15 Essential Skills of a Nanny

As a nanny you there are several skills that would positively benefit you to have to effectively care for children and contribute to their overall well-being. Here are 15 essential skills of a nanny:

Still not sure how to become a Nanny? Read our post on How to get a Job as a Nanny

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Patient

When dealing with infants, children and young people patience is an essential for part of your nannying job. Dealing with children requires a great deal of patience. Nannies should be able to remain calm and composed in challenging situations and understand that children may exhibit a wide range of behaviors.

Good Communication

Effective communication is crucial for working with both children and parents. Nannies need to convey information about the child’s daily activities, achievements, and any concerns. Clear communication helps in building trust with the parents.

During your daily role as a Nanny there are various people that you will have to communicate with throughout the day. You may be asked by the family to relay messages to teachers, to communicate schedules with other parents and even other after school activities.

Kind

Kindness is one of the most essential skills as a Nanny. Kindness is the act doing good deeds through having a friendly, considerate, and generous nature. This is needed to be on display at all times whilst looking after children because you are essentially modelling the behaviours and helping the children develop skills that they then themselves use.

Organised

As a Nanny you are possibly dealing with multiple tasks through out your day that are relevant to multiple children at a time. For this strong organisational skills are essential to keep the child’s day structured and enjoyable.

In a typical day you will need to have planned out different meals for any children in your care, as well as organising age-appropriate activities to keep them engaged and stimulated. As a nanny you may find yourself coordinating various outings, after-school activities, playdates, as well as attending school events. Planning and organising these activities requires a small amount of attention to detail, ensuring that the children’s schedules run smoothly.

To do this you can use apps such as Cozi or Google or Apple Calendars to make sure that you are all organised and won’t miss anything happening in your family weeks.

Calm

Working with children at times can become overwhelming. The ability to be calm in what can be stressful situations not only help your day but gives your children in your care the tools to be able to then use your calm in their own day.

As the children in your care begin to model behaviour in which you display the ability to be able to remain calm in stressful situations can begin to form the foundation of a nurturing and stable environment for the children. Through the act of remaining calm you can begin to help the children foster their emotional well-being and teaching children valuable coping skills.

Creative

Creativity is an essential part of being a Nanny. To help children learn and develop it is your job to come up with creative and fun activities for the children on a daily basis. Through inventing stories, enjoying craft activities or imaginative play you are encouraging children to think outside the box and develop problem-solving skills.

Flexible

As a nanny every day is going to be different. The ability to be a flexible nanny allows for the adjusting of schedules and activities to suit the child’s evolving preferences and moods. By being flexible it creates a great atmosphere with you and your nanny family and allows you to build a tranquil environment in even the most stressful of times.

Good at Problem Solving

Nannies should be adept at solving problems, whether it’s handling a child’s tantrum or finding creative solutions to keep the child engaged in constructive activities. Some days you might find yourself short of resources, perhaps the weather hasn’t exactly turned out as you hopes however by being able to problem solve and be flexible with your day it will allow you to still be able to make the most of every opportunity you have.

Bilingual

This is not an essential skills of a Nanny however as some positions can become competitive and if you are looking for a way to stand out from others around you being Bilingual is a great skills. Some families will already speak multiple languages to their children and would like you to continue to foster this development. Other families may ask you to begin working with the children in care to teach them a second language.

Understands Children’s Development

Developmental milestones are a set of goals or reference points a child is meant to reach by a certain age which are categorised into five different domains: gross motor, fine motor, emotional, cognitive and socio-emotional behavioural skills.

As a Nanny you will need to understand the children in your cares developmental needs to be able to organise and structure a day appropriate to the needs of the children in your care.

Relevant Experience

To secure the knowledge needed to get a Nanny position you may look for positions such as internships, volunteer work, or babysitting. These roles and positions before becoming a nanny can help you develop the necessary skills of a nanny.

Trustworthy and Reliable

Parents need to have confidence in their nanny’s abilities and trust that their child is in good hands. Reliability is crucial for maintaining a positive relationship with the family. Building a strong rapport with both the children and their parents is essential for a successful nanny-childcare relationship.

Respects Diversity

Nannies often work with families from diverse backgrounds. Having cultural sensitivity and respect for different family values and practices is important for creating a positive and inclusive environment for the child.

Create a Safe Environment

Creating an environment where a child feels safe is pivotal for the health and wellbeing of the children you are looking after. As a Nanny you have control over the environment you create when you are with the child.

At all times while children are in your care you will need to you assess the risks of each activity you are doing with your child. This doesn’t mean you have to write out a detailed risk assessment for each activity you are completing with the child but it means having awareness of what potential risk their is throughout this activity.

You will need to learn the skills and continue to be familiar with the different tools to help create a safe environment for the children in your care.

For more on safe environments read out post Creating a Safe Environment for Children

First Aid Trained

It is essential that all Nannies and professionals working with children have a first aid certificate. This is so you are able to learn essential skills to respond promptly and effectively in the event an emergency or accident involving children.

It is also essential to carry your own first aid kit with you as a Nanny at all time. To check out other things to carry in your nanny backpack read out post on What to have in your Nanny Bag.