Nanny

A nanny is a person who provides childcare for one or more children in his/her own home. A mother who works and has a child-minder to look after her young children is also employed as a nanny. In most cases, there are no formal educational requirements or qualifications for nannies – the job usually requires good general knowledge, common sense, and lots of patience.

As well in other terms, a woman who looks after one or more children for money is called a nanny. If she works in the nanny’s home, she is called an au pair. There is no precise definition of a nanny. Many people think that being a child-minder simply means looking after children for money, but this isn’t always the case.

Some people don’t believe there is much difference between a child-minder and a nanny – they are both paid to look after children in their own homes – but most people think that nannies care for more than two children. A nanny is usually employed by a family to look after their children, and perhaps sometimes the children of friends or neighbors. But a child-minder only cares for the children of one family, respectively.

Nannies often take on the responsibility of other household tasks; such as making meals and cleaning up around the house. In most cases, a nanny also becomes a part of the family either by growing close to their charges or by being treated as one of the children. Nannies who have been with a family for an extended amount of time often become more like a member of the family than an employee. Though hiring help to watch your children can be very expensive, the time and energy it frees up for parents are quite valuable. Many nannies perform not only child supervision but light housekeeping as well.