A Three-Level Caregiver Decision Map for Shared Family Care
EDUNANNY® BY BUTLER · PARENT GUIDE
Which choices can your caregiver make in the moment, which need a conversation, and which proposed changes need confirmation first? Agree those boundaries before an everyday question becomes a guessing game.
A three-level caregiver decision map can organise that discussion: choose within the agreed brief, check in about uncertainty, and confirm a proposed change to instructions or scope. It is an original planning aid, not an EduNanny policy or a way to grant permission that the care arrangement does not provide.
Start with what has already been agreed
Read the care brief, relevant service terms and existing instructions together. Identify the child, care setting, responsibilities and routine options covered. A choice that seems small is not automatically authorised: the adults need to know whether it fits their actual arrangement.
For example, a brief might allow a caregiver to choose between two familiar, suitable books during supervised play. That is different from adding a new task or changing an instruction. Ask the caregiver to explain how they understand the boundary, and clarify anything that either adult cannot picture.
The Raising Children Network’s family-centred guidance recommends working with families to understand their circumstances, goals and everyday life, and choosing suitable approaches together. That supports a conversation about your own arrangement; it does not prescribe this three-level map.
If you are still defining private nanny duties, our guide to agreeing a nanny’s scope of care covers that wider discussion. The decision map below helps clarify choices within the scope you have agreed.
Choose, check in or confirm a proposed change
Sort the decision being considered, rather than labelling the whole activity. Choosing a book, discussing a repeated response and adding a new duty are different decisions even if they arise during the same care session.
| Level | Use it when | What to agree |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Choose within the brief | Use it whenThe option is already allowed and stays within the child’s instructions, service rules and caregiver’s agreed responsibilities. | What to agreeName the choices the caregiver may make, plus any useful routine update. |
| 2. Check in together | Use it whenAn observation or uncertainty needs discussion, while current care can continue within the existing agreement. | What to agreeDescribe the question, choose any suitable next step together and name a review point. |
| 3. Confirm the proposed change | Use it whenThe proposal would change an instruction, add a responsibility or go beyond the agreed scope. | What to agreeHold that proposed change until the relevant parent, service contact or qualified professional has confirmed what is appropriate. |
Level 3 concerns the proposed change, not a pause in necessary care. Keep existing care instructions and responsibilities in place. A family discussion cannot override a provider’s service rules or replace professional advice where it is needed.
There is no universal number of repeated responses that moves a choice to Level 2. Agree what would make either adult raise a question, and leave room to raise a concern sooner. A short description is more useful than deciding that a child has developed a fixed preference.
Work through an invented book-play example
In this fictional arrangement, an adult stays close during a toddler’s supervised play. The brief allows two familiar, age-appropriate books. Both are suitable for the child and available in the agreed play space.
When one book opens, the toddler turns away and reaches towards the other. The caregiver can choose the second book at Level 1 because both options are already allowed. There is no need to obtain a particular response or finish either book.
The caregiver also wants to discuss a similar observation from another play period. That question belongs at Level 2. It does not mean the books caused the response or that a particular number of observations proves a preference.
Caregiver: “When I opened the yellow book, your child turned away and reached towards the blue one. I chose the blue book because both were in our agreed options. Shall we discuss which one to offer first next time?”
Parent: “That is what you saw. Let us try the blue book first within the same play options, then discuss what you noticed at our next agreed update.”
The adults have identified the permitted choice and the question to review. They have not diagnosed the toddler’s response or promised an outcome. If the toddler stops engaging, the adult can attend to what the child needs rather than completing a planned comparison.
A separate request to add care for another child would be a proposed scope change at Level 3. Confirm suitability, responsibilities and any service terms with the appropriate parent and provider before relying on that arrangement. The book choice does not authorise the extra responsibility.
Write the boundary, contact and next step
The Raising Children Network’s guidance on communicating with parents recommends accurate observations, checking understanding and working through concerns together, including reviewing an agreed approach. Here, those principles inform the adult conversation; the note itself is an optional editorial tool.
Complete these lines together for one genuine care routine. Use words both adults understand, and distinguish current permission from a proposal that is still awaiting confirmation.
- Caregiver may choose: [the options already agreed for this routine].
- Check in about: [the observation or uncertainty to discuss], through [the agreed contact route].
- Proposed change needs confirmation from: [the relevant person or service contact], before [the proposed change takes effect].
- Current care continues under: [the existing instructions and responsibilities].
- Next review: [a suitable update or care conversation], with [the adults who need to take part].
Ask each adult to describe what they could decide in the fictional book example and what would still need confirmation. If the answers differ, revise the wording together before treating it as agreed guidance.
Keep the map beside the care brief or in the record the adults have agreed to use. Confirm the actual contact route for your service. Private nanny care, the ECDA childminding pilot and licensed childcare have different arrangements; a map for one setting does not transfer permissions to another.
For a separate conversation about why a family preference matters, our family care values guide helps turn one value into a practical example. This map records who can decide what within the agreed care.
Leave the next conversation with one clear boundary
Choose one routine and name the allowed choices, the question worth discussing and the proposed change that needs confirmation. Record who to contact and what remains in force. Revisit the map when the responsibilities or care arrangement change.
Sources and image credit
- Raising Children Network: a family-centred approach — understanding individual circumstances and choosing approaches together.
- Raising Children Network: communication with parents — observations, checking understanding and reviewing an agreed approach.
- SCDF: emergency medical services — 995 for life-threatening medical emergencies and following the call taker’s instructions.
Stock photograph by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash, used under the Unsplash licence. An illustrative planning image, not an actual family decision map or EduNanny care record.
