Has the time come that you need to turn partial care of your child over to another person? No matter whether your child is a baby, toddler, or of school age, the decision is huge. You are entrusting someone else for the care of the person you love most in your life. And you want to make the right decision for your child. And that decision means finding the right person to care for your child.

But before you make your decision on who will be the best at caring for your child, you will need to attract the best person to care for your child. Before you begin your search for the perfect nanny, prepare yourself. Let us help by helping you with the top 5 ways to find the best nanny for your family.

Prepare Your Expectations

You will need to be prepared to communicate your EXCACT expectations to your potential nanny.

What tasks do you expect your nanny to complete? What specific aspects of your child’s care do you want the nanny to perform? Will they need to cook and prepare meals? Bathe your child? Help with homework/schooling? Take your child on outings and play dates? Help with the tidying of the house? How do you want the nanny to discipline or correct the child? Do you prefer specific training and skill sets? Know what you want your nanny to do daily!

Once you know what you expect, prepare.

Setting Hours and Being Flexible

You will want to know ahead of time what and how many hours you will need your nanny to work per week. Will they need to be there 8-5? Part time? Full time? Will you need them to work weekends? How about holidays? Think of all the possibilities and be realistic with your needs and the exact schedule you might need!

The majority of career nanny candidates want full-time positions with 40-50 hours a week. But they also expect to be given some flexibility for sick/personal days and ample time off when needed. Consider offering your nanny two consecutive days off per week to let them rest and recharge for the following week! If you know you will need more help certain weeks, be prepared to give ample notice to them. Or if need be, be prepared to find a babysitter on those days when your nanny needs time off. We can always help find temp nannies to fill in any days off you may need to accommodate giving your nanny some days off here and there as needed.

Prepare to Offer Competitive Pay and Great Benefits

In order to attract the best, most experienced nanny, you will need to offer a competitive compensation package. This doesn’t necessarily have to be the max salary out there, but one that shows you respect the experience, education and hard work that any career nanny will devote to your family. Know what the typical rates for nanny care in your area are and offer that or better to your potential nanny.

You will also want to offer the a solid package of benefits. These often include legal pay, paid vacation, paid sick days and paid holidays with guaranteed hours. Some families will offer to cover some or all of their nanny’s insurance costs for health and dental/vision insurance. Some will offer gym memberships, the use of a vehicle and even the use of a vacation home during time off. Another great benefit is gifting their employee frequent flier miles to let them travel during time off! Offer the best, if you want the best. We can help you customize a great package for your family and situation.

Pay Them in A Legal Manner

Let your potential nanny know you are honest and want to do right by them. DO NOT pay or offer to pay your potential nanny “under the table”. Yes, it will save you work, but it can also get you into legal trouble. Do right by your employee by offering them the benefits and legal protections of keeping books and withholding the taxes you are required to. This also allows for a more experienced, professional nanny to step into the role and often times makes for a more proactive, engaged and reliable nanny who takes her position much more seriously. They will feel like you respect them, and will perform their job better in return!

Offer Training

Great nannies will jump at the opportunity of bettering their skills. Offer to send them to workshops, and training sessions. Both of you will benefit from the extra skills learned.

Finding the perfect nanny does not have to be difficult. Just remember to prepare and communicate your expectations, set the hours, offer competitive pay and benefits, be honest, and help them grow.

And soon, you will have the nanny best suited for your family!

Oh, we can’t forget one more way you can find the best nanny! That is to use a nanny placement agency like us here at �����鶹. You are able to get an agency that has experience with over 20 years in business, a trustworthy agency that performs extensive background and reference checks, and tons of value as we choose the best candidates based on a custom family profile. You can learn more about �����鶹 here.

Go check us out on , , and .

Read more of our blogs here!

