Please note that NW8-mums provides information only cannot be held responsible should you have an unsatisfactory experience or outcome.

We always get many questions about nannies, nanny shares, babysitters, au-pairs, childminders and much more. Here are just a few of the most commonly asked questions. Please scroll down for agencies, babysitting services and more. For information about schools and nurseries, please click HERE.

1. Are agencies the only way to find a nanny?
2. How do nanny shares work?
3. What is the difference between a nanny and a childminder?
4. What about babysitters; how can I find one?
5. What about au-pairs?
6. How does it work with nannies and tax?
7. Do I need a contract or not?

1) Karin has found that word-of-mouth is usually the best unless your requirements are incredibly specific and complex.

Karin has successfully connected many families, nannies and babysitters over the years. There are still many families who find help through the NW8-mums’ WhatsApp groups or through the NW8-mums Nanny Search & Share group on Facebook.

2) The two most common ways to do a nanny share is either to split a full-time role with another family (e.g. you have them in the morning and the other family in the afternoon). This typically works well until one child starts nursery school or school and their hours change. The more common nanny share option is to find another family to share your nanny with and your children are together with the nanny either in your house or you do a mix of the nanny going between your two houses with the children. Please note that if you do that you tend to need a double buggy, two highchairs (per house) and two cots (per house).

Koru Kids started off when their founder was struggling to find childcare and she set it up to help families with nanny sharing.

3) A nanny comes to your house whereas a childminder has your child and usually a few more at their house (amount varies based on the ages of the children). You can find registered child minders through your local council, but often word-of-mouth is the best.

Westminster Council

Camden Council

4) Karin has found her babysitters through friends and sometimes a friend’s nanny is keen on doing extra hours of babysitting. Quite often Karin’s nanny stays for babysitting too. There are plenty of babysitting services around like Bubble and KidSitter to name but two.

5) Au-pairs are not easy to find since Brexit, what they are allowed to do is different from a nanny and the best is probably to go via an au-pair agency. Since Brexit, many changes have taken place. We would suggest you read up about it through the Gov.uk website, including their information on the changes since Brexit and look at the British Au Pair Agencies’ Association.

6) A nanny is not legally allowed to be self-employed in the U.K. You can learn more about legalities and other aspects on hiring someone to work in your home on the Gov.uk website.

For nanny tax questions, if you have an accountant, they might well be able to help you. Karin’s accountant does our nanny payroll and it works very well. Otherwise, there are agencies who specialise in nanny payrolls.

Nanny Tax

NannyPaye

7) We would recommend you always have a contract to help both you and the person you are hiring.

Babysitting & Nanny Agencies

Below are the names of a few agencies and childcare service providers that are popular in the group. This is by no means an exhaustive list.

Simone Wilson, an NW8-mum, is the founder of Homebodies.