Friday 1 February 2013

Would you pick up this crying baby?



As a nanny or parent that moment when a baby starts crying can be an anxious and confusing time. There's nothing tougher than facing a crying baby who just seems to get worse when you go near her or pick her up!

One of my favourite online childcare mentors Janet Lansbury recently discussed this topic in her post 'Would you pick this crying baby up?'. Through the post and accompanying video (below) she demonstrates that if we give our babies space, they will often communicate their upset to us then calm themselves down. 

If we could only refrain from our instinctual reaction to pick a baby up, we might avoid some of those anxious moments and help the baby grow in confidence.

In the video this mum holds herself back from picking up her son when he gets upset:



Read more from Janet's blog post about what upset the wee one, and how to communicate with a baby to help it learn to self sooth.

What do you think- would you be inclined to pick the baby up or do you like this approach?

Rachel @ KiwiOz Nannies Sydney


Monday 7 January 2013

Event report- Gambardo Chelsea


Click on picture to enlarge

London field trip- Science museum Friday 25th January


We can't wait for our trip to the Science Museum and we hope you can come along too! A trip to the science museum is a fantastic way for our nannies to encourage the wee ones to interact and understand the world around them.

While at the Science Museum the children will be using their communication and language, personal social and emotional development and understanding the world.

They will be working on their social interactions with others, being patient, taking turns, along with exploring a new environment and technology.

Details:

Everyone is welcome!

REGISTER HERE

We will be meeting at 10am at the main doors of the Science Museum. Please register to tell us if you will be coming along so we know to wait for you!

Date: Friday January 25th
Time: 10am
Cost: FREE

Address:
Exhibition Road
South Kensington
London
SW7, 2DD

Sunday 16 December 2012

Sydney event: Kite Flying Fun



Come with us for some kite flying in the park!

When: February 18th 10am- midday
Where: Centennial Park, Sydney, meet at the Café
What to bring: Picnic blanket, snack, water, sunscreen
Cost: FREE!

Bring along a picnic blanket and enjoy a day of crafts and kite flying fun. We'll be making our own bumble bee kites and plastic bag kites as well!

This will be a great chance for our nannies to help the wee ones interact and enjoy developing their fine and gross motor skills. Whlle at the park the children will be learning all about the wind and weather and will have fun with colours decorating their kites.

They will be using their communication and language skills, and will be practising social development skills and gaining new understanding of the world around them.
Register to come along here

Monday 3 December 2012

2012 nanny news roundup- tax clampdowns, divorce and more!


Are you up with the latest news and resources available to nannies and families at the moment? 2012 has been another busy year in the 'nanny world.'

To me it seems that the industry is becoming more professional every year, with more and more fabulous resources available to help nannies and parents do a great job. Here are my picks of the 'best of' 2012:

In the news:
Childcare has as ever been a hot topic with much debate about funding for nannies in Australia and a tax clampdown on under the table nannies working in the UK. In the US the importance of using the right agency was highlighted with this article on babysitting websites not completing background screening. In Canada the topic of nannies getting caught up in divorces was an interesting read.

Resources:

Nanny diaries, family/ nanny manuals, and childcare e-courses
KiwiOz has released what are already proving to be very popular nanny hiring manuals, nanny diaries and family/ nanny getting started manuals. Every nanny should be using tools like these so if you don't have this in your home get yours now! Our popular childcare e-courses are great low cost ways to keep your nanny skills up to date.


Finally nannies have a place to go to meet other nannies! Café Nanny members can organise meet ups and meet other local nannies through a secure and private network. Also provides a range of exciting professional development resources.


National Nanny Training Day and more from the US
I have to say the US is leading the charge with some fantastic events and resources for nannies. This year they held a National Nanny Training day with many agencies participating and organising courses. What a fantastic idea! I also love the resources, advice and podcasts coming through from Nannypoolza and Nanny Biz Reviews- fabulous supporter of all things nanny!

BAPN- British Association of Professional Nannies
I've watched the development of the BAPN with interest this year. These guys are doing a top job at representing British nannies and offering training and workshops. Well done!

Australian Nanny Association
Nannies and Agencies in Australia will soon be welcomed to join the newly formed Australian Nanny Association. Members will abide by codes of professional conduct and enjoy support and advice from this professional network.

Childcare and nanny magazines
Two of note that have been released this year- Nanny Nest (Australia) and Home Childcarer (UK) are both great reads.

Do you know any other fab resources that I haven't mentioned here? Please share below!

Rachel @ KiwiOz Nanny Agency Sydney

Sunday 2 December 2012

London event: Come with us to the ultimate play centre!


Hi everyone! Come along to our London pre- Christmas kiddies catch up!

At Gambados, the children can do some of their favourite things, climbing, jumping and running around all while improving there gross motor skills and getting some exercise.

