While it’s easy to get caught up in the moment when you’re caring for infants or children, keeping a daily log of what happens in a child’s day is important when you’re a nanny or babysitter. In fact, it’s “fundamental” to the job, says Stella Reid, a nanny coach with CACHE-accredited organization, Global Nanny Training.
“Just as nurses ‘hand over’ to other nurses, it’s essential that nannies and families hand off too,” says Reid. “This creates accountability for the continuity of care of the children — and it should always be documented in a clear, concise way.”
Whether you’re wondering if it’s easiest to maintain a daily nanny log with an app or with pen and paper or what exactly to include for parents in your babysitter notes, here’s everything you need to know about staying on top of your daily child care log.
Why keep a daily child care log?
Keeping a daily nanny or babysitter log ensures parents know what happened during the day (and at what time) when the kids were in your care. This is important for a number of reasons — the main one being child care consistency.
“A daily log provides an effective communication method and documentation between the nanny and the parents, ensuring consistency in a child’s daily routines,” says Kristen Szapka, founder and owner of A Nanny Match nanny agency in New York City and Boston. “It allows parents to monitor things like mealtimes, nutritional intake, diaper change schedules, behavior patterns and any noteworthy incidents.”
Other reasons to keep a daily log for parents, according to Szapka:
- Connection. “A log provides parents with visibility into their children’s daily activities, giving them peace of mind and a sense of connection to their child’s everyday experiences.”
- Developmental milestone updates. “Daily logs update parents about their child’s advancements in areas such as language acquisition, motor skills and social-emotional development,” notes Szapka.
- Sentimental value. “Beyond practicality, a daily log can also become a cherished memory book, capturing and preserving precious moments of a child’s growing years for parents to reminisce over.”
Ways to keep a daily child care log
“Nannies have two options for maintaining a log,” says Lora Brawley, a 30-year nanny veteran and consultant and trainer at Nanny Care Hub in Federal Way, Washington, “the traditional pen and paper or a nanny app.” While you may be partial to one over the other, keep in mind, the family may have a preference when it comes to communication. (That being said, if a family prefers verbal or written updates, you can still use an app to keep track of things for yourself throughout the day.)
Physical (paper) child care logs
If you’re going to keep track of things the old school way, Brawley suggests Our Nanny Diary, which offers either physical journals or digital downloads that can be printed out. There are a number of formats to choose from (developmental trackers, infant and toddler logs), but “their main journal is focused on the daily communication between parent and nanny and tracks everything from the feeding schedule to activities,” notes Brawley.
App-based child care logs
If you’re looking for an app for logging daily child care information, here are a few of Brawley’s and Szapka’s favorites:
- Rayz Kidz. Brawley says this “feature-filled yet user-friendly” app easily allows nannies to keep parents informed about “basics, like sleeping and meals and upcominging events via shared calendar.” The app also has a private messaging feature.
- Brightwheel. In addition to offering tracking and real-time updates to parents, Brightwheel also lets nannies continually upload photos for parents.
- Daily Connect. This app allows nannies to send updates to parents (along with photos and videos) throughout the day. Parents will know what their kids are up to all day, which may or not be appealing to moms and dads.
Another option, Szapka notes, is a group chat on a platform such as What’s App. “This is a popular form of communication some nannies use to keep parents updated with the day-to-day,” she says, adding, “though information can become difficult to keep organized that way.”
What to keep track of in your child care log
Brawley suggests keeping track of both “child-related” and “non-child-related” occurrences throughout the day, being more detail-oriented with the former.
Child-related log
Here’s what to keep track of in your child-related log, according to Brawley, Szapka and Reid.
- Feeding schedule, noting the time of each feeding, what was fed and how much they actually ate.
- Sleep schedule, including the time and duration of naps.
- Diaper changes, including the time of each diaper change and whether the diaper was wet or soiled.
- Milestones and development. “Note any new skills or advancements in behaviors, such as new words spoken, motor skills, social interactions or other developmental milestones,” says Szapka.
- Health. “Monitor rashes, coughing, etc.,” Szapka says. “And if a medication was administered, note the time and dosage.” However, she adds, “anything serious, like an accident or signs of fever, should be reported to the parents right away.”
- Activities, “along with pictures and narratives or what you did to support age-appropriate learning and development,” notes Brawley.
- Special moments or challenges. “Anything particularly noteworthy, from funny quotes or actions to difficult moments or challenges,” says Szapka.
- Calendar items, such as playdates, field trips with friends, school activities, practices, games, etc.
- Homework and school projects. Include notes about any homework you worked on with the child or any class paperwork that may have come home with you at pickup.
- Notes on any additional nanny tasks. (e.g., “started rotating the clothes, will finish end of week.”)
Brawley notes that she always likes to add a “How Your Kid Was Amazing Today!” note.
Non-child-related log
Here’s what both Brawley and Szapka say to keep track of in your non-child-related log:
- Supplies needed. “If supplies, such as diapers, wipes, formula or food, are running low, this can be noted in the log as an easy point of reference,” says Szapka.
- Notes about household issues. (e.g. the dryer vent needs to be cleaned.)
Depending on how you and your family have agreed to communicate in your nanny contract, you also may want to include:
- Time tracking for start time and end time.
- Mileage summary.
- Expense reimbursement summary.
- Notes on work-related issues, such as scheduling.
The bottom line
Maintaining a child care log is important for keeping parents updated on what their child is up to each day, but also, it shows you’re invested, Reid says.
“A nanny log demonstrates professionalism on the part of the nanny and shows you take your position seriously,” she notes. “This is your chosen profession and a detailed log is one way of highlighting that you are committed to the best care of the children.”
