Finding a nanny share or a childminder

[grace11]

I've just paid a fee to join 'simplychildcare.com' but they seem to have very few listings on there for my area (south east London). I've seen there are a lot more on 'childcare.co.uk' but I need to pay another fee to contact people on there. Does anyone have experience of either of these sites - is it worth me joining the second one too? I'm also wondering now whether it would be easier to find a nanny to share - which website to people use for this? What questions should I be asking when I interview potential carers?? Suddenly feeling extremely panicky and worried about finding someone right to look after my dd in March :(

I am a childminder and use childcare.co.uk. I have never heard of the other website you mentioned (although will look now!). A lot of childminders pay on childcare.co.uk so if you view their profile it then gives them an email saying you have viewed. Hopefully then one or more of them will contact you without you having to pay. You can also find nannies on childcare.co.uk. If you make a profile stating what you are after, hopefully someone who has paid and can help will view it.

I haven't heard of the other one either but I've used childcare.co.uk and found it good, but I would go into it with some strong ideas about what you are looking for - checkable references and CRB plus and either strong experience or measurable qualifications, and a solid ability to speak English were all things I was looking for before I even started looking at compatibility. I'm sure there are great nannies who has worked overseas, but I wanted one who had done an English family so I could follow up easily.

Also make sure the nanny has checked in recently - it costs nothing to make a profile so people make one speculatively, get a job and then never come back, but their profile still pops up!

One of the childcare bods checks this board regularly so he might even come on and reply.

Great, thanks so much southernbelle77 and keSnowBi, very helpful!

I'm not sure about finding a nanny but if you call your local Family Information Service or go to your local Children's Centre they should be able to give you a free list of the childminders in your area. In my area there are something like 120 childminder on the list but only about 50 of them are on childcare.co.uk.

I have been through the council's list but I they edited it down according to my postcode. I haven't had a any luck so far so maybe I'll email again and ask for a wider area. Thank you!

Have you searched properly on Simply Childcare? I am very surprised you say there are very few people in South East London. I run Simply Childcare and there are always plenty of nannies/childcarers using it who want to work in SE London.
When you search in the Find a Childcarer section of the website, under Location do not write anything, just click on Select and choose South East London from the drop down menu and then choose Type of Role: nanny. Do ring Simply Childcare if you want to discuss anything and the ins and outs of nanny sharing -I can send you a very useful info sheet about nanny sharing if you would like it and suggestions for the sort of things you should ask when you are interviewing someone.
We do get some childminders who use Simply Childcare to fill their vacancies because they know they will get a quality parent through us. However, we also get a lot more nannies using us.
If you are keen on finding a childminder, the first thing you must do is get a complete list of childminders for your area from your local Borough (and adjacent Borough if you are on the borders of two) - don't let them fob you off with an edited list and ask them when the lists get updated to find out when newly registered childminders are added.
You will then need to contact every childminder within suitable range of your home/journey to work, to find out if they are likely to have a vacancy in March. Not all of them will know if they are going to have a vacancy that far ahead as most parents only have to give their childminder one month's notice. Also remember to tell them what age your child will be when you go back to work as it can be problematic if your child will be under the age of 1yr when you go back. Most childminders are limited to one baby only under their terms of registration, unless there are two of them working together or they have an assistant. So even if they have a vacancy, you need to check what age range it is for.
Also you should go on the NCMA website. They are the professional association for childminders and have excellent info for parents thinking about finding a childminder to do their childcare. It is also a good question to ask a childminder if she is a member of the NCMA because it shows she takes her job very seriously.
And don't forget when you are out and about with your baby - get networking! Talk to everyone you meet e.g. doctor's receptionist, health visitor, baby activity group leader, children's shop owner etc etc and mention what you are needing - you don't know who they might know who might be interested. And if you attend any baby and toddler activities, get talking to the parents, nannies and childminders who might also be attending - even if they are not interested themselves, they might know someone else who could help.
It is a full time occupation hunting for childcare and it is particularly stressful when in your heart of hearts, you probably don't really want to leave your child to be looked after by somebody else.
Please contact Simply Childcare if you would like to talk about any of this or would like me to email you the info sheets I have mentioned. And good luck with the search - I do understand how you must be feeling.

Hi
I use childcare.co.uk and I'm a childminder from Catford, South-East London (who has vacancies at the moment) if you are interested, let me know. Good luck anyway :) x