What Type of Nanny is Right for You?

In the 1900s, some dogs were “Nanny Dogs”. Would a dog be the nanny that is right for you? How about just the traits of the Nanny Dog? They were faithful, loving, and loyal, especially with children. A child’s safety was practically guaranteed. A dog will not serve as the best nanny for you in this day and age. However, a professional nanny service will help you find the type of nanny that is a good match for your family.

So what do we mean when we ask what type of nanny is right for you? The definition of a type of person refers to qualities, title, abilities, and a specified class. Nannies are a class of people that you hire to care for your family.

Qualities of a Nanny

Every nanny has a different set of qualities. Though they will share several qualities, there will be one nanny that will have distinguishing attributes that will help in the decision-making process. A nanny service will help you find that one nanny that will meet your family’s needs.

Here are some of the different types of qualities you might want to think about in your search for a nanny:

• Personality
• Skills
• Certification
• Dependability
• Experience
• Background
• Values
• Willingness
• Flexibility
• Availability

Personality

Every person has a different set of needs. Those sets of needs require a particular personality to properly care for another. If you have a very outgoing child, the type of nanny you need will be outgoing and patient. If your child is very young, the nanny will get on the floor and play with your child and focus on their needs, at their level. You will want to confirm your nanny is attentive, loving, caring, strong, and any other handful of traits you feel they need to have to care for your child.

Skills

It is important to look at the skills the nanny possesses. You will want to have a nanny that is good at communicating, listening to, and following directions. You will want to make sure they can be on time. Will they be able to find age-appropriate activities to participate in with your child/children? If cooking is required occasionally, the nanny will have basic cooking skills. Define what skills are most important that the nanny has.

Certification

Every type of nanny must be CPR and first-aid certified. If your family has a pool, do you require the nanny to have water safety certification? Will they be asked to make snacks, or multiple meals, perhaps you will want the nanny to have some nutrition certification. If you have a young child, it might be helpful for your nanny to have some units completed in Early Childhood Education. If the type of nanny you need requires some driving, then they will need to have a driver’s license and a clean driving record.

Dependability and Experience

When finding a nanny for your family, you will want to talk to their references. In talking to these references you will be able to find out if the nanny is dependable and experienced. These references will be able to share experiences they had with the nanny. They will also be able to share some of the issues the nanny needed to get better at. If the nanny has many references, find out if they had multiple or limited experiences with the nanny. If they had limited experiences, ask why.

Background

It will help you in choosing a nanny if you know about the type of background experience the nanny has:

• Length of time as a nanny
• The ages of children nanny has worked with
• The amount of time a nanny has cared for a family
• Health situations nanny has experience with:
• Examples: autism, down syndrome, asthma, ADHD, mental health troubles, etc.
• The type of nanny they have been in the past
• For example: have they been a live-in nanny, a part-time or full-time nanny

Values

Because the nanny you choose will spend a lot of time with your family, you will want to find one that shares some of the same values as your family. You will want a nanny that can help instill those values in your child/children. Are you a strict family that requires particular standards, or are you more relaxed and laid back? Are there religious or cultural qualities that need to be enforced in your household? Think about the things you would expect the nanny to teach your children.

Willingness, Flexibility, and Availability

When it comes to selecting the nanny right for your family, you will need to know what types of things outside of the typical childcare situation they will be willing to do:

• Cooking
• Light Household duties
• Bathing
• Driving
• Laundry
• Shopping
• Homework

You will also want to know how flexible the nanny is willing to be and what their availability will be. For instance, can you call the nanny outside their scheduled hours? Are they willing to stay longer or arrive earlier if needed? This will be useful in determining the position type and title of the nanny.

