A Nanny/Parent Diary: Why It's Important and What You Should Include

Thousands of mothers a year have to do it; they have to leave their babies and return to work. For many mothers that also means hiring a nanny to care for their little bundle of joy while they are away. With the right person you can feel absolutely secure and comfortable that your baby is in the right hands, and with the right planning and correspondence with your nanny you can stay informed on every day of your child's life. Talking to your nanny could be enough for you, but you might miss small trends such as changes in eating, napping, or mood. As such, some mothers have turned to a "nanny/parent diary," a log of daily activities and notes taken by both you and the nanny to help you communicate and better track the changes in your child.

A nanny/parent diary is a great way to let the nanny know about the morning or the night before, and for you to get all the details about the day. So what should you put in the diary? What's important? How should you put it together? Well, how about starting with a three ring binder? You can print out your diary sheets and place them in the binder for easy access and storing. In this way past logs are easy to keep and look back on and new ones are easily accessible and always right where you need them.

Your binder should also include a print out of the month's calendar. Here you can make notes of any events, appointments, days off, babysitting days, weekly activities, etc... By keeping this up-to-date both you and the nanny will stay informed as to the months schedule. Also in your binder should be an envelope of money for emergencies, errands, outings, and the like. You and your nanny can keep track of the allotment and spending by the nanny putting receipts for every purchased item into the envelope when any amount of money has been spent. Typically you'll want to make a monthly allotment by which the nanny can plan the month with.