The Upcycling Nanny: Hiring a Nanny

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A guide to hiring a caregiver through a web-based nanny agency

I have picked up a few tips for families looking to hire a nanny through a web-based agency. I am experiencing life from a nanny's point of view and I think I can make your search for a new or replacement nanny just a little easier.

I am a mother of 4 children and I have 1 grandson. I am currently working offline as a nanny. I have been a nanny for 2 years now and worked for 4 families in two different states. I connected with 3 of the families through a web-based agency. Before becoming a nanny I worked in daycares as a teacher for two year old classrooms. Parents often find it easier to find a daycare or in-home daycare. Or atleast find information on the process of touring, determining if daycare is the right choice for your family and deciding if a daycare meets regulations. Since becoming a nanny I have found I often have trouble finding information on how an interview should go for me and the families I interview with.

Before you even begin to stress over where to look for a nanny/babysitter/childcare provider (caregiver) you should consider a few questions:

Do you want a caregiver in your home? Would you rather deliver and pick-up your child to a caregiver's residence? Do you want a caregiver to transport your child to your caregiver's residence?
I believe caring for children in their own home is best. They can play with their own toys, sleep in their own beds and eat meals at their own table.

If your child is in school or at an activity when you need care, you will need a caregiver with a vehicle, clean driving record and car insurance.
If your child is young enough to require a carseat, you should plan on providing a caregiver with an appropriate carseat to use for the transportation of your child.
If you decide you want a caregiver to come into your home, you should make an appropriate carseat available for emergency use.
If you work an odd hour shift or your shifts rotate to odd hours, you should consider hiring a caregiver to come into your home. One of the reasons I decided to leave working in daycares was based on my husbands odd rotating schedule. We could easily make sure one of us was home with our children or use daytime care for a few months. When a rotation came up on his shift we were often left working at the same time or needing only a few hours of evening care.
If you need care after your child's bed time, are you willing to wake your child to drive home from your caregiver's residence? If you answered no, you will need a caregiver to come into your home.
Is your child too heavy for you to pick up on a consistent basis and carry to a vehicle? If you answered yes, you will need a caregiver to come into your home.

Once your caregiver arrives at your home do you want your children transported any where else?

Often times caregivers are responsible for transporting children to activities. If your child is not school age, you should decide if you want the caregiver to take them to the park, events or other places. Some common transport places for younger children are libraries for story time, parks and indoor play places for continious bad weather.

How many hours of care will your child need? How many hours of care do you want to pay for?

To determine how many hours of care your child will need and how many hours you will want a caregiver to work you need to consider a few things.

First you will have to determine where the conflicts in your family's schedule are. If you will be leaving for work when your caregiver arrives, add your travel time plus an additional 15 minutes for communicating information or ocassional tardiness.
You may also want a caregiver to perform other tasks while you are home with your child, such as walking dogs, heavy cleaning and errands. You will have to include these extra duties in your job post and allow time for your caregiver to complete them.

How much are you willing to pay? How often do you want to pay and how will you make payments?

Of course there are many variables for pay-rates for any childcare. Location and experience are the major factors. Other factors are the shift you are hiring for, number of children and how much you can afford. You should also consider their time and job, which is caring for your child, just as important as your own.

Most web-based agencies have calculators for both families and caregivers to determine what pay-rates should be.

You should remember however much you choose to pay your caregiver taxes come out after you pay them unless you decide to withhold them each check. Your caregiver may also be paying for health insurance premiums with the income you provide.
Most caregivers will like a weekly payment. Some caregivers accept bi-weekly or monthly payments.

I suggest paying for services rendered until you have an agreement with your caregiver in place.

You will also need to decide if an hourly rate works for you or if you would like to pay a flat-rate.

Flat-rates are best for schedules that are fairly regular. If you pay a flat-rate and come home an hour early one day but have to stay an hour late another day it tends to balance out.
Hourly rates are most common but can be difficult to manage if you do not track hours with your caregiver.

What qualifications should you look for?
Qualifications for daycares are typically different than those for in-home caregivers. The differences between such qualifications or certificates is typically the experience the caregiver gained while in school. Working with two year olds in a daycare only differs from working with a two year old in their home by the number of children present. The child development stages and activities to promote different areas of development are the same.

Common qualifications families ask for are:

Child and Infant CPR & First Aid Certification - Look for American Red Cross or American Hearth Association certifications.
A vehicle with clean driving record and car insurance - Whether you plan on having a caregiver transport your child or not, you should look for caregivers with capability of driving in case of an emergency. I have had to drive home to unlock doors, pick up my own children from school early and transport pets unexpectedly.
Child Development Certifications

CDA is a common requirement for daycare staff and is awarded through the Council for Professional Recognition.
Nanny certificates should be approved by the American Council of Nanny Schools.