Position Type

When considering the type of nanny you are looking for when using a nanny service, you will want to think of the position the nanny will take on:

• Live-In
• Live-Out
• Full-Time
• Part-Time
• Temporary

Live-In

A live-in nanny is an experienced childcare professional that resides in your home. Typically parents that work a lot of hours, have crazy schedules, or need extra help, will hire a live-in nanny. A live-in nanny helps alleviate some of the pressures the parent may face while trying to be a parent and maintaining a busy work life. The live-in nanny will typically help with:

• Cooking and Light household duties
• Day-to-day duties for the child/children:
  • Bathing
  • Dressing
  • Homework help/tutoring
  • Driving them to and from wherever is requested
  • Other needs the child may have

Live-Out

Live-out Nannies typically have the same responsibilities as live-in nannies, except they reside in their residence. A live-out nanny will require a set schedule, an outlined contract that states expectations, and guaranteed hours. The live-out nanny will typically help with:

• Running of errands
• Driving the children to and fro
• Cooking
• Cleaning
• Planning of age-appropriate activities
• Day-to-day activities

Part-Time and Full-Time

Part-time and full-time Nannies help care for the child’s day-to-day needs. Such as making snacks, entertaining them, stimulating their mind, and participating in activities. The difference between them is the amount of time spent with the family. Part-time and full-time Nannies typically have fewer responsibilities than the live-in and live-out nannies, unless otherwise discussed and agreed upon.

• Part-time Nannies typically work 29 or fewer hours per week
• Full-time Nannies work 30+ hours per week.

Temporary

Typically live-in, live-out, full-time, and part-time Nannies are long-term, 12+ months. Temporary Nannies provide services for a family on a short-term basis. The parent and nanny will discuss expected responsibilities.

Position

Just like parents, Nannies may hold many different titles. Each type of position has particular requirements:

• Nanny
• Household Manager
• Family Assistant
• Mother’s Helper
• Professional educator
• Babysitter

Nanny

A nanny will watch over your family and care for their daily needs. Typically they will:

• Homework help
• Baths
• Bedtime routine
• Make snacks and sometimes meals
• Provide entertaining, mind-activating, age-appropriate activities for the child/children to participate in
• Other special needs the child/children may have

Household Manager

The household manager plays the role of the caretaker as well as other duties that keep the household in running order. They will oversee staff, including the nannies. They help with things such as:

• Running errands
• Laundry
• Light household duties
• Administrative duties
• Other duties that might help the parent keep the household running smoothly

If they have the position of nanny/household manager they may work with older children who are in school all day, as well as:

• Manage the household in the morning and afternoon
• Pick up older children from school and do typical nanny duties such as
  • Drive to activities
  • Homework help
  • Possibly meal prep
  • Tidying up

Mother’s Helper

A mother’s helper is an assistant who is there while the parent is there, typically a stay-at-home parent or parent working from home. Duties could include:

• Caring for the children
• Cleaning
• Cooking and meal prep
• Running errands
• Entertaining the children while the parent prepares their meal

A mother’s helper is there to assist the parent by relieving some pressure off of the parent. A mother’s helper could be either a child learning how to become a babysitter or an adult just beginning their career in the field of childcare. It is a great way for them to gain experience and understand how to care for children.

Professional Educator

A professional educator is a person who handles homeschooling. This type of nanny will teach the children from home. The nanny will create and teach the curriculum and does the testing and reporting. They will make sure the children meet their educational goals.

It is a great way for the children to be homeschooled while the parents work or do other daily tasks. The children would receive the one-on-one attention they need.

Babysitter

The babysitter works short hours, with limited amounts of time. The babysitter is responsible for caring for the child/children while the parent is out. For instance, if mom and dad want to go out on a date night, they would hire a babysitter to care for the children while they are out. Because it is nighttime, the babysitter may to:

• Feed the children dinner
• Engage in age-appropriate activities
• Bathing
• Bedtime routine

Conclusion

These days there are many qualities we would like the person caring for our children to have and roles we would like them to play. A dog cannot meet a child’s needs today. There are too many technical needs children have that dogs cannot tend to.

A nanny service will match your family with the type of nanny that meets as many qualities and standards as possible. A professional nanny service will help you find out about a nanny’s background, education, and experience to keep your family safe.