Nannies this is a great chance to help your wee ones develop their gross motor skills and have a catch up with each other.

To join us simply:

tell us that you are coming here
• we will give you our contact details for on the day
• we will be meeting as a group at 10am outside Gambodo

Hope to see you all there!

Location: Gambado Chelsea
When: Friday 14th 10am-12pm
Price: U1’s free/ 1-2 £7.75/ 3-12 £9.75/ Adult £2.50
Address: 7 Station Court,Townmead Road, Chelsea, London. SW6 2PY
Closest train: Imperial Wharf
Expected learning outcomes for the wee ones:

While at Gambados the children will be using communication & language skills and building their physical, personal, social and emotional development. It is our privilege to provide the wee ones with opportunities to learn and explore!

At Gambardo's we're looking forward to supporting the children while they make new friends, build relationships and develop their gross motor skills.

Wednesday 14 November 2012

5 top healthy meal plan resources


If you're anything like me you'll agree that kitchen inspiration sometimes runs thin! Planning in the kitchen is not my strong point and I'm often left staring blankly into the fridge trying to figure something out. 

To help I've decided to put together a list of top healthy meal plan sites that I can refer to for regular inspiration. As a KiwiOz nanny or parent you could get the kids involved in this process by:

• presenting them with meal plan options for the week and letting them choose their faves
• getting the kids to help you cook and follow recipes
• taking some photos of the favourite meals and making a colourful meal planner (as above)

So far my top meal planning sites are:

Menu Plan Monday | Raising Healthy Kids releases regular Mon- Fri meals plans 
Livestrong | Healthy meals plans, lunchbox ideas, organic meal plans, fast food meal plans etc
Fresh for Kids | Five day healthy lunch box meal plan
Planning with Kids | This meal planner App is available for $0.99 and is great when you're on the go!

How do you do your meal planning at the moment? Are you more organised than me?! 

Happy planning! 

Rachel @ KiwiOz Sydney


Monday 12 November 2012

Kids in the kitchen- part two



Kids in the Kitchen: Part Two

So you get your children involved and excited about cooking, but what are you cooking? These early kitchen experiences are what will shape your son or daughters understanding of nutrition and their life-long eating habits. We need to be practicing what we preach and showing our children what healthy eating is by doing it ourselves (that old modeled behaviour concept).

A huge constraint when trying to change our diets is time and I am the first to admit that eating healthy definitely does take more time and more planning. But think of it this way, the time you put into healthy eating is doubled (at least) and added to your own life span as well as your children’s. That home-made hummus, pizza base, BBQ sauce or Mac N Cheese is still going to be a yummy ‘treat’ but by making it from scratch it will significantly reduce the amount of sugar, salt, saturated fats and artificial ingredients which are the four ‘bad boys’ we want to focus on avoiding when feeding our kiddies.

‘The Bad Boys’

Salt

Salt adds flavor and makes foods yummy and finger lickin’ good (salt is my heart throb from the bad boy group). But the simple answer is that salt is associated with higher blood pressure. It is a compound of two elements – sodium and chloride and a healthy diet should have sodium present but Western diets tend to really overdo the salt content in foods.

Sugar
Children love sugar and they will undoubtedly get their hands on some form of sweet so rather than ban this boy all together, let’s understand him. With so many different forms of sugar available and consumed in almost all foods, keeping a close eye on your child’s sugar intake is vital! White sugar (actually it’s bleached – sweet, white and deadly), brown sugar, ‘raw’ sugar, honey, maple syrup, Agave nectars, brown rice syrup, Stevia, artificial sweeteners (Splenda, Nutrasweet, Equal, etc) are all available to us so choose wisely and use the healthier forms when required (honey, Agave, Stevia).

Saturated & Trans Fats

Fats are friends and children need to be taking in certain fats to help them develop and grow but the saturated & trans fats variety are what you want to avoid. Saturated fatty acids are found mainly in animal fats including dairy products and are a risk factor for cardiovascular health and obesity (heart attacks, strokes, etc). Trans fats are used to extend the shelf or product life of processed foods and whenever you see ‘hydrogenated oil’ on the ingredients list you know you’re working with a high trans fat product.

Note: The good fat is unsaturated fat and it derives from vegetables and plants. Don’t forget about our Omega-3 fatty acids, these are ‘essential’ and critical for our health.

Artificial Ingredients

In short this is a man-made ingredient such as artificial flavor, food colouring, preservatives, or sugar substitute. I struggle to believe that anyone could need an explanation as to why these aren’t necessary in our diets but my thought process is like this – would you feed your child a pureed piece of their rubber ball? Rubber is a man-made item not presently found in our food pyramid so why not add it? Because it’s not natural and not needed, just like artificial ingredients.