Special Needs Care
Water safety Certification
Nutrtion Certifications
Children's Fitness Certifications

You should always ask to see qualifications listed on a resume, verify references and run a background check on anyone you hire to come into your home or plan on leaving your child with regardless of how you find them.

What kind of experience should you look for?

The type of experience your candidates have will most likely filter out most candidates for you. Experience is also what you pay for in a caregiver. There are many qualified caregivers looking for jobs through web-based agencies. Some families choose to ignore experience and hire the candidate who is qualified and charges less but those families miss out on many skills developed through experience.

An experienced caregiver should be capable of:

planning, adapting, creating and implementing safe, fun educational activities
Maximizing environment arrangements for learning opportunities
Age appropriate Arts & Crafts, Music and Dramatic Arts Activities
Homework help
House-keeping
Grocery shopping
General Errands
Pet Care
Meal Preparation

Are you willing to provide supplies?

Experienced caregivers often need supplies for activities they plan or create for your child. Most supplies are common in households with children. If you expect your caregiver to plan and implement educational activities, you will need a system for keeping supplies on hand. You Could:

Set a specific amount for a time period and add the amount to your pay-rate.
Reimburse your caregiver supply purchases upon proof of reciept.
Have your caregiver provide a list of needed supplies and purchase them yourself.

I do not ask families to reimburse me for most purchases I make. I do however use a mixture of their supplies and my own. If I am reimbursed for supplies or the family buys supplies I do not take them with me when I leave.

Are you willing to allow your caregiver to bring other children into your home or take your children to another family's home?

Most caregivers you hire from web-based agencies are stay at home mom's looking to make some extra money or they may work for more than one family. You should consider whether you want your child in another family's home or if you would want other chidren brought into yours.

How do you feel about religion?

If you are of a certain faith, you may consider looking for a caregiver of the same faith. If you are not of a particular faith, you should consider how hiring a religious caregiver will affect your family.

Should your caregiver discipline your child?

Most experienced caregivers use some form of the positive guidance method for disciplining children in their care. Positive guidance techniques are:

Telling a child what they can do rather than what not to do.
Making directions a positive, respectful request
Clearly stating rules with an explanation and demonstration
Using effective praise, social reinforcers, activity reinforcers rather than tangible reinforcers
Validating a child's feelings

Some caregivers may use ocassional time-outs, with the same general rule of thumb for parents, 1 minute per year of age.
Your caregiver should not use punishments that are unacceptable to your family. On the same note, you should not expect a caregiver to use punishments that make them feel uncomfortable or may make your child resent them.
Your caregiver should not be responsible for disciplining or punishing your child for offenses that occured outside of their care. For instance, if you found out your child had a bad day at school and you plan on dealing with it but will not be home before bed, you should not ask your caregiver to sit the child in time-out until you arrive home. Some punishments for older children may carry over into your caregivers time, such as grounding or removal of priveledges. When this occurs you should implement the punishment yourself and communicate to your caregiver the limitations you have set for your child.

Will your caregiver provide sick care or be an emergency contact for my child's school?
Some caregivers will still care for your child when they are mildly ill and pick up school age children when sent home. If your caregiver decides your child is too ill for them to care for, you are responsible for taking your child to a doctor for treatment.

Should your caregiver give your child medications?
Most caregivers will give your child prescription medications as prescribed by a pediatrician. Some will give over-the-counter medications as directed on the bottle. Your caregiver should not give your child medication without your knowledge or consent.
You should not expect your caregiver to practice any methods of treating your child that have not been approved by your pediatrician.

Should your caregiver be bonded or insured?

Unless you go through a local agency most caregivers will not be bonded or insured. Even with a local agency, the agency itself is usually bonded and the nannies are protected under an umbrella the agency chooses to extend. Some caregivers will purchase a personal and general liability policy, which provides some protectection against damages for both the caregiver and the family. If a caregiver you would like to hire does not carry a policy you would like them to have, you should consider purchasing a policy yourself. Look into liability policies with your homeowners or renters insurance agency.

Do you want to sign a contract with your caregiver?

