Testimonials Continued

‘Charlie came highly recommended to me through a professional nanny I know. My baby girl was 6 weeks old and she was taking some time to settle after night time feeds. As an older mum and recovering from a c-section, I was getting more and more exhausted and felt in need of a helping hand. Charlie arrived, like a breath of fresh air and started helping me out 3-4 nights per week for around 3 months. When I was breastfeeding, Charlie would change my little girl and bring her in to me, then settle her after her feed.

Later as I progressed to bottle feeds, Charlie would prepare the formula/breast milk and sterilise the bottles afterwards. I was able to get some much needed sleep and relief from the responsibility of listening out to the monitor through the night. Charlie’s skill is in listening to what a mother is trying to achieve and then gently helping her to obtain that goal with suggestions and advice from her wealth of experience. She is also a lovely, friendly presence in the house. I would recommend her to any new mum looking for some night time reassurance and support’.

‘Employing Charlie as our Night Nanny was without doubt the best thing we decided to do and I am convinced her support over the first few months after we bought our son home ensured that we have a very happy an content 6 month old baby now….. and a very happy mum too! I felt very relaxed in her company at a time when hormones and lack of sleep can make a new mum feel more anxious and stressed out. Charlie is honest, reliable and punctual.

Nothing was every too much trouble for her. Our son was born 9 weeks early therefore spent the first 5 weeks of his life in hospital. Initially we booked Charlie for 10 nights over five weeks but we actually employed Charlie twice a week for three months as our experience was so good! Charlie’s role was primarily to look after our son during the night and allow me to have a good night’s sleep. She would wake me to feed him (our son is solely breastfed) and then I would go back to bed and she would wind and change him. In the first month, considering he was feeding every 3 hours and winding and changing could take an hour, it was pure luxury for me to sleep well.

Over the 3 months that Charlie was with us, it became evident that her role was much more than just allowing me to have a good night’s sleep; she helped me establish a routine and in particular taught our son to sleep for longer periods through the night without waking for a feed. Experienced and knowledgeable, Charlie offered her support and advice to overcome any problems we encountered. I always felt supported by Charlie, she was very considerate of what we wanted and fitted in with our way of parenting’.

‘We first met Charlie when my daughter started at her nursery when she was 5 months old. Then our son came along 18 months later. We asked Charlie to undertake some sleep training with our son when we was 6 months old as he was struggling to sleep through the night. It only took her 2 nights to get him going through. I would thoroughly recommend her’.

‘Shortly after giving birth to my twins my husband and I decided to look into gaining some assistance from a nanny for ad hoc days and nights. I approached an agency and Charlie was recommended. Her references and CV showed she had gained considerable experience of working with multiples in the past so we decided to meet her. By the time I met Charlie I had established a routine with the twins and my five year old, and being a person who finds it difficult to allow anyone to assist me with tasks relating to my children or household I was nervous about meeting her.

Charlie was fantastic, she was observant to this and used her excellent communication skills to put me at ease and allowed me to gradually hand over more tasks to her. She is proactive rather reactive, always cheerful and very efficient. On several occasions after she left my home I would wonder what to do as everything was set up for the day ahead! Charlie was able to calm my twins when they were upset and always remembered each individual child’s likes and dislikes. She was also a big hit with my five year old. Charlie was flexible in the hours she could provide and also worked at short notice when I was taken ill and needed assistance’.

‘Charlie came to help us establish a routine that involved putting our 2.5 year old son to bed, reading him a story, and him settling himself to sleep and staying in his own bed until morning. Having had so many problems with his sleep, we were not convinced that anything would work, but following Charlie’s guidance, we now have a life (and our evenings!) back again.

The guidance from Charlie was clear and structured and was not as stressful as we had feared. Charlie has a great rapport with children and a confident approach which really works. We highly recommend her childcare services’.

‘Charlie was completely perfect for the job- what a lovely girl and obviously extremely competent’

‘Charlie was a natural with the girls when they were tiny as I felt entirely confident entrusting them to her care during her overnight visits. It enabled me to get several hours consecutive sleep, not only a godsend but a necessity when you’re surviving on napping at 90 minute intervals. It ensured that we all stayed sane and able to deal with the rest of the week.

She has a very easy nature and I enjoyed our days with her very much. She seemed to fit right in without invading our space and got us into some useful habits without us feeling we were being told what to do! Despite her youthfulness she was hugely competent and I would recommend her to new mothers wholeheartedly’.

‘I employed Charlotte’s services as a Night Nanny during February 2011 following the birth of my second daughter. My daughter was only a few days old when I arrived home from hospital after a caesarean section and upon the first night home Charlotte took over the care of Emma with ease. Charlotte is highly organised and very professional.

