Although you might imagine a nanny as a Mary Poppins-style lady who lives with a family and provides around-the-clock child care, in reality there are various nanny options to suit the individual needs of modern families.
To give you a sense of what's on offer, here are some scenarios showing the different types of nannies that families can employ, either on a live-in or live-out basis.
Scenario 1
Jenny and Tom have two young children and run a business. They take turns spending early mornings and late afternoons with their children and employ a daily nanny to provide home-based care during the middle of each weekday.
The nanny, Sophie, is an experienced and professional child carer. She has a great relationship with the youngsters, and plans fun and age-appropriate activities, makes them healthy lunches and takes them on regular outings to the library, local park and playgroup, using the family’s second car.
Sophie always makes sure the toys, craft materials and lunch plates are cleared up, but Jenny and Tom haven't hired a house-keeper - the washing and dusting are still their jobs!
Scenario 2
Ella and Rick have twin girls and an extra room in their house. Ella is keen to go back to work part-time and do some study, so the family employs a live-in nanny to care for the children when Ella and Rick are busy.
Their nanny moves into the spare room and does the same duties as a daily nanny, and she receives a lower weekly salary in exchange for free board.
Although an au pair could have provided live-in child care, with a cultural bent, Ella and Rick wanted a professionally qualified child carer for their twins and are really happy with their nanny's expertise.
Scenario 3
Bianca has given birth to her first child and needs some help. Her husband works long hours and her baby, Toby, isn't sleeping well. The new parents are exhausted and overwhelmed, so they employ a night nanny called Rebecca.
Rebecca is trained and experienced in newborn care, so she looks after Toby overnight to give Bianca and her husband a full night's sleep. Rebecca arrives at 9pm and feeds the baby expressed milk, winds him, changes his nappy and gets him to sleep. She also gives the parents guidance around Toby's sleep problems and helps them establish an infant sleep routine.
By the time Rebecca leaves at 7am the next day, Bianca feels a lot more refreshed and is looking forward to having Rebecca's support that night. Soon, Toby has settled into a sleep routine and Bianca feels confident settling and feeding him.
Scenario 4
Stacey is about to have a new baby and is looking for 24 hour a day, six day a week support. She decides upon a maternity nanny because she wants someone who is trained and experienced with newborn care (like a night nanny), but can live with her family for the first 12 weeks of her baby’s life.
When Jai is born, Stacey is so grateful for the support and guidance she gets when caring for him, and also appreciates the basic post-natal care the maternity nanny gives her.
Scenario 5
Danielle and Amy are old friends who each have one child. The children get on well and the mums decide to nanny share, to split the child care cost. They find a nanny called Marcia who explains that she can work for the two families at different times, or else look after both children at the same time.
Danielle and Amy decide that their children would benefit from time together, so employ Marcia to look after both kids during the same hours.
Scenario 6
Alex is busy with four children of different ages. Even though she is a stay-at-home mum, there just aren't enough hours in the day since her newborn arrived, so Alex employs a Mother's-help nanny called Ellen to run errands and provide an extra set of hands.
Although some Mother's-help nannies are trainees, Ellen is a fully qualified nanny who's going to support Alex until she can establish a good routine with baby number four.
Scenario 7
Cynthia is a single mum and her son's father lives overseas. She's keen for six-year-old Oscar to have a male role-model in his life, so she employs a manny (a male nanny) to look after him each afternoon.
Rob the manny picks Oscar up from school, takes him bike-riding, kicks the ball around, helps with Oscar's reading and prepares his dinner, just in time for Cynthia to come home from work.
As you can see, there are so many options when it comes to nannies. Whatever your individual needs, CareforKids.com.au provides advice on choosing and employing a nanny - just click here for more info.
Reference
Australian Nanny Association
