves parents with a dilemma – when should they start looking for someone? And when should they book someone to start?


Many people choose to have some kind of childcare around or just after the time a new baby is expected to make an appearance but predicting when that might be if you opt for a natural birth is not an exact science. Only around 4% of babies are actually born at 40 weeks, commonly known as the due date. 80% of babies are born 2 weeks before or 2 weeks after. That leaves parents with a dilemma – when should they start looking for someone? And when should they book someone to start?

That all depends on what kind of care you want. If you’re talking about care for older children while a mother is in labour then it’s a wise idea to have someone on standby from 2 weeks before. If it’s an existing nanny or childminder then that can make life a lot easier if the baby is born during the week (as long as you’ve agreed contingency plans in advance). If you want someone to be on standby and not make plans to go out then you can expect to pay them some kind of retainer so it’s a good idea to have a backup plan for your chosen carer. Ideally you’ll have someone in place by the time you’re 6 months pregnant, but tapping into existing childcare networks earlier on means you have a greater chance of finding joined up care if your preferred carer can’t make it. For expectant mothers who don’t usually use childcare, or who have children in school or nursery, a temporary nanny/mother’s help may be a good solution and if you employ them during the day even part-time they’ll give you a chance to grab some much needed rest. It’s a good idea to make sure your older children are familiar with the child carer before the due date, as a new child carer and a new baby all at once might be unsettling.

A doula who provides care for you during labour should be used to making arrangements to be on standby for the month around the due date and that is usually reflected in the price of a birth care package. If, however, you choose to book a doula solely for the post-natal period you should discuss with them when they usually start and what the arrangement is if a baby ends up arriving late. Many mothers feel they benefit from having a doula in the early days on an occasional basis especially if their own mother can’t be around to help. A doula is generally more flexible in their duties than a maternity nurse and less intrusive as they don’t live in for the duration of the booking. Depending on your location doulas might be difficult to find, so it’s advisable to start looking early in pregnancy.

A maternity nurse, who will care for mother and baby and ease the baby into a routine will usually start around 2 weeks after the due date (although some may have availability to start earlier than booked). If a baby ends up being later than expected most will charge either a full or reduced fee from the date the booking starts. Many families also prefer to have a few days together as a family and aim to have a maternity nurse start just as the other parent goes back to work. Some maternity nurses can get booked up far in advance, and as they are likely to be on a booking which may not be in your area while you’re searching for them interviewing may be tricky to arrange. Most people start to look for a maternity nurse around 3 months into their pregnancy and book by 6 months to ensure availability but, unlike doulas, there are several agencies which place maternity nurses and maternity nurses are often not restricted by location so finding an emergency maternity nurse or late booking is easier to accomplish.

The kids are away…

The kids are away so nanny will play?

It’s not unusual for nanny employers to have more holiday than the minimum entitlement, and parents may choose to go away during school holiday time or if the family is co parenting , which may leave the nanny without any charges to look after.

An empty house can also be a good opportunity to ask your nanny to undertake tasks that are easier without distraction and get ahead, for example by getting everything ready for a new school year. These tasks can also be completed flexibly, allowing your nanny to schedule routine appointments without eating into her holiday or impacting on you. Here are some things you could ask your nanny to do:

– batch cooking meals for the freezer

– sorting through clothes which have been outgrown and putting them away

– making a list of new clothing purchases

– buying, washing and naming school unifrom

– buying school supplies

– washing and repairing toys, and putting away anything which is no longer appropriate

– washing and sterilising bath toys

– sorting and restocking the arts and crafts box

– making a list of suggested toys, ideal for Christmas and birthday ideas

– ensuring there are enough children’s toiletries and first aid supplies, and restocking as necessary

REMEMBER – it’s a great perk to give a nanny extra paid time off, and it stores up flexibility for those days when you’re a little late home from the office although few nannies will agree to a formal carrying over of hours. It’s unfair to expect this time off to be unpaid; after all your nanny is available to work and may not be able to find a replacement source of income and this will only breed resentment further down the line, agreeing to some flexibility on both sides ensures a happy household.

