Nannies have experience working with children and usually have some form of childcare qualification and a paediatric first aid certificate. They will be ready to step into the role with a focus on the educational, social and emotional development of your children. Au pairs typically come from abroad for a cultural experience and to improve their English, usually on a 6-9 month long contract. They don’t necessarily have any childcare experience but will help out with school aged children and do housework in exchange for room, board, a small allowance and English lessons. We don’t work with au pairs but if you are looking for a good childcare solution on a slightly lower budget (or reduced needs), we recommend one of our junior nannies. They will generally have some childcare experience, either as a regular babysitter, teacher, or nursery worker and with the right support, can learn professional nanny skills.

Babysitters are temporary nannies who will offer childcare for multiple families on an ad-hoc basis. They will only work for a few hours at a time when parents need to be out of the house. A babysitter is paid by the hour as opposed to being salaried. They don’t have as much responsibility as a nanny and will come to the house and play with the children for a few hours when needed or just keep an eye on them.

3-6 weeks is realistic although other factors can affect that timeline – how specific your requirements are, availability to interview, contract negotiations and notice period are just a few. For some though, it can be much quicker than that.

Yes, we have all of the above, as well as nannies who are fluent in many other languages.

Yes, we have an excellent team of maternity nurses, night nannies, sleep consultants and lactation specialists. You can hire them for several months, a few weeks, or just a couple of nights. And in the case of lactation specialists, you may just need a few hours. They offer their service in-person as well as remotely via video calls and chats.

We make it our priority to support every family and nanny who are part of the Louenna's Nannies family. It’s our mission to help you through your parenthood journey and we’ll find the right nanny for you at the right time – from baby, toddler, all the way through to tween or teen. When you work with us, you’ll find a small personal team that understands what makes a brilliant match between a family and a nanny. We also understand that all families are different and have unique requirements. We want to help you by offering sound advice and the benefit of our experience and are on hand to give you support and guidance every step of the way, from search to hire and beyond. We provide continuous employment and HR advice, conflict resolution, as well as replacement nannies (if for some reason it doesn’t work out) and back-up care when your nanny is on holiday or off sick.

No. We offer you a selection of pre-screened candidates who best fit your criteria. We will arrange the interviews and help you prepare and discuss your feedback, but the final decision is yours. The relationship with your nanny is going to be incredibly intimate so unlike most agencies who will match you based purely on objective criteria (i.e., location, number of languages spoken and years of experience), we look at your compatibility in terms of family values, parenting style and personality, which underpin the longevity of any successful nanny-family relationship.

We take screening and referencing very seriously. We schedule an initial phone conversation with every candidate and only candidates who pass the initial phone screening will progress to a more detailed face-to-face interview. Applicants are carefully evaluated based on experience, communication skills, personality, preferences and approach to working with children. Our comprehensive 5-step screening process ensures we only recruit the best. In fact, we only accept 7% of nannies who apply to us. References are key and we insist on doing at least two verbal reference checks with previous families for each nanny.

We’ve identified the most important elements of childcare matchmaking, and we ask both parents and nannies to share their views and preferences on those important elements. We examine personality traits of both parents and nannies, their parenting styles, their preferred working and communication styles, family values and beliefs, e.g. views on discipline and routines, whether they are chattier or prefer their own peace and quiet. Overall, it’s quite comprehensive.

We work on success based fees, so you only pay our fees once you've decided to hire a nanny through us, regardless of how many nannies we curate and shortlist for you. We do charge a small activation fee, but included within this is a 1on1 consultation with one of our specialists, who will discuss with you your unique needs and requirements, how these compare to the market, what your best options and provide invaluable honest and expert advice which other agencies often do not. It also means access to our extensive network of fully vetted nannies, continuous support and feedback on your job and ongoing matching process. Unlike other agencies, we're there for you every step of the way.

When you hire a nanny you will become an employer. This means you will be required to register with HMRC, pay your nanny’s tax and NI contributions, employers NI, as well as offer a pension and have employer’s liability insurance.