Case Studies

Here are just a few of the many stories we have received from members who have used our service.

Wedding Babysitter

My brother and sister-in-law got married in Skipton last year and my husband and I needed a babysitter for our two-year-old son for the evening celebrations. We didn't have any family or friends nearby so a quick Google search led us to your website. We used the site for free for a couple of days before paying for gold membership so we could use all the site functionalities, and it was definitely worth the monthly fee. We found the website was very intuitive to use, and clearly set out. We liked the fact that not only we could set up our own advert, we could also do our own search for babysitters by distance from venue, as we were unfamiliar with the area.

We were contacted by a number of babysitters with whom we chatted to online to determine who would be the most suitable - not an easy task as they were all very personable, registered, vetted and came with excellent ratings from other Childcare.co.uk members.

I was in West Yorkshire for work a month before the wedding so I arranged to meet our favourite candidate - Emma, in a coffee shop. She was polite and friendly and able to provide DBS checks. After meeting Emma I felt comfortable and confident about leaving her to look after our son.

On the evening, Emma arrived promptly, and spent some time with our son before we left. She had a lovely way with him, engaging him in play and he very quickly relaxed in her company and we felt happy to leave.

After we returned from the wedding, we had a full de-brief from Emma. We would definitely be happy to have her mind to our son if we needed childcare in the area again.

In summary, Childcare.co.uk is excellent if you need a reliable and responsible babysitter in an area you are unfamiliar with, on a website that enables you to advertise as well as search, and chat with members before giving out personal details. We would not hesitate to recommend Childcare.co.uk to our friends and we will definitely use the site again in similar circumstances.

We would like to thank you for your great website and the fun it allowed us to have that evening!

Emma and Andrew

Full time Nanny for 3 Children

When I went back to work full time, I did not have any family nearby to help with childcare and it was a worry. I would be working long hours and needed a full time nanny who could be flexible and be able to provide care for my three children, who's ages ranged from 3 to 9. I looked around Nanny agencies and couldn't believe how much they would charge to find a Nanny for me (up to a month's wages which was a substantial amount).

Then a friend of mine mentioned that she had used the Childcare.co.uk website to find a babysitter and gave a good review of the ease of using the website. At first I was worried it wouldn't have the quality of childcare I was looking for because the charge for using the website was so small. I could not have been more wrong.

I found that when I went onto the website, it was easy to navigate, very straightforward and looked friendly which I think helped to ease the stress. It allowed me to refine the fields down to exactly the candidate I was looking for, the area in which they lived to see if they lived close enough to me. It also gave a little profile of each applicant, including a picture. I could't believe the amount of applicants and caliber of profiles that were listed!

I could send a quick message to see if the candidate was interested, and then take it from there. I messaged around 6 nannies, 2 of which felt that the hours were not right but the other 4 came for an interview. I hired a lady who lived very close by who ended up being perfect. She also said that Childcare.co.uk was the 'go to' place for nannies looking for work. Almost three years on, I have chosen to go part time and our Nanny has moved on but still babysits for us.

Childcare.co.uk takes the legwork out of looking for good quality childcare without compromising on quality of candidates. Overall I would recommend their website to anyone looking for childcare. Its quick, easy and very good value for money.

Clair, Mother to 3 girls

After School Nanny for Single Mum

I am so grateful for the Childcare.co.uk website. I was told by many mums that finding part-time, reliable, engaged childcare was impossible in central London. I am a working, single Mum with a 5 year old and needed an after school nanny but required different days on different weeks. I posted an add on Childcare.co.uk listing my "gold standard" requirements (i.e. alternating days on certain weeks, screen-free environment with an engaged carer for my son and, in addition to childcare, assistance with cooking for me and my son). Again, I was told over and over that it was impossible to find.

