Users of sitters.co.uk in North/Central London?

[Moonwoman]

Hi there,

Have just registered with this site, hoping someone can help me. We've registered with sitters.co.uk. We're living in Ireland but will be in Islington for a family function in May and will need someone to look after our one year old daughter.

Basicall, just wondering if someone might be able to PM me some recommendations for particular sitters from the agency. Would really like to have something to go on...

Thanks in advance.

Out of interest, why did you decide to register with an agency?
There are many websites which list childcare providers (such as nannies, childminders) who will babysit in the evening.

We use Sitters regularly and although it's excellent imo, you rarely get the same sitter twice because in practice the logistics rarely allow for it. Therefore hard to make recommendations. We don't live in Islington any more but did when ds was small, and the same applied there.

The good thing about it is that you usually get trainee teachers, off-duty nannies and the odd childminder, as they seem to be fairly strict about who they take on. We've always been very happy with the sitters they've provided, and we've had a few who've been real gems.

I live in NW london and have been with sitters for about 4 months. We go out most Sat nights and have had a total of 3 sitters all of whom have been great. They all live very local to me - not really near Islington so I am not sure my recomendation would be useful.

I would just trust sitters to provide you with a good person. Though I always have them arrive before the DTs go to bed so that they meet and are confortable with each other - well worth the extra cost.

nannynick - the a big big advantage of Sitters is that you don't have to text / phone lots of people before you get someone who is free. They do all that faffing about for you and they are extreamly reliable. I discovered them after I was let down by a ex-nanny of ours at 1.30pm on the day we were due to go out. If someone had to cancel at the last moment then Sitters would just find a replacement.

Hello Moonwoman,
I have worked for sitters in the past.
Now I am full time ofsted registered childminder with Nvq3 in childcare,please feel free to contact me if you want me to babysit as I live in walthamstow which is very close to Islington and I do drive.
babiesitters at hot mail dot co dot UK

I have got to say i registered with sitters in 1997 ish and never once have i had to re-register or update my details/show CRB checks-in all that time. It has actually put me off working for them to be honest.
I get regular texts from them-like on a weekly basis but haven't actually sat for them for over 2 years.