Tips For Hiring Confinement Nanny In Singapore

Carrying a baby for nine months is no easy thing so after giving birth, you might want to rest for a while and regain your strength. But that will be difficult as you will also need to take care of your baby. This is where confinement nannies come in to help. They will be assisting you in your house as you try to juggle your recovery with your responsibilities as a new mom. In Singapore, they are a bit pricey though so you would want to get the service that will give you the best value for the money you paid for.

Here are some tips on how to choose the best confinement nanny for you:
Start Scouting Potential Nannies Early
Pregnancy can be tricky so it would help to prepare ahead of time and try scouting for possible nannies. Most pregnant mothers start looking for nannies as early as the first trimester, especially when they are expecting the latter part of their pregnancy to be delicate.

Ask Fellow Mothers who have Experience with Confinement Nannies
The best people who can give you advice on confinement nannies are fellow mothers who have undergone the process. Friends and family members will be able to give great advice as they have experience on the matter. They will give you tips on what to request from nannies and which agencies offer the best and most skilled confinement nannies.

Do not Settle with One Agency Only
A lot of mothers opt to hire directly and transact with the nanny themselves but there are also those who would rather go to agencies. These agencies employ a lot of nannies who have been trained especially for handling babies and new families so their help can go a long way. In choosing an agency, you might want to know the company’s policy on deposits and payment and see which have the more reasonable price. Just make sure that the agency you will be using is not too cheap as well as that might mean that the service is not that good as well. Other possible factors mothers can consider are whether the agency has a refund policy, the agency’s reputation among your fellow mothers, the agency’s guidelines on replacing nannies as well as the frequency of medical check up of the nannies employed by the agency.

The Confinement Nanny should be Able to Communicate with You
Confinement nannies who are born and raised in Singapore are expensive so most agencies hire from other countries and train them. One of the problems Singaporean mothers meet in dealing with foreign confinement nannies, however, is the fact that they have difficulty communicating in English, Chinese or Malay. And when giving instructions to your nanny, it is of prime importance that he or she will be able to understand you. So, before hiring, make sure you demand to at least speak with the nanny that the agency will be choosing for you so you can get a feel of his or her language skills.

Make Sure the Confinement Nanny you Hire is Receptive to your Needs
One of the most important things moms should consider in hiring their confinement nanny is attitude. Once you get to meet the confinement nanny, make sure your conversation with him or her will be able to give you a picture of how the service will go. Ask her the kind of food that will be great for you while you are recovering, how to help you breastfeed and most importantly, if he or she has a child. Having at least two children would be bonus points for anyone as it would mean that he or she has adequate experience in the past with babies and pregnant women. Whether a nanny is fond of children can also be indicative of his or her performance.

Make Sure that your Nanny has a Certification
Both Singaporean and foreign confinement nannies need a certification from MOM that guarantees they are experienced in their field. You can check the nanny’s certification status with their agency. If you hired the nanny directly, you can request her to submit it to you so you can verify for yourself.

Outline your Expectations and Share it with your Nanny
As a first step, you should tell your nanny what tasks you expect her to do, which tasks you may need help with and the tasks you would rather do yourself so it would be clear for her when she starts working for you in details so this is probably where you get to let out some of your meticulous side as you try to set with your nanny the important details like how many times a baby should be fed every day or how many minutes should the bath last. Agree on these things and when you do not agree on some issues, assure the nanny that there will be open communication so you can compromise.

Manage your Expectations
The nannies may be experienced but that does not mean they will be able to get what you want right away. After all, clients have different demands so one of your requests will be new to them. Some nannies are more traditional in how they take care of their babies and if you see that the traditional way works, maybe it would be better to give him or her some leeway in how she does things.

Agree on a Schedule that is Fine with you and the Nanny
Since you are hiring the confinement nanny so you can recover from the stress of labor, make sure that you are able to rest well. But the confinement nanny should also be able to have her own rest so it would help if both of you will be able to agree on a schedule of her tasks. This is also a way for you to check the nanny’s efficiency in doing her activities.

Conclusion
In choosing your nanny in Singapore, remember the two Cs: communication and chemistry and you will be good to go.