I wasn't expecting to get my "gold standard" but thought I would start out by posting exactly what I wanted and then I would have to compromise from there. I had several enquiries within a few hours. I interviewed several people via Skype and was clear with them that I would require a recommendation, a copy of their passport as well as an up-to-date CRB check. I found the ideal match after 2 interviews! My son's nanny is, quite frankly, the best - she is intelligent (a young student), had an excellent reference and is reliable and trustworthy. She's also an excellent cook and doesn't mind preparing meals for both me and my son (she actually enjoys it!). She is excellent! She has been working for me since September and I don't know how I did it without her before.

There is definitely an attitude that quality, part-time care is impossible to find (due to everyone wanting full-time jobs) - but our nanny didn't want full-time as she is a student and our arrangement works perfectly for all of us. The website is brilliant - post in detail what you are looking for and a match can be found. In addition to our current nanny, I had a lot of other interest too.

There is no way I could have found our current nanny without Childcare.co.uk --- it is a single Mum's dream! Thank you so much and I truly appreciate the site - I only had to pay one month's fees too as I found someone so quickly!

Jennifer, Single Mum

Nanny for Twins

I came across the Childcare.co.uk website by chance a few years ago when I was searching for a nanny position. The site was free to set up my own personal profile on, easy to use and seemed very busy with lots of users. You can put in as much or as little information onto your profile as you like and you have lots of space to sell yourself to potential viewers instead of just ticking relevant boxes. Childcare.co.uk give you the option to keep your profile published free in the hope that someone that is interested in employing you will have paid the membership and contact you or you have membership options which you pay a small fee and this allows you to contact families/nannies which gives you a greater chance in getting that position you are seeking.

An aspect of this which I liked was that all the information which you submit to your profile is verified before it is made public which for me made me it feel secure. Childcare.co.uk will email you if someone has viewed your profile, sent you a message, liked your profile and have started emailing you if what you are looking for matches what someone else is looking for. This makes you more aware of new clients joining the website and changes people have made to their profiles.

Not long after joining this website I had one family contact me looking for some help with their twins so I arranged to meet them and was offered a 'mother's help' position with them. A few months later the parent approached me offering me a permanent part time nanny position which I am still (2 1/5 years later) still working for. I kept my profile on the web site and made changes to my profile specifying days and times I was available for a second Nanny position and very quickly I was contacted by another family who I am still currently Nannying for. Unfortunately in the nanny business, positions are not permanent and one of the families are now not requiring a nanny so I have reinstated my profile in search of another family which was very easy to do.

I have been very lucky using this website, they are both lovely families and I would and have been recommending Childcare.co.uk to other nannies in search of employment and parents looking for childcare and they have also joined.

Brilliant website, safe and effective way for childcarers and parents alike.

Elaine, Nanny

Nanny for Newborn Baby

Initially I was a little sceptical about using an online site to find a nanny for our daughter, however these fears were soon allayed when I used Childcare.co.uk.

I found the site extremely easy to navigate and particularly liked the fact that you could set the parameters for your search - for us with a 4 month old it was imperative to have someone with newborn experience and who was first aid trained, and and being able to set these parameters was really helpful.

We received numerous replies to our advert - and am happy to say the majority fitted our criteria, leaving us with the easier job of short listing the potential candidates.

Within a week we had narrowed the list to a handful to interview and found one nanny who was perfect for our daughter and our family.

Unfortunately after a short time she decided London was not for her and decided to return home. Obviously this was unplanned and therefore an extremely stressful situation with both my husband and myself working full time at this point.

However we quickly reactivated our account and set our advert live again. Like the first time we had a number of good calibre people apply and were able to set up interviews with 3 ladies within 24 hours of activating our account.

The site makes it very simple to set up an account, and it is particularly useful to be able to use the search function without needing to pay the membership fee.

We have used the site again recently in order to find a babysitter - and again found the process very smooth. I would highly recommend Childcare.co.uk as we have had only positive experiences each time we have used the site.

Claire, Mum of 4 month old daughter