What Makes A Good Nanny? Part 3: Safety First

Perhaps the most important thing that a nanny needs to be is safety conscious. Without a nanny being aware of the safety of a child in their care, where on earth is a parent going to be able to find any trust?

Nannies beware! If you are not thinking about a child’s safety you can prepare yourself for an accident! An important point to make is that you are responsible for the children you look after, not the children that other nannies take care of. I have seen a toddler under the care of a nanny fall off the top of a slide on to their head because she was chatting to her nanny friend. I wish I could have stopped it, but what was I doing? Yep, watching the two children in my care.

Often with safety comes a bit of strictness. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this. In this case its much better to be the firm nanny, than the cool, relaxed one! Being adamant about a child holding your hand when you are walking near a road, laying down ground rules for roadside behaviour and getting very serious word with a child who is messing around near a road should be something nannies are comfortable with. I don’t like to be strict at all with children under my care but with things like road safety I make sure I lay down the law straight away! Any messing around with me and after one warning we’re going straight home.

We can be as safety conscious as we like and accidents still happen. This is why all nannies should be first aid competent. It enables us to look out for symptoms of injury and illness and decide what medicine a child needs, or if they need further care. As scary as it can often feel, we need to tell the parent about any injury or illness that has happened and if possible log it in a diary. Pretending nothing has happened can lead to further problems down the line. Imagine, a child under your care bumps their head and seems fine, you don’t tell the mother and go home. Later on the child starts feeling dizzy and throwing up – with the knowledge of what has happened, the mother can make a decision herself as to what to do next, without it, she will be perplexed and unsure about what to do next.

I guess it is safe to say that being safety conscious goes hand in hand with honesty, yet another important quality of what makes a good nanny.

Kim