Nannies and Disabled Parents: It’s a Winning Combination

Parenting is one of the most challenging things you’ll ever do. Raising a baby through childhood isn’t easy, and it’s even harder for disabled parents. Especially those without a solid support system.

Disabled parents often have a harder time admitting when they need help. Every parent has days where they feel overwhelmed and in desperate need of respite, but disabled parents don’t always have the courage to stand up and ask for the help they need for fear of negativity from others like being seen as unfit to parent or unable to cope.

By welcoming a nanny into your family, you can gain the help you need without worrying about negativity – after all, it’s not like nannies are unheard of!

Here are our top reasons why a nanny is a perfect choice for disabled parents: Continue reading “Nannies and Disabled Parents: It’s a Winning Combination”

Talking tantrums

Parents and childcarers – nannies, childminders, aupairs or nursery staff – are almost all familiar with the tantrums, but there can be differences of opinion on how to deal with them.

As a childcarer it’s difficult to bring up a sensitive subject. Tantrums are an entirely normal phase of development, coming from a child’s desire to show their independence and assert themselves or an inability to communicate, and intellectually parents know that but no-one likes to hear that their child has been ‘misbehaving’.

Parents may not share details of the behaviours with childcarers, perhaps feeling that it’s a reflection on their parenting skills, or perceived lack thereof. Children do often save their worst behaviour for their parents but it is not a sign of weakness to make others aware of facts.

It’s important that neither party shies away from discussing the issue. The best way to deal with tantrums is a consistent approach from everyone involved. That way a child quickly learns what the limits are and that having a paddy isn’t an effective way of getting what they want. Communicating also allows parents and childcarers to share tips and tricks. Parents may know what frustrates their child and be adept at handling it so sharing that information with their child’s carer is vital to help prevent tantrums. Childcarers may be able to offer strategies that have worked with other children or reassure parents that their child is indeed learning to deal with frustration and that the tantrums will soon decrease.

Toddlers especially need to make sense of the world. It’s reassuring for them to have a set of consistent rules and boundaries, consistent positive attention for good behaviour and a consistent response to a tantrum. It’s especially important that everyone is on the same page when it comes to safety. Communicating about expectations and accommodating each other’s practices where possible makes the transition as easy as possible for children and avoids unnecessary tantrums.

Children also need autonomy. Some adults are inclined to say ‘no’ to anything out of the ordinary, even when it’s perfectly possible to accommodate a request, and others will bend over backwards to comply. Obviously in group childcare settings it’s more difficult to deal with individual whims, and it doesn’t do any good to spoil children by giving in to them all the time, but by working together parents and carers can agree what will or won’t be accommodated.

Finally, while it’s important to communicate between adults it’s also important not to let what happens when you aren’t there affect your relationship with a child. Sharing information should help you understand and deal with tantrums, but it needs to be done sensitively and with respect.

Online Safety Tips for Nannies

Over the past few years, we’ve seen a significant rise in internet fraud, phishing scams and other ‘traps’ that aim to trick victims into handing over money, providing sensitive information or even putting themselves in physical danger.

To help you stay safe when applying for your next nanny job, we’ve put together our top online safety tips for nannies:

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New Year Resolutions for Parents and Childcare Professionals

How many New Year’s resolutions have you seen or heard from your family, friends and co-workers so far? How many of those were about weight, smoking, drinking, or travel? How many of those were about parenting or childcare? I’m guessing the latter was a significantly smaller number than the former.

This New Year, wouldn’t it be nice for us to make a New Year’s resolution that will not only benefit ourselves but our children and the rest of our family? That’s why we’ve put together a list of areas that we can all try to improve upon in the New Year when it comes to caring for our children.

Continue reading “New Year Resolutions for Parents and Childcare Professionals”

Fun Elf on the Shelf Ideas!

How are you getting on with that mischievous little man (or woman) known as Elf on the Shelf. It can be difficult to think of new mischief for your elf to get up to, especially if this isn’t the first year he’s come to stay.

That’s why we’ve put together plenty of new Elf on the Shelf ideas to help delight children of all ages this Christmas!

Continue reading “Fun Elf on the Shelf Ideas!”