Keeping Your Nanny: Adapting to Changes as Your Child Starts Nursery or School

Your child's start at nursery or school is an exciting milestone for your family. However, this change can also stir feelings of uncertainty, especially when it comes to childcare needs. As children start nursery or school, parents often face the challenge of figuring out whether to keep their full-time nanny or switch to after-school arrangements.

At Homebodies, we understand that your trusted full-time nanny has played a vital role in your family’s daily routine until now. But as nursery or school starts, will it be possible to keep her around? Is it beneficial? Will she want to stay? Will she work the same amount of hours? And will you pay her the same salary?

In this blog post, we look at how you can adapt your nanny’s role during this transition and at the options you have available to maintain continuity of care.

Benefits of keeping your nanny as your child starts nursery or school

While we observe that a lot of parents think that their child starting nursery or school automatically means they have to let go of their beloved nanny, having continuity in childcare has several advantages, not only for your child but also for your family as a whole:

• Strong bonds. The emotional connections built between your child and their nanny can ease the transition into nursery or school. Familiarity creates comfort and security, making it easier for your child to adapt to new environments outside the home without too many changes.

• Consistent care. Your nanny already understands your family’s routines, values, and expectations. Keeping her in her role means she can help you create a smoother transition into nursery or school life. This way, you don't need to spend time training someone new, and there won't be an adjustment period. Plus, it goes without saying that if you have younger children (or are planning to expand your family), keeping your existing nanny is a no-brainer!

• Focused and emotional support. Your nanny can offer tailored support based on your child’s unique needs, such as help in becoming more independent, for example. Having their nanny at home can be of great emotional support when a child starts nursery or school, as this is a time when they start experiencing new feelings and emotions. They are also learning how to navigate new friendships and deal with different pressures and having the continuity of care in their nanny can make all the difference in supporting the children through each developmental age and stage.

• Educational and academic support. When your child starts nursery, and then school more specifically, your nanny can continue to add value by supporting them with homework, for example. If you have older children, your nanny can also help with 7+ or 11+ exams, especially if she’s familiar with the British educational system.

With that in mind, your nanny's role will inevitably change when your child starts nursery or school. Let's see how.

Understanding the need for change as your child starts nursery or school

While your nanny may no longer be needed for full-day care when your child starts nursery or school, her role can adapt to suit the evolving demands of your family.

So, here's what we'd like you to keep in mind:

• Recognise the need for new responsibilities. Your child may need support with nursery or school drop-offs and pick-ups, routines, homework supervision, or after-school activities. Your nanny can still help with all those tasks (as long as she's willing to) while maintaining that strong connection with your child as their independence grows.

• Reassessing nanny duties. Before making any decisions about the future employment of your nanny, address and discuss what your nanny’s responsibilities will look like once your child starts nursery or school. This might mean shifting her focus from hands-on, all-day childcare to supporting your child in more indirect ways, for example, as well as carrying out other duties while your child is at school.

• Explore the options. How can your current nanny transition roles? Is she willing to adapt and take on a slightly different role within your family dynamic? These are exactly the kinds of conversations we can support you with.

And in terms of new tasks and responsibilities, here are a few suggestions as to how your nanny's role may change.

Light household duties and admin

When your child starts nursery or school, you may ask your nanny to start helping with light housework tasks during school hours. Many full-time nannies will be happy to incorporate these new responsibilities into their roles. For example:

• Meal planning, cooking, and managing online shopping. If your nanny is willing, keeping the household running smoothly by taking care of these tasks while the children aren’t at home can be a big help. As your nanny takes care of these tasks, you get to focus on work without having to worry too much about the home front.

• Organisation and tidying. Many nannies love working in a tidy and organised environment and enjoy taking complete control of this side of the job. This is another area your nanny can support you with, not only by organising and managing your children's toys, but also their bedrooms. This includes their clothes and overseeing wardrobe management.

