Nanny Cams - Should Host Parents Use Them?
I wanted to know if host parents are using nanny cams with their au pairs. Taking care of a young infant is difficult enough for older parents, but when a young girl is caring for a crying baby 8 hours a day, or more, this stress can often take it's toll.
Due to the increase in child abuse and shaken baby syndrome (due to the ecomonic times that cause untold duress for parents laid off from work) shouldn't we be concerned with our infants cared by young, inexperienced au pairs?
I would like to hear how common is the use of nanny cams in the home with au pairs? Your article, Nanny Cams, Right or Wrong? gave me pause to reconsider installing one in our home.
Feedback would be very welcome and helpful!
Michael - Nanny Cams?
I used a nanny cam and it was totally fine. nothing to write home about - but with all 4 au pairs we used it - they didn't know and it didn't hurt them - with only put it in the baby's room and the kitchen. The girls where totally fine with the children and we had peace of mind - after a while we stopped looking at the film.
Yes, we did see things we didn't like, sometimes they ate food they were not supposed to and they talked on the phone more than they admitted, but they treated our children well!
Now, I would tell the au pairs that we had a camera in these rooms - I understand why it is important to fully disclose this information.
Thanks for the article and the sound advice, Edina!
Go ahead Michael - use the nanny cams! But, tell your au pair first.
Good luck,
Patty
Au Pairs and Driving
NO - I don't think au pairs drive very well at all!! I did complete your survey, but, I do want to stress that au pair agencies do not reveal the truth behind the driving skills of their au pairs (or the LACK of driving skills).
This is a big problem for host parents who need good drivers - to help with car pools and to trust them to drive your car when they go out or attend school.
They are worse than our American teens on the road and for all the money we pay these companies should be doing a lot more to ensure these au pairs DRIVE!
Au Pair in America (I had one au pair from this company) tells you their Thai au pairs are "good drivers" and they are not - when my Thai au pair arrived, she could not even get out of the drive, much less drive my kids to school.
When I called to complain, the manager, Yazmine, told me that I should pay for driving lessons. This is about the craziest thing I ever heard! We were paying close to 20,000 a year for an au pair who we were driving around - at her beck and call!
BEWARE Au Pair in America claims about their au pairs' driving skills. We switched to AuPairCare and we are very happy with our German au pair (Au Pair in America does not get the Germans like the other companies for some reason - their "pool" as they call it, is very small - their biggest "group" is Thai au pairs who do NOT drive).
If you have young children, they try and push the Thai au pairs on you - knowing that their driving is poor and their English skills are lacking. When I switched to Au Pair Care, they did not push any agenda or type of au pair on us - they listened and gave us what we needed and wanted! Great customer service and great support.
Disgusted Host Parent with Au Pair in America on the East Coast.
Driving
I wanted to post a reply to Arlene's comments. I am sorry that Arlene had a problem with her au pair driving. I am glad that she was able to find an au pair that worked out well for her.
In my experience, I have had many Thai au pairs in my cluster and some have been good drivers others have not. All but a few, have been able to successfully drive with practice and sometimes lessons. But, comparing Germans to Thais is like apples to oranges in my opinion, since the driving experience in their countries is very different.
To reply to the comment about our au pair pool, it depends on a number of factors. Obviously, I don't know Arlene's situation, but I have heard people say things like they did not see enough German applicants, but leave out the fact that they were looking for someone who was 25-27 or they were looking for an arrival in fall or some other time outside of the summer which is most popular with German au pairs. Things like that decrease the number you will see. We actually have a large number of Germans and it is continuing to increase with the economic downturn in Europe.
Warm Regards,
Christine
Christine Connally
Senior Community Counselor
Au Pair in America
http://aupairinamerica.wordpress.com/
German Au Pairs on the Rise?
Hi Christine,
We also heard that German au pairs (and other nationalities, like English and Irish au pairs) are increasing in numbers due to the economic slump in Europe.
Do you have any stats on this? What is the trend for Au Pair in America?
We would love to post these data here on the website for parents.
Thank you!
Edina Stone
German Au Pairs on the rise
Hi, Edina.
I would be happy to share that with you. Au Pair in America put out a press release in Feb. 2009 on this subject.
Here is an excerpt:
Since February 2008, Au Pair in America’s total number of au pairs from the U.K. and France has risen more than 200 percent, while the number of au pairs from Germany and Sweden has increased 53 percent and 86 percent, respectively.
Here is a link to the press release:
http://www.aifs.com/media/pr/2009_02_apia_european_aupairs.asp
We also currently have a great pool of German EduCare au pairs for summer arrivals.
Best Regards,
Christine Connally
Senior Community Counselor
Au Pair in America
http://aupairinamerica.wordpress.com/
Au Pairs and Driving Seems to be a Concern
Hi Anna,
I am sorry to hear you had such a bad time of it. We just ended our driving survey and we are in the process of analyzing the data.
It appears that many host families have major concerns about their au pairs driving! Most parents are very uncomfortable with their au pairs driving their children.
We are also seeing a number of complaints about certain countries au pairs are recruited from where young women lack opportunities to practice driving on a daily basis. As a result, these prospective au pairs' driving skills are often very poor. This fact continues to be a major problem for both the au pair agencies and their host families.
Perhaps the au pair agencies can establish strict guidelines where young women must pass a driving course before they apply to their programs - or the agencies might even spin off another business - teaching prospective au pairs to drive - in Thailand, China or South Korea, for example.
An au pair agency driving school would help to ensure prospective au pairs have solid driving skills, while at the same time, giving the au pair agency the authority to oversee quality control at their driving school sites.
Just an idea - I am thinking out loud!
Actually, that is a great question for another Driving Survey - would host parents pay extra for an au pair who is "certified" as an excellent driver?
Would you? And how much would you be willing to pay?
Our Chinese Au Pair and her Driving
We love our Chinese au pair, but to be honest, we don't love her lack of driving experience. From reading your website, we knew she may not be a good driver, and you were right. But we wanted her and she is excellent with our baby.
We would pay extra if we could get an au pair from China (next year) that really drove well. I know most parents cannot afford that extra expense, but to have that peace of mind is worth it, and honestly, it is better to invest upfront to avoid costly repairs later when they have an accident ($1000+ and counting so far!).
Using Nanny Cams - A Good Idea!
Hi. You read our our article on Nanny Cams and are thinking about installing one in your home. It is a good idea, a safety precaution that is appropriate if you have an au pair caring for a child under the age of 22 months.
As I discussed in the Nanny Cam article, camera survelliance is very common today - we are aware of being on video in many public places, the shopping malls, apartment and office buildings, etc. There seems to be more public scrutiny against using video cams in the home compared to the use outside of the home.
If you tell your au pair the nanny cam is going to be installed, and link it to your desire to see your baby during the day from your office, she will not oppose it! If she does, I would ask the question, "why?"
If her answers are suspect, perhaps there is something she does not want you to see. A reluctance on part of the au pair to be videotaped should raise a real concern for parents. Most au pairs, or any caregiver, should be on board with the use of a nanny cam if you have explained your desire to see your child during the day.
Once installed, the au pair will forget about it and get on with her day. It is important to remember, the use of nanny cams are not legal in some states, and you should never place a nanny cam in any room that the au pair expects to have privacy, such as her bedroom and her bathroom.
Read the article Nanny Cams to find out which states allow the use of videotaping and view nanny cam products that are popular choices for parents.
I hope this helps in your decision to use or not use a nanny cam for your infant and au pair!