Practical advices

What makes a good nanny?

Being a good nanny is not, in any way, a simple task. Looking after children is a highly-responsible job that requires high level of commitment and responsibility. If you are a parent and have hired a nanny, please read this text and compare the features of a good nanny to your nanny. You can always give her a piece of advice or share a suggestion in a form of a constructive criticism if you wish to improve her work. If you are a nanny, compare against yourself – whether you have these qualities. Here is what a good nanny does.

Work responsibility

A good nanny acts responsibly at all times while working with children.

This means that  she always adheres to what the parents require regardless of her personal preferences or considers that a certain task could be carried out differently. If a family is open to new ideas, she may make suggestions and recommendations, but the final decision is ultimately on parents.

She is never late for work

Life of the family which decided to hire a nanny directly depends on nannies respect toward her working hours. If the agreement is that she comes at 08:30 AM, it means that mom or dad will plan to leave for work precisely at that time. If the nanny is late, they too will be late for work, which may jeopardize their employment and salary, and consequently lead to the fact that they no longer have the money to pay the nanny. A good nanny is aware that her job affects the lives and work of other people and therefore she never puts that at risk.

She shares information honestly

If it is necessary for a child to eat beetroot, and he constantly denies it, a good nanny will always communicate to the parents what the diet was on that day and whether the child refused to be obedient. The choice to conceal the events of the day never leads to a successful cooperation and it is only a question of time when the dishonesty will be revealed. Therefore, a good nanny builds partner relations with the family and honestly shares information on everything that took place during her looking after of the child/children.

She respects privacy of the family she works for

A good nanny does not care if the family she works for is publicly known or not. She never, irrespective of the topic or content, reveals to anyone any event or information she hears or sees in the family. Confidentiality of private data of the family she works for are sacred to her. And as much as she is proud to communicate to her friend how the mom became a CEO of a famous company or the dad won the lottery, she will not jeopardize her professionalism with the need to brag before her friends, ever.

She respects her job

Nannies often become important persons in the lives of children, connecting to children in a way different than their parents. Of course, no one can replace mom or dad, but children build a special bond with the nanny who plays with them, sings and draws. Some families receive the information from nannies on the development and interest of their children, or they even rely on the nannies to help them when the child is faced with some sort of stress. Therefore, a good nanny loves and takes care of the children she looks after, but she never crosses the line of her job and decides to have a coffee with mom, while mom’s friend is visiting. She is also not angry when family friends are visiting, and she is with children in another room. Simply put, nanny’s job is the responsibility for well-being of the children she looks after, and not the opportunity to become a new family member.

She cares about the child`s well-being

A good nanny must know all the basic characteristics of the developmental period the child she looks after is currently in. This means that she is aware that, while looking after a baby, she will not apply the same methods as when looking after an older child.

Child`s safety and security

Regardless of the age, child’s safety always comes first. A good nanny knows how to prepare the baby bottle and, at the same time, keep an eye on baby’s movement. She knows that children’s play can be very dynamic and that a child can easily bump into a table with sharp edges, which is why she is always ready to prevent any sort of accident.

Discipline

If parents already have request not to allow the child to access certain areas, and that the nanny is free to forbid something to the child, she will adhere to it. On the other hand, there are also different styles of upbringing in which children are not forbidden anything, but a good nanny will know, even in these situations, to explain to the child why it is not good to do something, without any prohibitions and restrictions.

Warmth in working with children

The core of nanny’s job lies in developing a quality relationship with a child or children she looks after. In order to achieve it, a good nanny is loving and warm when it comes to her attitude toward children, she enjoys seeing them grow and develop, while her contribution to their development motivates her.

Creativeness in working with children

Children develop through play, which is why a good nanny knows that it is the best way to overcome the developmental obstacles. She knows that children can be concentrated on certain content for a surprisingly long period of time, only if it is presented to them in an appropriate way. A good nanny encourages the imagination through drawing, storytelling or acting, in line with the interests of the specific child/children.