Maintaining your sanity with the childcare website Childcare.co.uk

I am usually the sort of person to flit around between different resources, but if there’s one resource I just keep on coming back to time and time again as a mum, it’s Childcare.co.uk.

We used it to find a childminder when my daughter was a toddler, to help out with school holiday panics, and to find baby sitters since then, and we’ve also come back to it yet again to find help with after school pick ups now that she is in primary school and my working hours are getting longer

It’s especially been a lifesaver in recent times as our usual very skant childcare arrangements have fallen through due to shielding grandparents in Covid. It’s been a life saver for us time and time again but especially so during the pandemic and indeed lockdown 2 when we really have been in need of some extra childcare support to make the constant work-life-childcare juggle easier.

What is Childcare.co.uk?

If you haven’t heard of the website, then let me tell you about it. It’s the UK’s largest childcare platform. Over 2 million people have used it to find childcare (and childcare jobs!) since they launched in 2009. You won’t find a larger choice of babysitters, nannies, registered childminders anywhere else, and you can even find private tutors on there too!

For us, it has become our go-to for finding reliable, high quality and most importantly, local childcare since we started using it six years ago. It has over 50,000 reviews of childcare providers, tutors and schools from families like yours and mine, which is super important to me seeing as I don’t do anything in life without validating it against reviews!

How does it work?

Simple Search

To carry out a simple childcare search, just select the category you wish to search and enter your fill postcode. Once you have carried out a search for childcare then you can optionally click the links above to refine your search further.

There is a drop down box at the bottom of the results that will allow you to order the search results by last login, nearest, newest, photos first and top rated which is super handy.

Advanced Search

Their Advanced Search page allows you to refine your childcare search further. You can select to view providers that have selected any combination of tags in their profile and can also search for profiles that include particular keywords.

You can also search for providers by their availability on particular days of the week and times of day – something which has been vital for us as it is surprising the number of childcare suppliers who say they can’t do this or that day or time.

What we love about it

• It’s super easy to use, which is just what an overstretched parent with no brain space for much more else needs.
• There is loads of choice without it being too overwhelming and the search functions mentioned above make it really easy to whittle down to what you really need and want in terms of childcare.
• The entries for each childcare provider show whether they’re DBS-checked and Ofsted registered. You can also get all the information you need about their experience, qualifications, availability, fees as well as reviews – all just a click away and extremely helpful.
• We also love all the additional information on the site about avoiding childcare scams (yes really they are a thing!), plus their parenting guides which are really useful.

What we don’t like about it

It’s very rare for me to say this in a review as I can usually find room for improvement but I can honestly say when it comes to childcare.co.uk…..there is really nothing we don’t like about it!

What’s the deal with childcare during lockdown 2?

I thought it would be useful here just to add in something about what the current guidelines are with regards to childcare as I know a lot of people have been confused about this. At time of writing they are  are several ways that parents and carers can continue to access childcare during the national restrictions:

• Early years settings and childminders remain open, and you can continue to use these settings as normal
• You can access other childcare activities (including wraparound care) where reasonably necessary to enable parents to work, seek work, attend education or training, or for the purposes of respite care for carers
• Nannies will be able to continue to provide services, including in the home
• Parents are able to form a childcare bubble with one other household for the purposes of informal childcare, where the child is 13 or under
• Some households will also be able to benefit from being in a support bubble, which allows single adult households to join another household

Do you need childcare?

The final thing I wanted to say is that so many of us mums can feel really guilty about putting our children in childcare, or getting the extra help or support we drastically need. But the truth is, while women in most households still do everything, plus work and a thousand other things in-between, there is no shame in getting the extra help you deserve.

So if you’re feeling like things are all getting too much and you just can’t manage the juggle any longer, that’s the time to start thinking about getting some extra childcare support – whether that be for after school pickups, a nanny of some sorts, a childminder on a couple of days a week or whatever else it is that you need.

For further information

To find out more information or sign up, you can simply visit www.childcare.co.uk today!

Have you ever used childcare.co.uk and if so what was your experience? Do leave a comment below.

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