So you avoid the four bad boys for breakfast, lunch, & dinner – awesome job done! Not the case for Mum’s and Dad’s because our little ones rely on us to provide them with snacks and treats both at home and on the go. Working with children and families across the United States and New Zealand I’ve found that there are some pantry staples in family kitchens. The four food ‘bad boys’ use their comrades below to invade our homes and make their way into our bellies!

‘The Accomplices’

Nutella/Hazelnut or Chocolate Spread
Nutella provides: (per 2 tablespoons), 200 Calories (100 Calories from fat), 11g fat (3.5g of which are saturated), 21 (!) grams of sugar, 3g protein. Try out Renee Naturally’s Chocolate & Hazelnut Spread instead!
Peanut Butter/Nut Butters
Le Snacks/Cheese Spreads
Fruit Snacks/Fruit Roll Ups
I recommend Georgia Pellegrini's Strawberry Fruit Leather
Muesli Bars
Mac N Cheese
I recently played around with making a Quinoa N Cheese dish because macaroni and cheese is my #1 comfort food… and when I do give in to the wicked white flour, butter & fat meal, I make a ‘large batch’ with the intention of freezing portions for other low moments but 9 times out of 10… I eat the entire baking dish! Using Quinoa as an alternative to pasta made me feel a little less guilty about the quantity consumed.
Frozen Pizza (and I’d say prepackaged frozen meals in general, of any kind)
Fruit & Fizzy (soda) Drinks
White Bread

These accomplices are so popular because they are sweet and/or salty making them addictive and scrumptious but more importantly they are quick and easy. But our children will only consume them regularly or in excess if we make them available. It doesn’t take huge effort to swap from a Le Snack or ready-made cheese & cracker pack to some cheese slices and rice crackers (choosing a natural variety not containing artificial flavourings). Why not turn pizza night into a family event and a way to get your child into the kitchen, a pizza base is simple to make and adding your own toppings is a foolproof job that the child can do on his/her own.

Other easy changes for family meal ingredients include -
Stock (veggie or meat) – Throw any meat or veggie in a pot with some water & seasonings after a roast or with the scrap vegetables at the end of the week. Can be frozen for future use. Prepackaged stock contains high levels of salt, flavourings and preservatives.
Tomato Sauce – Make one large batch of tomato sauce and freeze individual portions in snap-lock bags. You can add seasonings to each serve to make Italian tomatoes, spicy Mexican tomatoes, chilli tomatoes, etc. Not only are you reducing the preservative intake but avoiding tinned goods.
Flavored water – To reduce sugar intake, keep a container of water in the fridge for those thirst quenching moments and infuse it with yummy flavors – lemon, mint, cinnamon sticks, apples, oranges, pomegranates, etc.
Cereal/Muesli – Change the morning bowl of cereal to a Quinoa flake/crisp for added protein or make your own muesli with rolled outs, dried coconut, seeds, nuts, honey and some dried fruit. Again, you can do one large batch and keep in airtight containers to improve shelf life – no need for preservatives here!

Are you feeling inspired and want to try and avoid our ‘Bad Boys & Co.’? Try the Ten Steps to An Unprocessed Pantry and aim to significantly change your families diet for 1 week or 1 month and hopefully the results will justify making the change for a lifetime!

Live, love, eat… and do it with your kids! Xx

Geva @ KiwiOz Nannies NZ

Sunday 4 November 2012

Kids in the kitchen- part one!



Calling all mini Ramsey’s, Oliver’s, Lawson’s and Stewart’s! Who says kids can’t be chefs!

I am a passionate cook; some may even say kitchen and cooking obsessed!

I’ve come to terms with the fact that I eat most of my salary and probably spend more than necessary at the supermarket, farmers markets, butchers, delicatessens and pretty much anywhere that yummy, healthy ingredients can be found.

And what some people find even stranger is that the supermarket is one of my happy places and spending hours in my kitchen is viewed as a blessing not any form of chore or curse. And I am a firm believer in getting kids involved in both the activity of food shopping and food preparation, again an idea that scares a lot off!

But here is the thing, there is a minimum requirement of three meals per day (+ snacks and baking), you will probably be feeding on average 2 – 6 mouths for each of those meals and hopefully having the aim to make these meals nutritious and natural rather than cheap and easy.

So having help, involvement and just some enthusiasm and appreciate for this huge daily accomplishment is vital! We found some great information on the benefits of getting kids involved in cooking and why we should embrace and invite our kids into the kitchen!

1) They practice fine motor skills while cutting, chopping, rolling, spooning and skewering

2) Expands their vocabulary when talking about colours, textures, tastes and smells, varieties of fruits and vegetables, dishes, baking and cooking methods.

