Hiring a nanny

Keeping your baby at home and bringing the care to him means you don't have to wake a sleeping infant, dress and feed him for the trip to the daycare centre or the caregiver's house. Baby can sleep peacefully while you get yourself ready for work. Providing one-on-one care for an infant is one of the key reasons many parents choose to hire a nanny who will come to their home.

A nanny is generally considered to be someone who lives in your home. Some nannies may have received child-care training, usually in a foreign country. But many young women want to travel to a foreign country, to improve their English skills, and to find a position as an au pair with a family. Some women take jobs as nannies in order to immigrate to Canada; they must first be employed for two years to become eligible for landed immigrant status, so they will look for a long-term commitment from you.

One difficulty in hiring a nanny directly from another country lies in checking references. Although it's possible to make inquiries and check out references, it can be time-consuming and costly in long distance telephone bills. Private agencies that match nannies with potential employers do some of the legwork, but you pay a finder's fee for their service. It's important to note that, should you sponsor a nanny from another country, you need lead time of approximately six months to complete all the government documentation. Citizenship and Immigration Canada offers a kit, "The Live-In Caregiver Program," for parents wanting to employ a non-Canadian nanny.

You may find it simpler to hire a nanny who has already worked in Canada and has local references you can check. To find a nanny, ask friends and neighbours if they know of one who is ready to leave the family she's with, check newspaper classified ads for nannies looking for work, or place your own ad. Child-care resource centres are also a good place to begin a search. Read the bulletin boards carefully and consider posting a copy of your ad there.

Some families choose a nanny because they're looking for someone who will also clean house, run errands, and do the cooking -- in short do everything the parents might do if they were home. But it's unrealistic to expect a stranger to fill your shoes. Before you hire a nanny, set out a list of her most important duties -- they should all centre around childcare. Don't expect her to be maid and chauffeur, too.

Live-in help has lots of advantages. If you work shifts or stay late at the office, you can count on the nanny to be home. Children who are cared for at home are exposed to fewer viruses so they're sick less often. Even when they do get sick, a live-in nanny will be there to take care of them. If you have more than one child, a nanny can be an economical alternative to enrolling two children in daycare. But remember, she's going to be living in your home. That means you'll be giving up space and privacy.