Before recruiting a household staff, it is important to identify your immediate and long-term needs. While a nanny primarily looks after the children, a housekeeper takes care of the entire household as needed. An experienced person is even better for assisting with the dual responsibilities of childcare and household chores. This gives you staff longevity and consistency. But is a housekeeper or nanny more suited to your childcaring needs? The article will help you in understanding the difference between a housekeeper and a nanny.
What is a Nanny?
Nannies are usually specialized individuals in providing care for children. They can give your children more personal attention as compared to what they will receive in a daycare setting. They not only give basic child care services but also help the household with transportation needs, navigating childhood allergies, educational lessons for children, and straightening up the house.
Your little one will have a sense of stability, which allows them to learn and grow without drastic changes in lifestyle. When the younglings begin school, many nannies will assist with the household duties and chores. While some refuse additional housekeeping responsibilities, others do as instructions to secure their position.
What is a Housekeeper?
On the other hand, housekeepers are professional household staff specializing in cleaning services. They are more prone to handling common household chores like restocking supplies, vacuuming, mopping, taking out the trash, furniture cleaning, sorting clothes and ironing them, preparing rooms for social events, following instructions on meal preparations, and running errands.
They can be assigned more responsibilities if they are trained and compensated accordingly. Private housekeeper services often include aiding with childcare and animal care. With a housekeeper around, you will not have to worry about housework. Instead, spend quality time with your loved ones engaging in favorite hobbies together.
Similarities of Nannies and Housekeepers
There are various duties that are shared in the roles of both a housekeeper and a nanny. Their primary care inclines towards tending to the needs of your children. Children’s care generally includes acknowledging their physical and emotional needs.
The tasks also include dropping off the children to extracurricular activities or after-school programs like music lessons and sports clubs. Caregivers also ensure that the children have what they need in advance for the next eventful day. Aside from this, they also take care of cleaning the house, doing laundry, ironing, and arranging what is needed for the whole family.
Whom Should You Hire?
Let’s consider your family is young, you will be considering hiring someone with a hybrid role of both housekeeper and nanny combined. This role has been increasingly in demand as more parents are stepping out to work full-time.
Thus, having someone who can perform both childcare and household duties is an effective solution that attunes to busy families needing help in all aspects of home life.
A full-time nanny that has an expansive experience with some housekeeping services will be helpful. If there are just too many chores to do, consider hiring a part-time housekeeper to aid the nanny with deep cleaning once a week.