My childcare experience
Nanny for a family with four children
I have been a nanny for a family with four children since September 2013.
About this position: The children were 12 months, 3 years, 5 years, and 7 years old when I began working for the family. I am usually caring for only the toddler while his siblings are in school, however, I care for the other children when they are home sick, or when school is out for a holiday or snow/weather day. For this particular position, my duties include:
- Eating: preparing meals and snacks for children, feeding or helping the children learn to feed themselves, keeping kitchen area/eating area clean & sanitary, stressing the importance of hygiene/washing hands before meals & cooking (for the children and myself), rinsing off dishes and/or putting in dishwasher
- Diaper changes/bathroom help: diapering toddler, reminding younger children the steps of going to the bathroom, and again, stressing the importance of hand-washing!
- Sleeping: putting toddler down for nap (transitioned toddler from rocking sleeper to Pack-N-Play for his nap), putting 3 & 5-year-old down for their afternoon nap and providing a 'rest-time' for the 7-year-old
- Activities: setting up and supervising developmentally-appropriate, educational activities for all children (art, crafts, reading, toys, dress-up, 'dance parties,' sensory activities, music/song/dance time, cooking), supervising physical activity and outdoor time, taking the toddler on walks, taking the children on educational outings (museums, parks, aquarium), encouraging language development through everyday learning opportunities (narrating what I'm doing, talking out-loud to toddler, naming objects/people), building on what the children learn in school by making sure the activities I provide for them are developmentally appropriate and challenging if necessary
- Normal routine: For this family I keep eating and nap schedules and plan activities accordingly. As a nanny I know the importance of being consistent with a child's eating/sleeping schedule.
- Daily Care Logs: I created my own Daily Care Logs so parents can have a record of their child's care. I record information about Eating, Diapering, Activities, Nap-time, Developmental Milestones, Language Development, and also miscellaneous pertinent information. I keep the Daily Care Logs in a binder that is left at the family's house so they can be referenced at anytime.
Nanny for family with three children
I worked for a family with three children from March - September 2013.
About this position: The children were 8 months, 4 years, and 7 years old when I began working for the family. While my current position focuses almost entirely on childcare or duties related to childcare, this position also involved household management/assistant duties and housekeeping duties in addition to the childcare I provided for this family. For this particular position, my duties included:
- Eating: preparing meals and snacks for children, feeding or helping children learn to feed themselves, preparing bottles for the baby, keeping kitchen area/eating area clean & sanitary, stressing the importance of hygiene/washing hands before meals & cooking (for the children and myself)
- Diaper changes/bathroom help: diapering baby, reminding younger children the steps of going to the bathroom, and again, stressing the importance of hand-washing!
- Bathing/bedtime/naps: bathing the baby & helping the 4 & 7-year-olds with their baths, putting a fresh diaper, lotion, and pajamas on the baby and making sure the 4 & 7-year-olds dry off and dress for bed, supervise kids brush teeth before going to sleep, give the baby a bottle, rock the baby and read her a book, then place her in crib with pacifier, read to the 4 & 7-year-old children together and then put them to bed in their separate rooms (sometimes I would also read to them separately), when I was home with the baby during the day she had a morning and afternoon nap and I put her to sleep with the same routine for bedtime (bottle, rocking & book, bed), the 4 year old had an afternoon nap and the 7 year old had rest time
- Activities: setting up and supervising developmentally-appropriate, educational activities for all children (art, crafts, reading, toys, dress-up, 'dance parties,' sensory activities, music/song/dance time, cooking, science experiments), supervising physical activity and outdoor time, taking the baby & kids on walks, taking the children on educational/fun outings (parks, aquarium, beach, pools, sound, landmarks, putt-putt, playgrounds, restaurants, arcades, bowling, library, movie theatre, events) encouraging language development through everyday learning opportunities (narrating what I'm doing, talking out-loud to the baby, naming objects/people), building on what the children learn in school by making sure the activities I provide for them are developmentally appropriate and challenging if necessary
- Normal routine: on a regular day I arrived to the house and got the family car to pick up the baby and children from daycare/school, I picked up the 7-year-old from elementary school, then the 4-year-old from pre-school, and then the baby from daycare, then drove the children home, provided activities for them to do or took them to an after-school activity, cooked dinner for them, had dinner with kids and fed baby dinner, tidied up kitchen with kids, bathed baby and supervised 4 and 7-year-old's baths, got baby ready for bed and supervised kids getting ready for bed, set 4 & 7-year-olds up with a short & educational program to watch while I put the baby to bed, read books to 4 & 7-year-olds, put them to bed in their separate rooms, tidy up house after kids are asleep, wash any dishes in kitchen, take care of any chores that need to be done
- Household management/assistant duties: grocery shopping/shopping for household necessities & keeping track of what was needed, driving/accompanying mother to appointments & reminding her of appointments, driving/accompanying mother to baby's doctor appointments, driving mother to stores or to run errands, taking care of the family's two dogs, taking dogs to vet occasionally, wiping down kitchen counters, organizing/de-cluttering kitchen
- Housekeeping duties: doing all dishes - children's dishes and family's dishes (loading/unloading dishwasher, hand-washing dishes that aren't dishwasher-safe, washing baby bottles, collecting bottles/dishes from rooms, putting clean dishes away, cleaning kitchen appliances), helped to de-clutter/organize kitchen periodically, wiping down/sanitizing countertops, taking trash/recycling out, cleaning out family car periodically and making sure children clean up their trash & get all their belongings when they get out of the car, cleaning up after baby/children, supervising/teaching kids how to clean up after themselves, vacuuming 1-2 times/week, helping with the baby's laundry, straightening up the baby's room, helping with de-cluttering projects periodically, helping fold laundry, teaching/helping 4 & 7-year-olds how to put away laundry, maintaining clean bathrooms (wiping down, making sure to drain/rinse out bath, making sure towels are hanging up, checking bathrooms after kids use them)
