We have provided detailed job descriptions to help you determine what type of household employee would best meet the needs of your family.
Nanny
A nanny is a professional, childcare provider who works in a family's home caring for their children on a full time or part time basis. Depending on the position, a nanny may or may not live with the family. They can often be an affordable alternative to daycare/childcare facilities, depending on the salary range being offered and especially if there is more than one child to be cared for. Additionally, having a nanny provides individual and experienced attention for your child/children in the comfort and safety of their own home and can offer greater peace of mind than with daycare with higher child/provider ratios.
The main role of a nanny is to provide a safe, caring, nurturing and stimulating environment in which a child (children) can develop. Each nanny position may have slightly different responsibilities depending on the family requirements, the age(s) of the child/children, and other factors, but typically include such responsibilities as caring for a child's physical needs, meal planning and preparation, cleaning up after children, helping children with schoolwork, organizing and engaging in activities, disciplining, teaching new skills, etc. Nannies can also transport children to classes, pre-school, routine medical appointments, haircuts, etc. Any housekeeping responsibilities are primary child-related and may include light household pick-up, loading and unloading the dishwasher and children's laundry.
A nanny may work anywhere from a few hours/week up to 12 hours/day depending on the requirements of the family.
Mother's/Parent's Helper
A mother's helper is often described as "an extra set of hands" and has very similar responsibilities to a Nanny, including caring for children and related responsibilities, light housekeeping, running errands, etc. The main differences between a Mother's Helper and a Nanny are typically:
With a Parent's Helper, a parent (often the Mother) is usually present in the home while the Helper "helps" with the responsibilities of caring for the child/children and household. Though the Mother's Helper will often be responsible for carrying out many of the designated tasks on her own, she is not constantly solely responsible for all the tasks as a nanny is since the parent(s) are typically not present during a nannies work hours.
Since a parent is usually present with a Mother's Helper, the experience required of a Mother's Helper may be less extensive (and as a result will often involve a lower salary than a nanny).
Household Manager
A Household Manager is usually what a nanny position will "turn into" after the children reach school age and the family still requires their services. House Managers usually are required to work full time to get the children off to school, use the middle of the day to complete household tasks and errands, and then again take on childcare duty after the children get out of school each day. Families need to remember though, that during the summer months, less House Manager duties will be completed during the day, as the House Manager duties are still to give quality childcare to the children as first priority.
Housekeeper
Housekeepers are responsible for making sure all assigned areas of the home are clean, neat, and tidy. This includes any indoor household cleaning and organizing tasks assigned by the employer and may regularly include cleaning "projects" (e.g., cleaning and organizing a messy closet). Typical responsibilities include vacuuming, dusting, laundry, mopping and waxing floors, changing linen, family laundry, etc. Some Housekeeper positions also require cooking or food preparation. This should be specified early in the interview process if desired. We place part-time and full-time housekeepers.
Newborn / Infant Care Specialist
A Newborn/Infant Care Specialist, aka Baby Nurse, is an experienced and nurturing individual proficient in all aspects of newborn baby care and parental support. Their primary role is to provide assistance during the
post-delivery recovery period and assist you with all aspects of newborn
care. These duties include but are not limited to feeding, changing, bathing, infant laundry, sterilizing bottles and helping parents catch up on much-needed rest. Specialists who work night shifts (6-12 hours per night based on family's individual needs) typically stay in the baby's room and
manage their care while you get rest. When the baby wakes up,
they will feed by bottle or bring the baby to Mom for nursing. After feeding, they will burp, change, soothe and settle the baby back to sleep. A daytime Infant Care Specialist provides similar care and also strives to create a nurturing, stimulating environment for your baby during waking hours. Both day and night, they document your baby's patterns and keep a log of sleeping, feeding and changing times.Typically one of their key objectives is to help transition the baby to a regular feeding and sleeping schedule. Experienced Infant Care Specialists in this area normally charge between $18-25/hour and for multiples, $25-30/hour.
Nanny On Call
Nanny Connections has a close-knit team of carefully selected professional nannies who are available to provide childcare services at your home for a date night, wedding, special event or if your current childcare provider is unavailable. If you are visiting from out of town, we also provide childcare at your hotel. One phone call and our skilled coordinators will do the rest!
