If you’re having a hard time balancing your work duties along with your home duties, hiring a nanny might be a good idea. Once upon a time, nannies were only for the very rich, however – today many families rely on outside help to get by. Many women are choosing to return to work rather than stay at home with the kids either due to financial or personal reasons, creating a favorable climate for resurgence in popularity of nannies.
The Nanny Job Description
Nannies are different than babysitters or child-minders in the sense that they come to your home rather than you bringing your children to them. Their main role is to look after the children, ensure that they are safe, prepare healthy meals and assist in their education. While having a live in nanny was common in the past with the wealthy, today there are part time nanny positions including night nannies who work with families from one to seven nights a week to assist with the sleeping patterns of newborn babies.
The term nanny is generic, which means that many who go by that title will have different qualifications. Some may have a background in early childhood development or psychology while others could have very little schooling but a lot of experience. It’s important to find the right nanny to meet the needs and budget for your particular family.
Hiring a Nanny
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to take the first nanny you find online and then putting them on your nanny payroll. It’s extremely important to screen any domestic workers, especially nannies since they’ll be working in close proximity with your children. Any nanny that you hire requires a rigorous screening process where you check their references as well as obtain a valid and up to date police check.
Since a nanny is often working within your home without supervision, they have the opportunity to conduct theft or even worse, abuse your children. For these reasons, many feel more comfortable by having a nanny cam installed to make sure that they are not being taken advantage of. Even so, you don’t want to substitute a camera for a thorough investigation on your prospective nanny and be sorry after the fact.
While there are highly publicized incidents of nannies or babysitters breeching their employers trust on camera, for the most part this happens rarely and can avoided almost entirely by hiring reputable nannies with great references and a proven track record with other employers.
