How To Hire a Nanny

Source : http://www.peter.com.au/articles/nanny.html

We recently hired a Nanny so that Nikola could go back to work a couple half days a week. The following describes our experience and advice on how to hire a Nanny.

In Australia, most people use Child Care Centers rather a Nanny because it traditionally it has been cheaper and the government gives rebates for Child Care. However, Child Care is getting more expensive, and the rebates are not always easy to get, and a Nanny has several advantages:

• Children can be cared for even if they are sick.
• A Nanny may provide extra services like cleaning or washing.
• A Nanny often gives more flexibility.
• Cost is not proportional to the number of children.

For us, the first one was the primary motivation. Generally, if a child is sick they cannot attend Child Care, but then what would Nikola do about work (as a Sonographer, her work would have already booked people in to see her, all of whom would have to be cancelled if she had to stay home to look after a contagious child).

Having decided to hire a Nanny, we first tried looking at the various Nanny agencies. We were very disappointed with the results - many wanted up front payments without any guarantee of success, and the one we eventually tried sent two Nanny's both of who took the job and then quit a few days later, before even starting work (so it wasn’t our kids!). They finally managed a Nanny who was leaving the country in six weeks, but at least that managed to tide us over until we could find a replacement as Nikola had committed to going back to work after the first Nanny accepted the job.

So we decided to do it ourselves. We placed an ad in The West Australia newspaper which cost around $30 (all prices in AU dollars, AU$1 is roughly US$0.75 currently). The ad stated that we wanted a Nanny for two specific days a week, to look after our two children, aged 1 and 3 and gave our mobile phone number. From the ad we received well over a dozen responses.

For each person who called, we first ask some basic question which eliminated about a third of the respondents:

• We are in our suburb, is that suitable?
• Do you have a driver’s license?
• I work from home, is that a problem?
• What is your contact details, and when is the best time to call you?

Several people were from too far away and so our location removed them, several people did not have a driver’s license (which we required for various reasons), and (surprising to me) several people would not take the job upon learning I worked from home.

If we were busy at the time of the call, we would then call back later and ask further follow up questions, otherwise we would continue with the questioning at the time:

• Do you have a police clearance?
• Do you have a First Aid certificate?
• Can you provide two references?
• Can you provide a resume?
• What qualifications do you have?
• What experience do you have?
• Do you have experience with small children, eg feeding and changing nappies?
• Do you have children?
• What age are you?
• What activities would you do with the children?
• Would you do any extra duties (cooking, cleaning, washing) if time permitted?

For us, none of these were show-stoppers, but they did give us a range of things to base our estimation of the person on, as well as just time to take about various issues with them to get a better handle on the person (as much as can be done over the phone anyway).

Having narrowed the field, we then called back the ones we thought were best to organise an interview. Unfortunately, due to the itinerant nature of Nannying, several of them had changed their minds or got another job, or even just did not show up for the scheduled interview. In the end, we interviewed about three or four.

The interview gave us a chance to better know the person, as well as their physical abilities (keeping up with two very active children requires a fairly active person), and to go over the above questions in more detail. The interview also gave us a chance to talk about more delicate issues, such as:

• We like to enforce good manners, and would like the Nanny be a possitive influence.
• How would they deal with discipline issues? (always a hard question)
• What were their views on religion? We are Christians, and while we do not expect the Nanny to assist in teaching our children Christian values, we would not accept teaching them other religions at this early age.
• Health issues, such as experience handling sick children.
• Pay.

As far as pay goes, we had previously learned that the going rate for a Nanny is $12-$18 per hour, and so simply offered the middle of the range price as a starting point which seemed acceptable to all the people we ended up talking to. There is also the issue of holiday and/or sick pay if any, as well as specifications on how to handle the inevitable holiday time the Nanny will want (Since Nikola was effectively casual, we could deal with any holiday time as long as we had a couple weeks warning). We also needed to work our both the frequency and method of payment (for example, fortnightly via a bank transfer).