• Managing schedules and running errands. Your nanny's role may shift to more of a 'nanny PA' or 'nanny family assistant' once your child starts nursery or school. And as a busy parent, you'll find this extremely helpful! This means she can manage scheduling, appointments, and coordination for your family's activities. When nursery and school start, admin tasks also grow exponentially, so don't underestimate the benefits of this type of arrangement. Plus, this gives your nanny a full view of your child's schedule, making sure that everything from holiday planning to managing your child’s play dates is organised effectively.

• Research and plan educational activities or events. Your full-time nanny may also spend the time while your child is out of the house to look into educational activities, trips, or events to enrich the child after school, on weekends (i.e., planning things to do with the parents), or during school holidays.

Supporting after-school activities

A lot of families look for after-nursery or after-school help, but here at Homebodies, we don’t focus on these types of nanny placements. Most of the experienced career nannies in our network look for full days of work or full-time roles (working 40-50 hours per week), so finding nannies of the same calibre who only want to work limited hours is a challenge.

This is why we strongly recommend you look for ways to keep your full-time nanny after your child starts school, and another valuable role she can fulfil is managing before and after-school activities. This could include:

• Transportation to and from school. Your nanny can handle school drop-offs and pick-ups and take your child to any after-school commitments, such as sports or art classes.

• Playdates and friendships. Your nanny can help facilitate social interactions (like playdates or casual gatherings) with your child's peers, which is key for your child’s development and social skills.

Will my nanny be happy with the changes in her role?

Not all full-time nannies may be happy to change their day-to-day roles, but we find that many of them will. For your full-time nanny to accept taking on different responsibilities, she must be flexible and versatile. She needs to be capable and willing to manage a variety of tasks, accommodating various school schedules, and providing both childcare and household support.

So here are a few considerations to make sure your nanny isn't blindsided by the changes:

• Open communication. Regularly check in with your nanny to discuss her feelings regarding the transitioning role. Validate her input, preferences, and any concerns she may have - this strengthens mutual respect and trust.

• Professional development opportunities. Offering training programmes or educational opportunities is a great incentive for a nanny to continue with your family. This could involve courses in early childhood education or specific childcare methodologies that help her grow professionally.

• Flexibility. Recognise the importance of offering flexibility within her role. This may include considerations for time off or adjustments to her schedule to prevent burnout and promote job satisfaction.

• Incentives. Consider offering additional perks, such as paid half terms and holidays, the option for additional hours during school breaks, or even performance-based bonuses. This shows appreciation and encourages loyalty to your family.

Will my nanny's salary change?

If you’re keeping your nanny full-time, it’s important that her salary remains the same even if responsibilities have changed. If you decide to reduce the hours in term time, you could still pay your nanny the same salary and ask her to be ‘on call’ in case you need her.

Or, if the nanny decides to work even longer hours in school holidays, an incentive to keep her in her role would be to give her a small break in the middle of the day when the children are at school. This allows the nanny to get a better work-life balance - for example, she could attend appointments, run errands, go to the gym, or do things that many full-time nannies aren’t able to do when working long hours.

Some families may decide to pay a blended salary, so the nanny gets paid an average of the term-time and school holiday hours. This allows a nanny who works fewer hours to still earn a higher salary, which is an important point, as we find that when a family reduces the hours and salary, the nanny will eventually leave the role.

Remember that keeping your nanny happy and maintaining a strong partnership means you need to understand her needs, too. If you need to make changes to your contract with your nanny, you still need to make the role attractive for her. For example, if you were to suddenly ask your nanny to work a split day (i.e., do the school drop off and then come back later for the pick up) or finish very late in the evening, that won’t usually work for your nanny.

Would you like our help?

Transitioning from full-time childcare to working around nursery or school can be challenging, but there's no reason why your nanny can't remain an integral part of your family. By adapting her role, blending duties, and maintaining open dialogue, you can create a win-win situation that benefits everyone involved.

At Homebodies, we understand that finding and retaining the right nanny is key for your family, and as your needs evolve, so should your approach to nanny care. If you're navigating the transition to nursery or school and exploring how you can adapt your childcare needs, we’re here to help! Get in touch for an informal chat to discuss the unique approaches we can offer that align with your family’s values and needs.