parents – Page 9 – Nannyjob blog

10 reasons to hire a nanny

Thought about hiring a nanny but not convinced? Here are 10 reasons to take the plunge.

Beat the morning rush. You can leave your children to get up at their own pace and even you’re your nanny sort breakfast for them while you get ready. No more turning up to work with snot and porridge on your jacket.
Calm evenings. If you want, your nanny will do bath or dinner or both, meaning you don’t have to pick up the children from childcare, get home and do the whole evening routine.
No time off for sick children. Nannies will care for poorly babies and children that childminders and nursery won’t take.
A strong, secure attachment. It’s vital, particularly for babies, for children to form a secure attachment to a limited number of caregivers. A nanny provides consistent, loving attention.
Things done your way. Want your children to eat organic? Nap at certain times? Go to the library twice a week? You’re the boss.
They cook and clean, and tidy, and shop. Only for the children but they will prepare children’s meals, including dinner ready for you to reheat, do their laundry, clean their bedrooms, make sure you have bread, milk and nappies and generally leave the house in the state you left it that morning (if not better).
They bake. Seriously. Most nannies will happily bake with their charges meaning cake for you, we mean, cake for the school bake sale, saving you precious time the night before.
Cheaper for larger families. It might seem the pricy option but it’s about the same as two in nursery, or one in full time nursery and two in wraparound care. And no unpaid time off for you while you’re still paying childcare (see point 3).
You choose them. In a nursery you don’t get to choose who looks after your children, but with a nanny you have a great deal of choice. You can find someone who fits perfectly with your family or speaks a language you want your children to learn.
Extended hours. Arranged far enough in advance most nannies will agree to the occasional early start or late finish, which means you aren’t scrambling around to fill the gaps if you have a big business trip. Live in nannies are even more flexible and may regularly start early, babysit, or even work overnight.

Nannying for children in hospital

Most children will end up visiting the hospital at some point in their life. The lucky ones have a quick trip to A&E and go straight home but sometimes a longer stay is needed. This can be a very testing time for the family and you may need to step into the breach to provide support but it can be difficult to know what to do beyond keeping everything ticking over.

If there are other children in the family your job probably won’t change much athough you might end up working longer hours to allow your employers to spend time at the hospital. Ask whether siblings are allowed to visit and if the parents would like your charges to see each other. Bear in mind that some hospitals don’t allow children to go onto the ward so be ready to suggest other ways your charges can keep in touch, such as drawing pictures or speaking on skype.

You can support the parents by packing supplies for your charge ready to take to the hospital. Hospital food often isn’t appetising so if they are allowed to take snacks in then you can go to the shops and prepare a care package for them to take in. You can also keep up a stream of clean pyjamas and other clothes as hospitals can be hot and sticky places. If allowed, toys from home will help relieve some of the boredom of being stuck in a hospital bed, and for school aged children keep in touch with school in case they ask to do some homework! It’s a huge help for parents to be able to come home, empty a bag and repack it with everything that’s been laid out ready.

Volunteer to take a turn sitting at the bedside to give your employer’s a break and provide a change of scenery for your charge. Your employers will feel more relaxed leaving their poorly child with someone they know and trust too. Children’s development doesn’t stop when they’re in hospital so you can talk to the doctors and nurses about providing some suitable activities. Encourage them to play, talk and laugh with you as they would at home.

You also need to recognise that it’s a worrying time for you. Most nannies become deeply aatached to their charges and it’s difficult to see someone you love in distress. Look after yourself and don’t be afraid to share your feelings with your family or nanny friends.

When they come home from hospital your charge may have medication to take or specific care routines to follow. Make sure you’re clear on what these are and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Communication will be more important than ever and be sensitive to the fact that your employers might want to check in with you more often to see how everything is going.

If you’re a nanny and have some tips about working with a hospitalised charge don’t hestitate to share them on our Facebook page, Twitter or our messageboards.

Nanny references

Writing a nanny a reference can be tough. It usually means your childcarer is moving on and whether it’s your choice or theirs it’s often an emotional time. A glowing reference will help your nanny find a wonderful new job and show them how much you appreciate the job they’ve done for you.

Writing a nanny a reference can be tough. It usually means your child carer is moving on and whether it’s your choice or theirs it’s often an emotional time. A glowing reference will help your nanny find a wonderful new job and show them how much you appreciate the job they’ve done for you.

A good reference is about a page of A4 long. It often takes the form of a letter and includes your contact details so prospective employers can contact you. It should be written in the first person and split into easily readable paragraphs, each with a theme, for example your nanny’s day to day duties, their attitude to work, any particular skills they have and times they’ve gone above and beyond. You might find it helpful to refer to previous annual performance reviews when you sit down to write.

Give plenty of detail about your nanny’s current job and how that has evolved over time. If your nanny started when your child was a baby and they’re now at school you have 4+ years of very varied duties to cover! Don’t assume that a new-to-the-nannying-world prospective employer will know what ‘usual nursery duties’ or ‘daily care’ involves. Expanding on these shows what your expectations of your nanny were on a day to day basis, and of course you should comment on how well these expectations were met.

Providing specific examples will also help a prospective employer build up a complete picture of your nanny. Perhaps your nanny helped your child overcome shyness or transformed a fussy eater? By giving details of how they accomplished that you can demonstrate their approach to the children in their care as well as showcasing a positive impact they’ve had on your family.

Think about the kind of skills or attributes you really appreciate in your nanny. If your nanny is very organised or an excellent time-keeper then mention that in their reference. If the children are always laughing when you come home in the evening or they always have something they created that day to show you then share that with prospective employers. Bear in mind when writing a reference that your nanny may not always work as a nanny, or even in childcare, so highlight two or three highly transferrable skills.