3) Experiment with tastes, textures and colours developing a healthy interest in food

4) Learn to plan and make decisions

5) Have a go and take the risk to experience new tastes and flavours

6) Improve Maths skills while measuring, counting, and estimating ingredients

7) Working together: learning to take turns and sharing ideas

8) Older children develop technologic skills learning to use the blender, toaster, sandwich maker and other kitchen appliances

9) Encourage creativity by trying new things, experimenting with different combinations while making smoothies and pizzas and skewering kebabs.

10) Encourage reading and literacy while looking through a recipe and making shopping lists.

11) Helping with cooking allow children to be successful and feel empowered

Combine the above benefits with increasing our children’s knowledge of healthy and nutritious food choices and there is really no downside to turning our little one’s into little chef’s! The health of our children and future generation lies in the hands of parents and caregivers and sadly so many of the health issues presenting for children are dietary and nutrition related.

· 1 in 3 children will get diabetes (1 in 2 among minorities)

· 1 in 3 will get some form of cancer

· 70% of kids by the age 12 already have the beginning stages of hardening of the arteries

· Diseases like Alzheimers are starting to effect people in their 30's & 40's

· For the first time in 200 years kids will live shorter lives than their parents

· The average DAILY intake of sugar is 76 grams or 304 teaspoons (compare that to 20 years ago 42 grams, and 50 years ago 19 grams)

· Children eat take out at least one time per day
**Statistics taken from Angela Garrison, Change your food Change your future.

For some inspiration (or admiration) just look at Junior Masterchef Australia which has incredibly talented children and teenagers preparing meals and enjoying it! And this is the real aim when getting children in the kitchen… getting them to have fun learning how to cook and understanding why we make the food choices we do. So how can you make the kitchen a fun area? Easy, SHARE IT! Designate a drawer, shelf or area that is your child’s station and get them their own set of measuring utensils and other equipment (egg beater, spatula, etc). Get matching aprons or even have some fun with a chef hat! Have recipe books readily available, of course your own ‘adult’ supply but also some children’s cook books or magazines… the more colours and pictures, the more inspiration for them! And a winning tip that I always use is to celebrate the creation by taking a photo of the end product. Often this will lead to showing Mummy, Daddy, or siblings who weren’t there for the cooking party and children love taking pride and sharing what they’ve achieved.

Stay tuned for ‘Kids in the kitchen: Part Two’ where I will be talking about common foods and ingredients found in family homes and the truth about their health value (or lack thereof).

Have a great day!

Geva Maher | Manager

KiwiOz Childcare NZ

Friday 10 August 2012

What's the difference between a nanny & an au pair?


This week I had a call from a busy working mum Chloe who was looking for an 'au pair.' The longer I spoke with Chloe the more I realised that her expectations of what an au pair could deliver were too high.

With two children, aged 4 and 15 months old, Chloe hoped her au pair could care for the children while she worked part time. She expected around 35- 40 hours per week and wanted to pay $250- $300 (AUD) per week, plus food and board.

As with many parents Chloe was interested to have a high calibre candidate who could drive. A good cook and someone who would be active encouraging the children's development were also on her list.

So why wasn't an au pair suitable for this role?

Typically, an au pair is a young person who wants to travel abroad, live with a family and study or learn English while they help the family with childcare and around the home. They are usually not experienced or qualified child carers. They often speak English as a second language.

Au Pairs are usually reasonably young and will be living a long way from home. They need a good amount of guidance from the parents about what needs to be done in terms of care for the children as well as around the home. It is likely they will not be familiar with basic childcare skills such as how to potty train or how to encourage fine and gross motor development.

An au pair can be a brilliant support to an at home parent who need ad hoc and part time help with the children, however they should not be left in sole charge care of young children on a regular basis, or expected to deliver a high standard of educationally based care to your children.

So what type of help did you recommend? 

For Chloe we recommended she considered 'mid calibre' live in nanny candidates. By this we mean an experienced and/ or qualified child carer who has the capabilities to take sole charge of the children on a regular basis.

A mid calibre candidate is usually a younger candidate or 'nanny in training' who has a passion for childcare and good knowledge of skills required- but hasn't had enough work experience to be considered a high calibre nanny.

She will be happy to consider roles offering slightly fewer hours as she builds her CV and professional profile. More mature than a typical au pair she will be capable of taking care of day to day tasks and guiding the educational, social and emotional development of the children.

Yes, she will be more expensive but you may be surprised by how much. We place most of our mid calibre candidates at between $400-$600 gross per week- usually either $10 or $11 per hour depending on how many hours you offer.

As professional nannies in training these candidates are focussed on child care as a career and highly motivated to do a top job. For Chloe, the difference of $50- 100 per week to experience that higher calibre of care was worth it, and she quickly secured a lovely Kiwi nanny who is already proving indispensable!

Do you think the rates I've quoted are fair? Or have you had an AMAZING au pair who you felt fit the bill of a nanny for a cut price rate?