Finding an au pair

[WealdMa]

We are about to take the plunge and try and find our first au pair. DH very concerned that we will end up with a looney having had a very bad experience with his four year old godson whose parents returned from work to find that the au pair had walked out and left him completely unattended, no warning, no telephone call etc...
Since DH is a sahd (scoleosis)this is not likely to be a problem since he will be around most of the time but he still wants to make sure anyone we get is properly vetted etc. Has anyone used an agency? If so, who would you recommend? Also, did you carry out your own checks and if so, what did you do? Any help gratefully received...

I have always used an agency and have been very happy. I think that the key is to be very clear about what you expect from them. My priority is someone who is happy to clean along with school runs and a few bedtimes and a bit of afterschool care so this was the point that I pushed and was upfront about. The agency did all the background checks and I have been very happy with them. They also offered a free replacement if it didn't work out within the first 6 weeks. My current aupair has been with me since september, she has a 2 year visa and I am currently begging her to promise to stay for the full duration

The godson's experience was off the scale of rare. Normally APs are on a spectrum somewhere between really friendly and helpful, and rather annoying and vaguely lazy.

Childcare Company are very good. They vet APs well and were excellent when I had a laziness problem with one of mine, offering me an immediate free replacement if I wasn't happy (in the event they coached mine up to speed).

Abacus au pairs is excellent and I've just recruited my 3rd who will start in August!

When my 2nd AP didnt pan out as expected they got me a replacement and she's been wth us since Sept.

I have never used an agency and seeing as I would probably not trust them and would double check references etc. can't see the point of paying (what appears to be extortionate) fees.

I used au pair world, have just recruited our third au pair (to start this summer) and have had excellent experiences with both previous au pairs. I do go through a fairly rigourous process (questionaires, phone interviews, phone interviews with the kids, taking up references) and if you don't want to do this yourself then I can see why you might want to use an agency.

Thanks everyone for your messages - will look up au pair world, Childcare Company and Abacus. Here goes!