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Christmas is now just a few weeks away and you still may have some last minute gifts to get! Are you struggling with what to get for that special person in your life that watches your most prized possessions every day? I have put together five different great gift ideas for your nanny to help take the stress out of it so you can get back to enjoying the Christmas season and still show your nanny how much you appreciate all that they do to help your family.

5 Great Christmas Gifts Your Nanny 

•A �����鶹 Spa Gift Set

Who doesn’t love a beautiful set of spa gifts so you can have a relaxing moment at home and have some self-care time? Bath and Body Works are sure to have something anyone would love! To specialize it just for your nanny pick a combination of items you know she loves or will love. Put it all in a basket with a cute Christmas bow or even dress up a clear bag! 

Not the crafty type? No problem! Take advantage of the already gift boxed options provided by Bath and Body Works! You can shop .

•Gift Cards

You can never go wrong with a gift card that can be used anywhere or if you know where your nanny’s favorite places to shop and grab a cup of coffee are, even better! No matter what your nanny will surely love having some spending funds for themselves during this season or throughout the year!

•Personalized Water Bottle/ Coffee Mugs

Who does not love a cute water bottle to carry around, or if a coffee drinker, a cute mug to fuel and hydrate after chasing around and keeping up with little ones all day? There are so many cute options out there and some that you can even personalize if you want. I provided a few options for you to some small business shops to get you started! You will not want to leave an option like this until the last minute though to guarantee your gift will get to you one time.

This amazing water bottle is from Etsy shop: GroovyGiftables and can be found .

This adorable nanny glitter travel mug is a great gift and it’s from Etsy shop: TheModArrow and can be found .

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Getting your nanny a special piece of jewelry to show them how much you appreciate them is sure to be a hit for Christmas! There are so many options to choose from; from a simple yet beautiful pearl necklace or you can even personalize a necklace with the children’s name on it. Your nanny will surely love it and wear it for a long time! 

This beautiful “Best Nanny” necklace can be found at: Grace of Pearl Jewelry Gifts .

How about personalized name plate bar necklaces with the kids’ names or the nanny’s name? Purchase here off of .

•Tote bag

Between diapers, wipes, a change of clothes, snacks, etc. that your nanny needs to carry around for your children while out and about, getting a special bag to carry everything in is sure to be a great gift especially if it’s not your typical mom diaper bag! Get a cute canvas tote or something a little more fashionable by shopping at CafePress.

Nanny powered by caffeine tote can be found .

Amazing awesome wonderful beatiful nanny tote can be found .

I hope you enjoy these five gift ideas to show your nanny how much they mean to your family this Christmas! Nannies love your children and become part of your family and will appreciate feeling loved in return. Another great option for a gift for your nanny is to consider a yearly raise, holiday bonus or a bonus day off to spend with their family.

Also, if you are looking for a special nanny to add to your family then please check out our family section here or feel free reach out to us here.

Hope everyone has a stress free and joyful Merry Christmas!

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Do you desire to make a difference in a child’s life? To partner with someone in providing basic needs, discipline, nurturing and structure in their daily life? And to get paid to do just that? Then consider becoming a nanny.

Becoming a nanny is to forever change your life. You partner with a family, to help raise their child. And you do so in the closeness and familiarity of home, to provide comfort and love to the child.

So, what are some of the benefits of becoming a nanny?

-It’s FUN! – Being a nanny can be just plain fun. Part of what you are getting paid to do is play. Whether you are running with the child outdoors, or building block towers, it can be great fun to join in on the active imagination’s children have.

-Getting to help a tiny human grow- In partnering with parents, you not only provide for the child’s basic day to day physical needs, you have the opportunity to teach them. Whether that is social skills, or their ABC’s. You get the opportunity to set the stage for their future life. 

-You are able to see your work in action- As a nanny, you have the opportunity to witness the fruit of your labor in the most unexpected moments. Like when they share a toy, or a piece of food with peers. You are keenly aware of the impact you have on their life.

