Is It Advisable To Hire A Relative Caregiver For Your Child?

If you are always sceptical about leaving your child with strangers, you may consider hiring a relative caregiver. Having a cousin, mom or aunt take care of your little one may be exciting at first, but this child care option has its own pros and cons. So, before making a hasty decision, go through this post to know the challenges you may face, and why it may still be better to opt for professional child day care services.

How they relate with kids

Although your relative may like spending time with your young one every time they come to your home, it would be wrong to assume they can stay with your child for hours. Cuddling a baby for thirty minutes and taking care of the child's needs all day, for some months, are different things. The same way you consider factors like experience, patience and character when hiring a nanny, be sure to do the same before leaving your child with your relative.

Willingness to do the job

Before assigning your sister-in-law the duty of taking care of your child, find out if they actually want the job. Your relatives can simply say yes just to avoid disappointing you, but they aren't willing. If they are hesitant, consider having a one-to-one frank discussion and ask them to open up. Proceeding without confirming if your relative wants the job will not be good for everyone, particularly the baby.

Ability to follow instructions

While open communication is essential when building a great child care relationship, bringing up issues to relative caregivers can be challenging for most moms. Day care workers and nannies have been trained to take care of children and are accustomed to working with parents, but this isn't the case with relatives. What's more, you will never see these experts once you decide to relieve them of their duties, unlike with relatives. If you know your relative cannot adhere to the instructions you provide, perhaps it's time you considered another arrangement.

Physical capability to handle the task

Your relative may be willing to take care of your child for long hours but are they physically fit to get the job done? Can they crawl on the floor? Do they have the strength to keep up with the child as they skip, or scamper around the house? Baby caregivers need to be physically and psychologically ready to offer quality service, and if your relative doesn't qualify, do not assign the task to them.