Do you know if a nanny is suited to work with babies? If you are looking for someone to take care of your newborn or baby, it is good to consider all options. there are many different types of childcare available. But when it comes to newborns and babies, you want to make sure you make the right choice. So find out here if a nanny is suited to work with babies.
Who Can Work With Babies
Let’s start by instantly answering whether a nanny is suited to work with babies. The answer is, only if they have the right qualifications for it. In general, it is the Maternity Nurse or Maternity Nanny who specialises in newborns and babies.
And with care for your newborn, you do not want to take any risks. Even if a nanny has worked with many children for many years. It is still completely different from caring or a newborn or for babies. So for health and safety, it is important you find someone suited in that area. Experienced, or at least with courses and qualifications to suit.
Whereas there might not be too much of a difference – from a childcare perspective – between taking care of a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old. There is, however, an enormous difference between a newborn, and a 12-month-old child. You really need to know exactly what you are doing when it comes to newborns. Not just from the child’s perspective, but also for the mother and the new parent situation as a whole.
Breast and bottle feeding, setting up a sleeping routine, any newborn medical issues, you need to know all of this. If you are going to care for a newborn or baby.
It is a specialism in itself. That is why in childcare, there tend to be people who focus on one or the other. So a maternity nurse is really specifically for those first couple of weeks and months. A nanny could come in after, say, 6-12 months.
So is a nanny suited to work with babies? Yes, but only if they have the right qualifications and experience. When in doubt, and you need specific newborn and baby help, opt for a maternity nurse instead.
Why Hire A Maternity Nurse
If you are looking for someone who is really specialised in newborns and babies, you need to look for a maternity nurse. Note that maternity nurse will only do temporary bookings. This can be anything from several days to several months. But it is highly unlikely for a maternity nurse to stay on longer than that. The whole principle of a maternity nurse is that they are there to guide you and your newborn through this first exciting, but often also exhausting period in your lives. Learning everything you need to learn. Getting a good feeding and sleeping routine set up.
And just making sure you and your body can recover, as you settle into life with your newborn baby. Maternity Nurses will do shifts with you, so they will do either 12 or 24-hour shifts, mostly several days in a row. So make sure you have a space for your maternity nurse to sleep (often in the room with the baby).
Why Hire A Nanny
So sometimes a nanny is not suited to work with babies. But that does not mean a nanny cannot be suited for you and your family. If you are looking for long term childcare solutions, a nanny can be an excellent option. Nannies often are experienced working with multiple children. And with children of many different age groups. As well as providing more 1-1 support for children.
So a nanny can be extremely versatile. They can live in, or live out. Do part-time and evening work, of full-time family support. There are also solutions to be found around the issue of having a baby or newborn. Many families will have a maternity nurse specifically for that time. But have a nanny already working with the other children. If you do not have any other children, then make sure there is time for your maternity nurse to do a proper handover to your new nanny. Ideally, they would spend at least a couple of days together. To make sure the nanny can take over all the routines that have been created. And that they can step in seamlessly where the maternity nurse’s work is done!
So if you are looking for a long term solution, look for a nanny, or a maternity nanny – as the latter can do from newborn to longer-term bookings, in comparison to a maternity nurse.
How can Polo & Tweed help?
Hopefully, you now understand better whether a nanny is suited to work with babies. And when you re ready to find this new person for you and your family. We would love to help. Polo & Tweed are experts in matching the perfect nanny or maternity nanny to the right family. Whatever your needs are! Please just get in touch with us here if you are looking for a nanny, or a maternity nurse here, and one of our lovely consultants would love to speak to you!