-You grow with them- Being a nanny is not only about teaching the child and watching them grow. It’s about growing yourself. You learn how to communicate on all levels. With parents as your boss/employee relationship. And in verbal and non-verbal methods in day to day interactions with the child. And you learn patience, just through the nature of repetitively having to teach a child. 

– You become part of a family- And what a beautiful feeling that is. You become an integral part of that family’s life. And even after the children grow, and need you less and less, you are remembered as vital part in that chapter of their life.

Being a nanny is a great work with lots of amazing rewards. And a job that you can look forward to going to every day. And who doesn’t want that?

If you are wanting to find out more, click here to go to our Nanny Section of our site. You can view the current openings for nannies, the steps of becoming a nanny with �����鶹, and what other nannies say about the agency.

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Find a Nanny Placement Agency

• You need to find an agency that has a good reputation, not only with their families but among their nannies as well.  Look at how long the agency has been in business. I’d recommend going for an agency that has been in business for a while (obviously) as there are lots of agencies that come and go.

• Look at what niche or specialty the agency is involved in. Some focus on career nannies (like us) and do more long term, full time nannying and house management. Some agencies specialize in temp or part-time jobs and have a younger base of nannies.   

• Read all the reviews. Check and see if there are reviews from nannies who have been placed with them.

• Call them and ask what the placement process is like and exactly what the fees are upfront.  

• Ask them what the hiring process is like and what their replacement guarantee is.  

• Ask about the background checks.  What they include, what is required or nannies to be represented by the agency. What would disqualify a nanny from being represented? 

• Ask them if they are involved in the community and offer classes or trainings for their nannies to maintain their skill level and keep things up to date.

Know Your Expectations for the Nanny

There are some things that parents have to ask themselves before even beginning the placement of a nanny in order to find the nanny that fits their style the best.

For example these are questions that I tend to ask parents during a consultation:

• Is mom or dad a work from home parent?

• Are they hands on or do they want nanny to come in and run things? Or do they want a partner and to work with her on a plan? (And will they follow up and back up said plan when nanny isn’t there.)

• Do they want pictures and check ins through the day or do they want to go to work and focus on that and get a full report at the end of the day?

So often people think hiring a nanny is all about the nanny, but it’s almost always all about the parents. These nannies are professionals and been in so many homes, with so many parenting styles. They can adapt and perform their job. It’s really those details about the parenting style and dynamic in the home that are more important to figure out as early and clearly as possible.

Screen the Nannies

Find an agency that does this for you and makes your life easier! �����鶹 takes care of the reference checks and background checks for you.

Interview Your Candidates

After you have found the right agency, had a consultation, answered the hard questions on your expectations of the nanny and the nannies have been screened and qualified, you are ready to interview!

You definitely want to to ask the right questions to get a better idea of the candidates’ personalities, experiences, work-styles, communication styles, etc.

At �����鶹, we provide interview questions, an interview guide, helpful tips, and any follow-up or prepping that needs to be done before and after the interviews. This is all included so you are prepped and ready to interview!

Trial Run

Have a trial run for your top candidates. I’d say at least for your top two candidates. Schedule a paid, in-home trial with the candidates where you show and explain everything on the first day and the second day they put everything into practice. You’ll be able to see which nanny can perform all the requirements and if they are good fit for your children and family.

Offer the Position to your Top Candidate

How exciting! You’ve made it through all the steps (however with the right nanny agency it should be smoother and easier) and now it’s time to hire the right candidate!

I hope this has been a help on how to find the perfect nanny for your family and it makes more sense now. These steps are all so important for the process to go smoothly and efficiently.

Do you still need some more information? Check out our Families section here. We have a six-step process here at �����鶹 that makes it super easy for you to follow and find the perfect nanny. For more information and to start your family application now, head over to our Families section here. If you still have some questions and are looking to speak to us then go over to the Contact Us section of our website and fill out a quick form and we will be back with you as soon as possible.

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