Selecting A Baby Sitter For Your Little Ones
Many parents prefer to choose a baby-sitter or nanny to care for their child if he or she is under age 3. This option can be the most convenient, because the caregiver comes to your home. Your child will also be in a familiar environment and will avoid exposure to colds and other infections from other children. Hiring a nanny is one of the most expensive child-care arrangements, but the biggest difficulty is finding a reliable, well-qualified person. Because in-home care is not regulated in any way, you are the sole judge of a caregiver’s character, knowledge, and skill.
Start your search at least 2 to 3 months before you go back to work so you have enough time to make a thoughtful decision. Ask friends and neighbors for recommendations. Before hiring or accepting an offer to baby-sit from relatives or friends, be sure they are qualified to care for your child and that you would feel comfortable giving those instructions or disagreeing with them on child-care issues that are important to you. Avoid hiring someone who is looking for something to do until a better offer comes along. To find candidates, check with a local agency that provides training and placement for in-home providers. Ask your doctor for names.
You should be as thorough as possible about performing background checks. This does not mean that you have to enlist the Federal Bureau of Investigation, only that you must insist that all background checks are completed by the agency. Incomplete background checks can lead to abuse and neglect being captured on your nanny cams. Even if the nanny performed well in past employments, you might just be unlucky enough to be the victim of nanny duplicity. You should avoid hiring nannies on the first interview. You can conduct two personal interviews at the minimum, where you can ask questions like childcare philosophy and ideas, personal interests, discuss compensation package and work expectations, and opinions on nanny cams. The disclosure and discussion on nanny cams is a must.
Using your hidden nanny cam, you can make a decision regarding hiring your new nanny. Even if you missed something during the interview, the strategically-placed spy camera will show you exactly what your missed. You need to hire a person that you can trust which your children. Also before you hire the nanny make sure the children are comfortable around her. There is nothing worse than hiring a nanny who if perfect but the children do not like her. If the children do not like her then they are not going to listen to her very well. So make sure that the children like her that way you will get respect from both the nanny and your children.
This document should spell out specific duties like house chores, childcare tasks, and use of supplies, provisions for meals, accommodations and transportation, among others. During the first few days of employment, you have to spend time getting acquainted with your nanny like daily conversations and updates, occasional and surprise visits during working hours, and if necessary, scheduled meetings on important matters. Most important of all, respect your nanny and show confidence in her abilities. When the time comes, you might even consider spy gears almost disposable and your nanny indispensable!