Insurance was another area we needed to look in to. The Nanny could be added on to our car insurance without any costs, but they needed to know that she had a clean driving record, and had not committed any serious offenses such as fraud or arson. We also added Workers Compensation Insurance for Domestic Employees to our home Contents Insurance for a nominal amount ($17/year).

It is possible that if the Nanny is accredited and has an ABN (Australian Business Number) that we might be able to obtain some sort of government rebate for hiring the Nanny. As yet I have not found any evidence to support this, although if we did we would pass on some or all of the benefit to the Nanny anyway.

It is too early to tell whether we made the right decisions and made wise choices, and it certainly has been a more challenging exercise to hire a Nanny than we ever would have expected, but the potential benefits over Child Care Centers (especially in terms of flexibility, consitency/reliability, extra services such as washing and cleaning) make the concept of hiring a Nanny far more attractive.

What to look for when hiring Sydney babysitters

Source : http://findababysitter.tumblr.com/post/31511520055/what-to-look-for-when-hiring-sydney-babysitters

Hiring Sydney babysitters is familiar among parents who lead a busy and a hectic life. A babysitter is a person that the parents hire in order to care of their children when they are not at the house. So whenever they go to a business meeting or a dinner they can rest assured that their children are in safe hands at the house. Although it is very familiar, a lot of parents are still concerned and they find it difficult to choose a babysitter. They have a point because choosing the person who will be in charge of your children can be a daunting task.

The qualities needed in a babysitter

The first two qualities that have to be present in the Sydney babysitters that are going to watch over the children are reliability and trustworthiness. This is due to the fact that parents are going to leave their children and the whole house under the control of the babysitter. This means that all the valuables, possessions and the children will be under the control of the babysitter. So the babysitter has to be reliable in order to take care of the children and has to be trustworthy to be left in charge of the house and its valuables.

The second thing that parents should be looking for in the Sydney babysitters is punctuality. Despite the fact that the babysitter is hired for a short time and have limited responsibilities and duties but she has to be punctual and she has to be very dedicated towards her work. This is because when parents face an unexpected event and they have to get out of the house, they will ask the babysitter to watch the children. This is why the babysitter has to be punctual and arrive in time so parents don’t be late for their appointment.

Last but not least, the babysitter has to be very enthusiastic about childcare. This is a very hard trait to come by because most babysitters are teenagers who take babysitting as a part time job so they can make extra money so it is hard to find Sydney babysitters who are dedicated to their job and enthusiastic about childcare. This is why parents have to choose wisely and look for a babysitter that loves children and loves to take care of children. It is also advisable to hire babysitters who know how to do CPR and have taken a course in first aid.

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The Pros and cons of hiring Sydney babysitters

Source : http://nanny.blinkweb.com/1/2012/10/the-pros-and-cons-of-hiring-sydney-babysitters-970b8/

When school is over and we are in the summer holiday period, parents will have to deal with their children who are at home the whole day. Some parents prefer to send their children to vacation care and other parents prefer to send them to 'school holiday programs'. Other parents prefer to use Sydney babysitting. The decision to hire a babysitter to look out for the children is a good choice but it has its pros and cons. So if you are thinking whether to hire the services of babysitters or no, keep reading as we are going to discuss the positives and the negatives of hiring babysitters.

The positives of hiring Sydney babysitting include having your kids under the undivided attention of an individual. It also gives your kids the chance to socialize and interact with other children of other people if the babysitter is babysitting other kids from other families. This will help your kid become more social and know how to react with others. This type of relationships that your children will form can turn into long term friendship. Not only that as the babysitters can even take the children to public playgrounds where they can become more social and meet other people. Also babysitters are much cheaper than organizations and they are available at weekends and at night, unlike organizations and day care facilities.

On the other hand, there are negatives when it comes to hiring Sydney babysitting services.  For instance, if your babysitter goes on a vacation or a holiday you will have to find someone else or you will have to babysit the children yourself. Some babysitters would pay more attention to their own kids other than other children; if that occurs then parents are advised to speak with the babysitter to clarify these misunderstandings. Also one of the major downsides is that babysitters have their own lives, so things might happen in their life that would not allow them to come babysit the children when needed.

