The best nanny training to advance your career
Whether you are working part time as a babysitter or full time as a nanny, you may have asked yourself if there’s a way to advance your career in childcare.
Is there nanny training that could lift you to the next level? The answer is of course there is!
While previous childcare experience and solid references are great, having some sort of nanny training can really help boost your resumé - making you more attractive to families, and setting you on the path to well-paying, stimulating, and reliable nanny jobs.
We’ve looked into a few top trainings to get you the career you want.
International Nanny Association
The International Nanny Association (INA) has long been a trusted resource for parents, nannies, and childcare agencies alike, providing resources and credibility to in-home caregiving. Smart Sitting is an INA accredited agency, but we were fans well before we made the cut.
To help nannies and families, INA provides two levels of credential exams:
Basic Skills Assessment
A Credential Exam
They also have the same two tests specifically for newborn care specialists (NCS).
These tests check your knowledge in children’s (ages infant through teens) health, safety, development, nutrition, and nanny professionalism, and your working knowledge of in-home childcare.
In preparation for these exams, INA provides a plethora of resources including the latest in childcare research, guidelines, instructive videos, and best practices (find more on their nanny credential exam prep page).
A certificate from passing either or both of these tests provides not only peace of mind to parents looking to hire a nanny, it also gives you the confidence to know you can handle pretty much anything the job brings your way.
Red Cross First Aid / CPR training
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it a hundred times again: having first aid and CPR training is one of the easiest and most valuable investments you can make in your career as a nanny. Our nanny agency requires anyone working with infants to be CPR certified, and many parents request it for older children as well.
Even if it’s not required, it may still be the proof of commitment and skillset that makes a family hire you over another nanny. But more importantly: if the time comes - and we hope it never does - that you’re working with a child who needs CPR or first aid, your training and confidence in using these skills can mean you save a child’s life.
CPR certification is valid for two years, so it’s a skill you continue to practice and refresh throughout your career. The Red Cross has long provided first aid training and CPR certification for infants, children, and adults, and they are internationally recognized as a reliable, professional provider of these classes.
Whichever training provider you choose, however, make sure it is an in-person training where you are able to practice on dummies to help that muscle memory get a feel for how it works.
US Nanny Institute Nanny Training
The US Nanny Institute provides training in professional childcare skills for children of all ages. Their educators are college faculty and the curriculum is based on the latest research and best practices - all so you can feel confident in the work you do, while parents easily recognize that you take your work seriously.
Coursework includes:
sleep training,
discipline techniques
newborn care
It’s useful both for childcare providers at the beginning of their careers as well as seasoned professionals looking for a bump in their career.
The US Nanny Institute’s trainings are recommended by the US Nanny Association, who also recommends other childcare training providers. Once you fulfill requirements and pass their extensive examination, you can also get a nanny certification.
Nanny training is an investment in you
At Smart Sitting, we believe in the professionalism of nannies. We know that nannying is more than “just” high school babysitting for an odd hour here or there while the kiddos watch TV. Nannies provide indispensable help to busy parents and a wondrous, educational world to the kiddos they work with, and they deserve to be compensated and treated as professionals.
If you are ready to advance your career in childcare and need a leg up, some form of accredited nanny training can really be that gold star you need. And when you’re ready to work with the best families in challenging and fun jobs, apply to be a Smartsitter. We ask a lot of our nannies, and we make sure they get a lot in return!
Are you ready to be a Smartsitter?
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