The first weeks with your Au Pair.

When a new Au Pair arrives she will need a lot of supervising at the beginning. This is a good time to get to know the Au Pair well. When she arrives, host parents should give her some time to rest and adjust to her new life. The Au Pair should get used to different climatic conditions, time change, new people, a new home, and the fact that she is away from her own family very likely for the first time in her life.

Host Parents should spend the first weekend reviewing Host family handbook for an au pair together with the Au Pair. It is important to help her to learn household routines right from the beginning and show her how you like things to be done. Host parents need to spend at least one week walking the Au Pair through their routine and explain to the Au Pair in detail about caring for the children.

Good communication is very important during this acclimatization phase. Be patient, communicate constantly, and give lots of feedback. The first few weeks will be an adjustment for everyone. The amount of time and training in the first month directly affects the type of relationship Host family has the entire year.