As a nanny my answer is always a solid yes. A contract easily allows both parties to share expectations and it has any vital information for emergency care. It also provides protection to both parties in cases of disputes over wages, firing of your caregiver or your caregivers termination of services to you. I have found each family requires a different contract so I have a service agreement I require to be signed on the first day of care. My service agreement has emergency contact information, medical treatment release and the agreed upon pay-rate to be paid at the time of services until a contract is agreed upon. When you interview caregivers ask if they are willing to sign a service agreement and/or contract. If they do not have one you can make one or use this service agreement and contract. Both parties should review the contract and add, change or remove from it until it is acceptable for you both. If you hire a friend or family member an agreement/contract is still useful to be sure expectations for both parties are clear and to prevent any resentment in the future.
Items to include in your contract:

Emergency contacts for both parties
Medical treatment information and release
Agreed upon pay-rate, how often you will pay your caregiver and supply agreement
Any items you provided your caregiver with; to be returned upon termination of services by either party such as keys to your home, remotes for alarms and garages, carseats
passwords
Guidelines for scheduled time-off, vacation time and sick days for both parties
Medication guidelines
off-limit areas of your home for both your child and your caregiver
areas to be cleaned or maintained
Clearly define your expectations for caregiver while they are in your home with your child.

Once you have considered these questions and determined your answers, you are ready to search for a caregiver. Nannies4hire is just one of the sites you can use. Families and caregivers create profiles on the site allowing them to search for each other. The amount of information available to you and where you are in the job list depends on whether you sign up for a free account or pay for your membership. I am not positive how it works on the family side but I do know you can have the ability to contact caregivers directly, pay for background checks, verify qualifications and references and look at availability for caregivers.

The Search

When using a web-based agency, the caregiver will often send you a message with qualifications, experience and skills they feel apply to your position. If you do not see information you require listed in the application message or you can search for caregivers and send them a message inviting them to apply for your position

Once connected you can ask as many questions as you choose through the site. You will usually set up either a phone call or in-person interview once you determine if you have found a suitable candidate. As a nanny I request our first meeting to be in a public place, such as a park, library or restaurant. You may consider your initial interview be with only you and the caregiver. When interviewing a candidate look for caregivers with confident and positive personalities.

After you have narrowed down your candidates to caregivers you are willing to allow in your home with your child(ren), you should consider a second hands on interview. Set aside at least an hour to invite your caregiver into your home during a time they would be scheduled. This allows the caregiver to get insight on how your home runs and meet your child(ren). I am usually hired at this point and provide the family with a service agreement.

At this point you will most likely have 1 or 2 caregivers you would like to hire. Once you make your decision and let the caregiver know, you should schedule another visit to go over a service agreement and contract.

Your Caregivers First Day of Work

Your caregiver's first day is a good time to discuss your policies on internet, t.v. and phone usage while in your home. Some caregivers will require having their phone available to them for emergency calls. You should also decide if your caregiver will be eating food you buy or bringing meals from home. If you have specific parking rules for your community or need spaces left available for mail delivery you should let your caregiver know from the first day of employment.

I keep a daily log for children in my care. This log includes general schedules and routines and any important household information such as wifi passwords and parking information. For babies, I include times they ate, had a diaper change, fell asleep, woke up and play time. As children get older I write down more. Maybe we worked on a particular skill or did a craft. I write any information communicated to me in the log under on arrival. I will also write any injuries, bumps, bruises or medical concerns I might have in the log. If the injury happened on my watch I write down how it happened. If you notice injuries, bumps or bruises on your child and you aren't sure how they got there, ask your caregiver. Usually these marks are infrequent and from normal childhood activity. If you ever suspect otherwise simply document, report and terminate your caregiver.

Terminating Services

I require a two-week written notice by either party to terminate services for any reason other than suspected abuse or violation of the contract.

Concerns/Complaints

Once your caregiver has been working in your home with your children for a period of time both parties will surely have some concerns or complaints. How you address them depends on your relationship with your caregiver. I tend to ask a lot of questions during the interview process and take notes during my hands on interviews. I like to have a sheet in my log book that outlines routines or schedules during my time in each family's home. I also keep acceptable punishments and rules that are not negotiable on this sheet. If a family has a concern with me, we usually talk conversationally when they arrive home. Most parents have more time after work than before. You should approach your caregiver with constructive critisms. Say things like Have you noticed... or What do you do when...or We would rather... Keep in mind you may be able to tolerate noises and actions your caregiver cannot. Some rules will only apply when your caregiver is in the home. And the same is true for your caregiver, they may be able to tolerate some things you cannot and therefor they allow them without a second thought. If they are unacceptable for your family, let your caregiver know and give your caregiver an acceptable method to deal with such noises and actions.

Visit our supply store to purchase any supplies or tools you need to put your skills to work Upcycling with your child.

I hope you enjoy looking around and thank you for taking the time to read. I look forward to your comments and be sure to email me at jennifer@theupcyclingnanny.com any pictures of items you decide to upcycle!!