A trickier task is writing a reference for a nanny who has been less than satisfactory. In this case a brief reference confirming length of employment and duties with an invitation for prospective employers to contact you will be more than sufficient.

Expect to be contacted whether you give a positive or neutral reference. Prospective employers will want to both check the veracity of your reference and ask detailed questions of their own. Be factual and honest – if they ask whether you ever needed to use a disciplinary procedure and you did then you should answer the question fully and truthfully. If that was the cause for terminating the nanny’s employment you are allowed to share that. If it was resolved satisfactorily use it as an example of how your nanny took your feedback on board and improved their performance.

Writing a reference is one of the kindest and most lasting things you can do for an excellent nanny and it will serve them all through their career, so it’s worth taking the time to do the task fully and well.

Nanny review

Although a performance review can also be helpful at any time if there are problems with your nanny carrying out their duties they should not be neglected if everything is going well. A performance review is a chance to praise your nanny and let them know what a good job they’re doing.

It’s a good idea once a year to sit down for a more formal meeting with your nanny to review their performance, your children’s development and plan the year ahead. You may like to do this on the anniversary of them starting work with you, at the start or end of the school year or the start of the calendar year. We’ve put together some questions you might like to consider or ask your nanny to think about before the meeting so you can sit down prepared.

Many nannies expect a pay rise, or at least a pay review, at their annual review. If you don’t want to discuss finances then let them know in advance that the meeting is solely about their performance and you’ll set aside another time to discuss pay.

Schedule the review for a time when there are no children around. Children can be a distraction and it’s especially important that you are able to be honest with your nanny if either of you have concerns about the children or if you have something negative to say.

We hope you find these questions helpful in facilitating communication with your nanny about their performance and your needs!

The year just gone:

Is the nanny able to do everything on their job description? Is there anything they are doing which is not in their job description? Does the job description need to be modified?

How has your nanny coped with the workload? How do they feel they have coped?

What have been your nanny’s strong points this year? What are areas for improvement?

Have there been any problems? How were they resolved?

Are the any developmental concerns about the children?

The year ahead:

Are there any foreseeable changes to duties?

Are there any activities it would be good to introduce? How can the children’s development be stimulated?

Do any strategies for behaviour management need to be recapped or reviewed?

Are there any areas where your nanny would like to refresh or update their knowledge?

What are the goals for the year ahead? (These may be for the children, the nanny or you e.g. potty training, ensuring all laundry is up to date on a Friday night, ensuring the kitchen is tidy on a Monday morning)

Is your nanny’s salary competitive and a fair reflection of the job’s demands?

Premature babies and childcare

A baby born before the 37th week of pregnancy is considered premature. Premature babies born at 35 or 36 weeks may be perfectly healthy but slightly smaller than expect but before that they may have not had time to fully develop in the womb and need to continue developing outside. The lungs are the last organ to develop, which is why mothers at risk of preterm labour are often given steroid injections, so a premature baby may need help breathing in the first weeks and their lungs remain fragile for some time.

A premature baby who had breathing difficulties may be at increased risk of catching certain infections, such as RSV which is common in children under 5. Your doctor is the best person to advise you on the risks to your child but there is a higher chance of catching an illness in a group setting, so a care provider who comes to your home such as a nanny or who cares for a small group of children such as a childminder might be safer in the first years of life. It’s important that care providers are made aware of prematurity as they should take corrected age, rather than actual age, into account when assessing development and may need to be especially careful about hygiene. Some childminders, for example, will accept children with minor illnesses but you may be uncomfortable with that if you child is prone to infections so you will need to come to an agreement.

A good childcare provider will use their knowledge of healthy, term infant and child development to monitor progress bearing the adjusted age in mind. Most childcare courses cover child development in detail and, as premature babies may show some developmental delay, it’s important to bear the need to identify key milestones in mind when choosing a childcare provider, particularly a nanny where no minimum qualification is needed. One thing that can be difficult as a parent of a premature child is the temptation to make comparisons with other children. This is particularly obvious in a nursery setting where many children of the same age are grouped together but it’s important to remember that each child develops individually right from conception and a corrected age rather than actual age is more important up to the age of two.

It can be very difficult to take the decision to leave a child who was premature in childcare. Parents who are used to taking extra care with their baby may find it harder than usual to leave them with someone else, even when it is a professional child carer. You may need a longer settling in or handover period to adjust both baby and parent to the new circumstances.

Although prematurity can have lasting effects many babies are perfectly healthy and show only a slight delay so although it’s important to bear the circumstances surrounding their birth in mind, particularly when assessing development, most need no more care than a baby of their corrected age when entering childcare

Explaining Terrorism to Children

As parents and caregivers, it can be extremely difficult to answer questions from children about terrorism. It’s a heart-breaking subject that you might wish you could push away or not discuss, but it’s quickly becoming a necessity due to the world that we live in.

The act of terrorism and the horror it brings is hard for even most adults to come to terms with and understand, which is why, following the terrible events occurring all over the world, we’ve put together some advice to help explain terrorism to your children.

Continue reading “Explaining Terrorism to Children”

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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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”

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”

Can starting a blog be good for children?

It might seem like a strange question, especially with all the warnings about children and screen time that are constantly in the news, but can blogging actually be beneficial for children?

According to online safety charity WiredSafety, in 2017, there were over 6 million children around the world, regularly writing blogs and whilst there are a number of dangers revolving around children and the internet, there are also a number of benefits to blogging.

Continue reading “Can starting a blog be good for children?”