Infant Care Specialists
What is an Infant Care Specialist?
In South Africa we distinguish between professional and domestic carers. There is often confusion over the difference between a domestic and a professional nanny in South Africa, especially for our foreign guests. In order to distinguish a domestic nanny from a professional one, we term a professional nanny, an infant care specialist.
Infant Care Specialists will generally hold an Early Childhood Development (ECD) qualification or hold sufficient infant care related courses to qualify at an NQF5 level. They specialise in working with children aged 0 -2 years old normally working on a full day basis. They are experienced, with a minimum of 3 years of infant care experience, they can provide new parents with coaching and training to care for new babies and may care for children from prem upwards. Infant care specialists focus on the care of your children, and are not responsible for general household cleaning duties although they may be responsible for cleaning duties specifically related to the children's care.
For new mommies and daddies, an infant care specialist can be a God-send. They may provide parents with training to care for their new born, and are competent to care for multiple children under 2 years old in cases of twins or triplets. For mommies experiencing postpartum depression, they may act as a lifeline on the hard days and assist in easing new mommies into motherhood. They may also assist in creation, management and implementation of your infant’s feeding, stimulation and sleeping schedules.
Minimum Requirements for Infant Care Specialists
Our Infant Care Specialists have:
- Experience and References: At least 3 years of experience working with infants and toddlers with contactable references other than friends or family, most having 3 to 10 years of experience or more in other words, in most cases, you would need to have 3 to 5 children and be a full time parent to have the same experience with infants as one of our infant care specialists.
- Vehicles: All staff have their own vehicles and driver’s licenses - this translates to less absenteeism and lateness when compared to domestic nannies.
- Education: A minimum of matric with a minimum of a 50% pass rate, most have a university or childcare related tertiary education. We prefer candidates who have completed related care courses such as infant care, baby massage and early childhood development tertiary level courses.
- Personality: A passion for working with babies and toddlers, proven through their experience and education, a loving, patient and nurturing personality.
- First Aid: A SETA approved level one first aid course (courses below level 1 are not tested and hence we require a minimum level 1 course) or they must sign up for a course when joining our team.
How do we screen our Infant Care Specialists?
- Applicants are personally interviewed by a trained Sitters4U Recruiter.
- Applying applicants submit copies of ID, drivers license, proof of address, first aid, matric or higher certification and criminal clearance which are checked.
- References are checked by a Sitters4U recruiter or representative.
What does an Infant Care Specialist earn?
Salaries are dependent on the experience and education level of the au pair and your families requirements; if traveling is required, the number and age of children requiring care, the duties required and the number of shifts/hours required per week.
- Half day: From 2 to 6 hours per day: R 5000 to R 15 000 per month.
- Full day: From 6 hours upwards per day: R 10 000 to R 30 000 per month.
- Dressing the child/children and changing diaper's
- Washing and sterilising bottles/preparing formula
- Prepare foods and feed the child/children
- Bathing of the child/children
- Washing babies clothing
- Organizing and packing away of toys and materials to ensure order in activity areas
- Washing dishes, changing bedding, sanitizing of toys and play equipment
- Keeping records of the days activities, meals served, medications administered and milestones, observe and monitor a child’s development
- Accompany children to group activities and classes, on outings, and to medical appointments
- Creation, management and implementation of a child’s schedule including planning age appropriate, stimulating recreational activities, eating times and sleeping times
- Avoiding over stimulation
- Identifying signs of emotional or developmental problems in children and bringing them to the parents or guardians attention
- Reading, imaginative play, finger painting, baby massages, making music with things like pots and wooden spoons, exploring and introducing the child/children to the world around them and having as much fun as possible
- Milestone tracking and recording
