‘Am I ready for this and how will I balance my work, personal life and my children’s lives in this fast paced world in which we live in?’
When deciding on starting a family, parents to-be will probably look into various child-care options to help them organise their lives and help their children to have the best start. It’s not just for parents that work who might need support, but also parents who have busy lives, without support they could end up with a stressful and challenging environment at home. After-all, infants need to be nurtured and loved in order to build solid and enriching foundations. When children start school, they will probably have homework, extra-curricular activities and play-dates, which can be tricky to navigate when you, as parents have your own lives to manage.
The solution
So, what’s an effective and fairly straight-forward solution? Hiring a nanny! Nannies come in various shapes and forms, you just need to find the one that best fits your family! Nannies can work:
- Full or part-time
- Live-in or live-out (daily)
- Bilingual Nanny
- Temporary or permanent
- 24/7 as well as day and night nannies
- Nanny share
- Before and After-school
- Holidays
Nannies work across all age ranges and all it takes, is finding a nanny that is confident, experienced and trained in working with the correct age range for the children you have. Maternity nannies/nurses start from just before the birth, up to 6 months (approx.) and baby nannies usually work with babies from age 6 months. If you decide to hire a live-in nanny, they will live inside your house as opposed to coming daily. If you just require a nanny to work with you for a specific amount of time, you could think about hiring a temp nanny. Some families find that they require those extra pair of hands during family vacations, so a holiday nanny would be an excellent solution!
The benefits
Hiring a nanny has multiple benefits for everyone involved, some of these are;
They will organise your children’s lives so that parents can relax knowing their children’s bags, activities and homework are taken care of. Nannies will usually complete plans so they know where children have to be at certain times of the day. They will also arrange play-dates so children have ample opportunities to interact with peers and build social skills. A nanny can also look after medical and school appointments so parents know where they need to be, for example parent’s meetings.
They will be able to offer personalised care for your children, which is a massive asset when it comes to childcare. A nanny will get to know your children very well so they know at what stage your child is developing at and how they can further aid this. A nanny can develop strategies to working with each individual child so the care they give is excellent to each child. Nannies know about developmental milestones and will tailor their care for each child that they work with.
They will be available to work for your family when you need them (as per agreed contract). This is invaluable as a nanny will have set working hours which will enable families’ lives to run as smoothly as possible and both family and nanny will usually have an area of flexibility to enable harmony at both work and home.
Peace of mind for parents knowing their child and their needs are cared for. Parents can often feel worried about leaving their children with another person, so knowing that their nanny will be working with them can offer great peace of mind.
They will take care of nursery duties and enable smooth running of child care duties. Some nannies may also take on household duties but this should always be discussed during interview as most nannies will only take care of nursery duties such as laundering of children clothes and bedding, sterilising bottles, keeping children’s areas clean/tidy, feeding, bathing and changing children and cooking/weaning for children.
Consistent, nurturing environment is a huge factor for why so many families hire a nanny. Their nanny will be the only one to care for their child and nurture them lovingly. As nannies will come to the family home, this helps children feel settled and safe, so they are much more likely to flourish and thrive.
Nannies can do nursery/school drop-offs/pick-ups so that leaves more time for parents to enjoy daily routines such as meals, work and social lives. Parents will also feel relieved and less stressed knowing there is somebody there at every moment, in which to collect or drop off their children. Parents will feel freer and therefore focus on their roles as a parent and the rest of their lives.
Nannies can plan and prepare children’s meals, which means children’s nutrition is taken care of. Nannies will be able to offer healthy meals that help children to grow in a way that they should.
Assist children with development milestones such as potty training, weaning and learning educational aspects like numbers, colours and shapes due to them working with children on a 1:1 basis.
So hiring a nanny has many benefits for all the family, it can take the stain off day to day living and ensure children are taken care as much as the parents! Parents can relax knowing their children are in safe hands, which can make more time for everyone.
Amy R
