Finding The Right Childcare With Childcare.co.uk

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Even before Erin was born we knew that she would be an only child. Factors such as a really hard pregnancy, an even harder birth and family circumstances have meant that we haven’t wanted any more children. Being an only child can be quite a hard thing as young children crave companionship, friendship and fun with others their own age. I found that as soon as baby classes such as Baby Sensory and Baby Yoga finished at around age 1 Erin wasn’t getting this anymore. It was time to look for some childcare for her!

If you are in the same situation, or you have to go back to work after maternity/ paternity leave then you might be looking for some childcare now. The thing is, there are so many options out there and it can all get a bit confusing and scary. Websites such as childcare.co.uk were created to make the whole process a lot easier and to ease the pressure a little bit. If you’re in London, you can also use a babysitting service like Mykiddy Sitter to help you to find a local babysitter.

Setting up an account

Getting started with childcare.co.uk is really easy. It only takes a couple of minutes to set up your own account and enter a few details. First of all, you need to state whether you are a childcare provider or a parent then add in a few specifics such as where you live, date of birth and pick yourself a screen name. After this, you’re pretty much all ready to go!

Searching for childcare

You can actually search without creating an account but you won’t be able to get in touch with any of the services/ people who come up in the results. With childcare.co.uk you are able to search for a whole host of different childcare options from childminders, a nanny, a babysitter and nurseries, just to name a few options. There is a drop down list on the main screen and you can even choose to look at all childcare providers if you like. You also need to put in your postcode and how far away you would like your search to reach.

Search results

I’ll be honest, I was a little bit apprehensive about how good my search results would be. You see, we live in quite a small town and I didn’t think there would be many results. I was wrong though and I was really surprised with how many my search turned up. It might not seem like a lot to some people but I got 48 results and I was so happy with that. I had no idea that there was so many options nearby.

Once you have your search results you can then look at each one individually. Profiles will have a bit about them, their experience and any qualifications they hold. You can also see what their availability is, whether they cover before or after school and also what they charge per hour. Profiles can also show any reviews by others using their services and you can also see any documentation if they have uploaded it.

I was really quite impressed with the profiles as generally there is quite a lot of information on there. I could clearly see whether that person or service met my needs and whether they would be suitable for the times and days I needed childcare for. I think this makes choosing, or at least narrowing down options, a lot easier.

Overall thoughts

Before using childcare.co.uk I would have had to rely on word of mouth or looking at the childcare providers I already knew about (and it wasn’t that many). This is such a helpful tool for any parent looking into childcare options available to them, whether they live in a big city and a small town. This website really opens up options and gives you the information you need easily without having to jump through hoops to get it.

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