The one thing that every family should keep in mind before they start looking for nanny services is their safety. Unfortunately, not all of the people that claim to be professional nannies are qualified to be in charge of children, let alone an entire household. The best thing a person can do when it comes to hiring a nanny is to be aware of who they are dealing with, and what to avoid when it comes to choosing the perfect nanny for the household.
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A Nanny Should Be Educated
The education level of a nanny doesn’t necessarily have to be an associate’s or a bachelor’s degree, although having a degree is good. The main thing is that they have graduated high school and know and understand what it means to be a nanny as well as what has to be done in order to take care of a household.
For example, if there is ever an emergency and a child is injured, is the nanny certified in a qualified CPR class? If there is a need for transportation does the nanny have a driver’s license? Some of the minimum requirements that nanny agencies will allow their nannies are:
- At least 18 years of age, legally an adult
- High school diploma or equivalent such as a GED
- Certified in CPR and first aid
- At least 20 hours of childcare training from a reputable organization
- At least one year of professional childcare experience
- A clear and clean background check for any convictions including driving
It is essential that when a person is caring for children that they know how to handle emergencies. Training, education, and experience are a big deal.
A Nanny Should Have References
Even if a nanny is first starting out in the field, they should at least have enough training hours from some sort of agency to have a decent reputation as being competent. If they have nobody to vouch for them, or to even share an experience that they had with them, it might be better to look at another option.
Although there is no law that says that all nannies should have references in order to be hired, the family that is employing the nanny should seriously consider making sure that the nanny they choose has a legitimate background with a positive history.
Since nannies can have a wide variety of job experience from the past they could have references from:
- Working at a childcare facility
- Working in a kindergarten class
- Babysitting for people
- Prior nanny experience
Most experienced nannies know that they need references to compete with other nannies out there. They will have references lined up that they can provide if requested.
A Nanny Should Be Compassionate
It takes a certain type of individual to be a good nanny. There is no room for a person in a household that is simply in “it for the money”. Although some nannies get paid very well, if they do not care about the families that they work for…it will show.
One of the most important things to realize when it comes to allowing somebody to care for your kids is that they will have a huge influence on them in one way or another.
For example, if you hire a nanny that is helpful, compassionate, has a positive attitude, and is smiling all of the time there is a good chance that your children will pick up on this energy and mirror it.
If your nanny is constantly agitated, has a negative attitude, and is continuously unpleasant there is a good chance your kids will reflect this as well.
In addition to being a responsible extended member of the family that is going to look out for the best interests of the children, the nanny should be a positive role model.
Finding a Nanny is Difficult Without Help
There are a lot of single mothers and fathers out there who need help and need it fast. Imagine having a child, or children, and working a full-time job for 60 hours a week in order to keep up with the bills. What are the kids going to do during that 60 hours?
In addition to working all of the time, the parent has to care for the children, grocery shop, keep the home clean, get the kids to school, run errands, and everything else all while looking for a competent, and trustworthy nanny to hire.
Looking for the right nanny can be an exhausting amount of work for a couple that can share the chore, so for a single parent, it can be an absolute nightmare.
- Checking the background
- Verifying references
- Confirming experience
- Getting to know the potential nannies
- Drawing up an agreement
It might not sound like much, but obtaining all of the critical information in regards to somebody that you are going to allow in your home and around your children when you aren’t there takes quite a bit of time and resources.
One of the biggest mistakes a parent can make is to become so overwhelmed with life and work that they allow a nanny to work for them that is not qualified. Not only is this putting the children at risk, but the entire home.
Quality Nanny Agencies Are Very Helpful
There are many nanny agencies out there that care about the families and the nannies that they work with. Whether it is a live-in nanny, a full-time nanny, or a part-time nanny an agency will make the search for one easy and stress-free.
Instead of having to search through endless profiles, resumes, and other informational media all by yourself, an agency will do all of the work for you and provide you with a list of high-quality nannies that are fully vetted and ready for you to interview.
The chances are that before you even consider hiring a nanny there is already one ready for you to choose from that has done all of the work they needed to do in order to get themselves qualified to be a top pick from a leading nanny agency.
A quality nanny agency will always:
- Run a background check on the nanny
- Make sure the nanny has all the necessary qualifications and certifications
- Request references and verify their validity
- Interview and personally meet the nanny
- Screen and gage the personality of the nanny
- Reject any nanny that does not meet the minimum requirements
What this means is the family that is looking for a nanny does not have to worry about anything other than taking the time out to meet with and interview potential nannies that have already been screened.
A single parent that needs help should see a respectable nanny agency as a valuable asset and take advantage of all of the perks one has to offer.
Beware of Shady Nanny Agencies
Notice the above heading says “Quality Nanny Agencies…” There is a reason for this. Although there are plenty of great nanny agencies out there that are delightful to work with and helpful to families, there are other ones that only care about bringing in the big money.
Instead of making sure that the nannies they hire are fully qualified to take care of children, they will charge the nanny a fee to be on their list. Nannies should never have to pay a fee to be allowed to join an agency. The only thing they should have to do is qualify to be a great nanny.
The danger with hiring shady agencies is that, although they may not charge you as much money as other agencies, they will not have your best interests in mind when they place a nanny in your home.
Before you hire a nanny agency look for a few key details that could be red flags:
- Are they insured and licensed to work in their area if it is required?
- Do they charge their nannies a fee to join their agency?
- Do they have a good reputation on the internet?
- What do the nannies that work with them have to say about them?
Sometimes you can just feel it when you go to hire an agency that does not match up with your expectations. If you ever feel any doubts about an agency that you are considering hiring, double-check ratings and reviews about them and see if you are convinced they are good. If not, just go ahead and look for another one. You should never walk into an agency contract with feelings of doubt. Once you sign the paperwork, it will be tough to get out of that contract.
Conclusion
For some parents, it is much more difficult than others to find the help that they need. One of the best things a family can do is to seek out a qualified, trustworthy nanny agency that takes the time to seek out the best of the best in the industry. Finding the right nanny might be difficult, but when you do…you don’t have to worry about a thing.