We are first time parents to a 10 month old baby girl. We have a nanny who has been working for us about 7 months. She works for us about 20 hours per week give or take. When she first started our daughter was only 3 months old and slept most of the time she was there. Now that she is older and more active we would like our nanny to do more activities with her. I am not comfortable with her driving anywhere yet. I feel like they could be doing activities in the house or going for walks. What are reasonable things to expect her to do with my daughter. Currently they play and read books. She feeds her lunch and puts her
down for naps. Any advice would be helpful.
have you thought about Baby sign language? its really interactive & engages her language skills which can be really enriching to her since her language skills are in their prime developmental stage right now!
also, you can never go wrong with all types of reading activites.
I'm a speech-language patholgist, which is partly why i recommend it. also, i have ababy signs program i plan on starting with my own daughter in a few months!
Weather permitting, a walk or short outside time. If there is a park nearby, they could walk to the park or just around the block. Also, music & singing is very good for babies. I would certainly request outside time for your daughter for sure!
Hi K.-
I was a nanny for 18 months when I was 20 years old. The mother never had me on a rigid schedule. However, my love for children drove me to read and sing to him every day until he started "reading" the books to me and singing along. Raffi is a great children's musician. You can buy his CD's on Barnes & Noble.com. The songs are short and repetitive so kids enjoy them. Some of them naturally encourage movements that go along with the songs so it would be very easy for the nanny to engage your daughter in these activities. I agree with the PP: it's okay to give the nanny a checklist of activities and expect her to do 5 or more with your daughter every day. I would have been okay with mom asking me to do that. Good luck!
I hope it is your daughter that is sleeping NOT the nanny! How old is your nanny? There are alot of things your nanny should be doing with your daughter, singing her alphabets, teaching her her numbers, showing her colors, shapes, animals... Stacking blocks, walking, teaching her her left from right and alot more. Make an activities schedule for her to follow. If she is not doing this you need a new nanny.
Check out the book called "Encyclopedia of Infant and Toddler Activities." I found it a Barnes and Nobles, but you could probably find it online on amazon or ebay, too. It has a pink cover.
Just remember that the first year of life a child needs to accomplish three main things: security (0-6 months), exploration (6-12 or so months), and identity formation (12-36 months). As long as your child is having fun, developing in a healthy way, and the activities are developmentally appropriate so neither she nor the nanny get frustrated, everything will be fine.
I know my sister in law was a nanny for years. She went for a walk daily. Also outside for activities, to the park, book store. To the library, ECFE classes. They did a lot! The nanny would probably like more to do as well! And in the next 6 months your daughter will be walking etc. Which will increase what they can do. Just ask her to do more. At home she can start art soon too!
Maybe buy some creative books for her to read while your daughter is napping or a parenting magazine!
