Night Nannies

Night Nannies and what you will be doing
By Ben Waterworth

• The main part of your job will be to assist with the care of children at night time, usually while the parents go to sleep. This can sometimes be the case because the children have difficulty at night time and the parents require extra sleep because they have busy jobs during the day. It is important then that you are capable of changing your sleeping patterns to meet the requirements of a night nanny so that you don’t find yourself falling asleep on the job on your first day! This is massive downfall for a night nanny and should be avoided at all costs.
• The job depends on the ages of the children and what exactly the issues they are having with the children. If you have to look after toddlers and babies then it will probably be key to your job that you change and feed them and make sure they sleep at the appropriate times so that they don’t wake up crying and wake up the parents.
• You will be responsible for all cleaning throughout the night that comes from looking after the children (nappies, clothes, dishes).
• Another thing that you may be asked to do is look after any animals that the family may have. You should never though let your responsibilities as a nanny for the children be overtaken by the responsibilities of taking care of the animals.
• One other thing you probably wouldn’t be aware of that is your responsibility is the safety and security of the house and the parents children. If anything was to happen during the night that was to pose a threat to the kids, you would be responsible in ensuring that steps were taken to avoid any further issues. Having things like emergency numbers on hand as well as other methods to protect yourself and the family should always be around in the event that something major was to happen.

These are only a few things that will be required of a night nanny and you should always remember that there is the potential for more things to be added to the list, all depending on the family which you stay in. Always make sure you clarify with the family to exactly what tasks they want you to do so that you can avoid any confusing situations, and you can always ensure you do a great job and are correctly praised for it!