The nanny is a person who cares for children, usually at the children’s home. A child minder cares for kids at the minder’s home, but this distinction isn’t always used. Nannies frequently only work for one family at a time but some jobs have short enough hours that employment with two or more families could be possible. There are many different types of nanny jobs that can have varying responsibilities, hours, and living arrangements.
The standard nanny, once called a nurse, cares for children for the majority of the day and lives in the child’s home in his or her own private accommodations. This is also called a live-in nanny. Since part of the benefit of the job may be having living quarters on site, part of the pay may reflect the fact that room and board are included. Still live-in nanny jobs can be highly paid when people are expected to work very long hours, and there are some specialized live-in jobs that include caring for infants or supporting mothers with newborns, sometimes called postpartum doulas.
Other nanny jobs do not include living in the child’s home. Instead nannies can come to a home for a set amount of hours each day to provide childcare. This could be done on a regular basis, on an emergency basis or on a daily basis. Some live-out nannies are only present at certain times of the day when parents might most need someone to take over. For instance, nannies might just be needed to get kids ready for school, to transport them to school and to pick them up after school.
Another of the nanny jobs is housekeeper nanny. Though principal work may require caring for children, housekeeper nannies will usually do at least light housework, and some do even more. They might need to prepare meals, take care of kids, grocery shop, and keep homes clean. As virtually every mother and father knows, getting chores and errands done while taking care of kids is difficult work, and housekeeper nanny jobs usually aren’t that popular unless the pay is very high. Making sure kids are adequately watched or entertained so that chores can be completed can make this job hard to perform, but those willing to take on this work may have an easier time finding nanny jobs.
Lots of different training exists for nanny jobs, but people entering this field of employment may not have any. It isn’t a bad idea to take some classes in childcare and early childhood education, at minimum, and to have some experience working as a babysitter with references from parents. Those who enjoy working with children and who have a little experience can find many different nanny working arrangements if they’d like to work in this field. Work can be enjoyable and/or demanding depending on each precise circumstance in which a nanny works.