In order to avoid any misunderstanding concerning the duties and the responsibilities of the Sydney babysitting service, it is advised to have a sit down with the babysitter before employment. Parents should lay out the rules of the house concerning phone use, internet use and visitors. Parents should also talk with the babysitter about her duties and responsibilities. This way the babysitter will know what she can and what she can't do alongside her responsibilities prior to employment.

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How to choose the suitable babysitter

Source : http://nannyaustralia.webs.com/apps/blog/show/19252174-how-to-choose-the-suitable-babysitter

Of course parents prefer to get a trusted family relative or a friend to babysit their children but this option is not always available. Sometimes they will have to go out and no friends or relatives will be free to babysit their children. This is why they should always have other plans when it comes to babysitting. Of course parents are advised to seek someone they know and trust such as friends, relatives or co-workers but when they are not available, parents are advised to look for agencies that will provide them with Sydney babysitters.

In order to find the best babysitter, parents will have to go through tens of Sydney babysitters. Parents should judge the babysitters according to their C.V and their past experience. The parents should also interview all of the babysitter in order to be able to compare them. They should also ask them for the phone numbers of previous clients so parents can call them and ask them about the performance of the babysitter and ask if they recommend the babysitter to others or no.

After deciding on one of the Sydney babysitters, parents should then invite the babysitter to come and watch the kids while parents are in the house. This would allow the parents to monitor and watch the performance of the babysitter and check how she deals with the children and how do the children react to her. This experience would allow the parents to have a close look on the performance of the babysitter so they can make a better judgment and to make the parents sure that their children will be in safe hands when they are not in the house.

If the babysitter passes this exam, then parents should hire her services as they are now sure that the children are in good care. Before leaving the babysitter with the children alone, she should be informed with all of the house rules. This is why parents should lay out the rules to the babysitter before employment. This includes visitors, internet and phone use rules. Parents should also provide the babysitter with an information sheet that would be of good use in case of an emergency. This sheet should include things like their phone number, address, any close landmark and cell phone numbers. It should also include the ages and the blood types of the kids. This would allow the Sydney babysitters to resolve any situation and call for help if anything bad occurs.

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The importance of the emergency information sheet

Selecting a babysitter and leaving her in charge of the children is a very big decision. Parents would want to make sure that the children are in safe hands and that they are in the best care when they are not at the house. So if you are hiring a new babysitter, you should stay with her the first few days and see how she reacts and deals with the children. This would allow you to form a picture of how will the babysitter perform while you are out of the house. After you are satisfied and pleased, you will be able to leave your children alone in the care of the babysitter.

An emergency information sheet is a sheet that contains vital and important information for the babysitter. It is your job to make this sheet and hand it over to the babysitter before you leave the house. Have this sheet in an easy to access place such as the kitchen bulletin. This way the babysitter can easily refer to it whenever she needs it. This sheet is going to save the lives of your children incase anything happens because it will allow the Sydney babysitters to call for help and resolve the situation.

This emergency information sheet should include your mobile numbers, street address and the nearest landmark to the house. This information will allow the Sydney babysitters to call for help whenever an emergency occurs. The sheet should also include the land line phone numbers of family relatives such as aunts, cousins, grandfather and grandmother. This would allow the Sydney babysitters to call for their help if needed. Other numbers that should be included is the phone numbers of neighbors, friends, poison control, hospitals and 911. No matter how easy a number is, in the case of an emergency it can be easily forgotten.

The emergency information sheet should also include the ages of your children and their blood types because knowing the blood types of the children can easily save their lives. It should also include any kind of allergies that the children have. You should also include the instructions needed to deal with each allergy in details. If it is a food allergy then list the type of foods that your children should not eat. This way, the Sydney babysitters will have all the needed information about the children and all the needed phone numbers in case of an emergency.

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