Advertising for a lodger and security checks

[AndySacha]

I was wondering if anyone had any experience of advertising for someone to live with them if they had a young baby (ours is 9 weeks old) ?

We are obviously concerned that

a) even though our baby is already well behaved, not everyone wants to live with a new born. Any companies that specialise in this?

b) although we would be doing the usual vetting we have no idea if that person is a security risk to our child. Where can we check this?

Any ideas, companies or comments would be gratefully received.

I have a lodger and I'm a single parent with 3 children. I advertised on a hospital website and then Gumtree and made it clear that I wanted someone who liked children. I met 2 people and the second one, a mature student seemed perfect and I had a good feeling about her straightaway. I then found about we had mutual friends in common after she'd moved in which was surprising as she's from a place 200 miles away!
I suggest advertising for a medical professional/ teacher etc or student as then you have some way of confirming their status. The first person I met came from the hospital website so she had be checked for her job but she spent a lot of time asking how often her boyfriend could stay which I wasn't keen on.
My advice is also to have an agreement in writing so you have rules over overnight guests etc.
Good luck.

Make sure you specify non-smoker! We forgot and it's fine as he only smokes outside and is out a lot anyway. He is an absolute gem and we wouldn't have got him if we'd remembered but you wouldn't want to tolerate it with a young baby around. We used a local agency

Andy,

I'm a single parent with 21 month old. I work in politics and am moving to London. I was hoping to find a family or single parent house share. Think this set up is quite popular in London given some of the responses I've received

I would also try local hospitals or schools they may already have a dbs check done. Are you just looking for a lodger or did you want a nanny, the Lady magazine has a good reputation.