She met with myself and my husband previously to discuss how we wanted her to care for Emma and listened to our needs whilst also providing advice as required. She had excellent time-keeping and arrived promptly for the night shift and, as I chose to bottle-feed, Charlotte made up the baby’s bottles and spent time getting to know our daughter. Charlotte stayed with our daughter throughout the night, monitoring her and keeping a detailed record of sleep times, feeds and changes.

In the morning Charlotte carefully washed and dressed our daughter as well as washing and sterilising the bottles ready for the day. Charlotte is responsible, adaptable and approachable with a very caring and friendly manner. Her personal qualities and professional skill-set left us with no doubt that we had chosen the right person for the job. I am very pleased to highly recommend Charlotte in any child caring capacity as she is a totally reliable, trustworthy and excellent Night Nanny’.

‘Charlie worked for my husband and I shortly after the birth of our twin boys in April 2010. She took care of the night feeds for both boys (no small undertaking with twins) and enabled my husband and I to get some much needed sleep. Charlie worked between 1 and 3 nights per week, over a period of a couple of months or so.

She was very reliable and always on time. Charlie willingly worked to the routine we had implemented for the boys and was very capable with, and loving towards, them. Charlie made sure all the bottles and other baby equipment were ready to use the following day. I would recommend Charlie as a Night Nanny’.

‘We hired Charlie as our Night Nanny when our daughter was about a week old to assist with the night feeding and sleep training. Our daughter was born with a dislocated hip and had to wear a special harness for several months. Charlie stayed over with us approximately 1 night per week from 9pm until 7am, for a period of about 3-4 months. Charlie’s help was great as it meant that once a week I could catch up on some well needed rest.

Charlie would spend as much time as was needed to feed and settle our daughter, take care of any nappy changes, crying, all the sterilising and making up any bottles as needed. We felt totally comfortable and at ease with Charlie staying with us and fully trusted her to be in sole charge of our newborn baby. She is very organised and dedicated with a real passion for babies. I would have no hesitation in recommending Charlie’.

‘Our son was born early January and very shortly afterwards we decided a little help was needed during the night. He is our first child so we felt some steering in the right direction and a decent nights’ sleep a few times per week would be a good survival plan. On the first night Charlie turned up on time (as she always does) and we chatted about our expectations, routines (none!) and hopes for how we would like him to learn how to go to sleep. He was not an easy baby usually crying all evening due to colic and up frequently at night.

We found it easy to trust Charlie with our baby as she is very gentle and calming. She had some good suggestions to promote sleeping but was not intrusive or forceful. After about 4 months he began sleeping though the night and therefore we no longer needed Charlie as a night nanny. However, Charlie now childmind’s him at least once a week and he is always full of smiles when I collect him. I have recommended Charlie to my friends and would do so for anyone who is looking for a trustworthy nanny and some sleep!’.

‘Charlie came to work for us as a Maternity Nanny for a long weekend for our 6 month old daughter. Charlie is absolutely wonderful and has been a joy to have here over the last couple of days. She has been amazing at settling into a rather chaotic household and doing wonderful activities with our daughter who has beamed at her for the last couple of days’.

‘Charlotte started working with our family when my elder son was 9 months old. She has been with us through the pregnancy and the birth of my second son. Charlotte was involved with all aspects of care with my second son as a newborn baby. She was able to give her specialist knowledge to help with sleep training. I breastfed my son and whilst Charlotte was not able to help with feeding she gave me her support to continue breastfeeding.

I was confident leaving her in sole charge in between feeds. She has been punctual and reliable and has helped on several occasions outside of her contract. We trust her implicitly and are very appreciative of her specialist knowledge in sleep training and Early Years learning’.

‘Charlie is wonderful and is proving to be a real help during her nights with us. Cameron is extremely settled with her and appears to be sleeping better for her than he does for me!’.

‘Charlie is lovely, very easy, she just fitted in and seemed to know exactly what to do. I would certainly like to have her back again’.

‘When we appointed Charlie as nanny for our 4 month old twins, neither my husband nor I knew what to expect. Charlie settled into looking after the twins quickly and was sympathetic to our difficulties in achieving the twins sleeping patterns simultaneously. Charlie mirrored our routine and supported this in our absence.

Charlie was the only nanny who requested us to outline our goals in relation to the twins, and has helped us successfully achieve them. Charlie proved to be both flexible and adaptable, especially when the twins were in hospital. I feel that Charlie eliminated the anxiety at an early stage for me, in relation to leaving the children in someone else’s care’.

‘Charlotte was introduced to us through an agency. Her CV and references were impeccable – but to be truthful, I was a tiny bit concerned about her age. However, at the interview Charlotte impressed us straight away by the way she interacted with our daughter (then just under one years old). She also has every qualification you could possible want and had a wonderful portfolio. Charlotte came across as very friendly, mature, confident and a complete expert in her field.

Charlotte cared for our daughter for three years, totally organising her days and buying and preparing her food and clothes. Charlotte is the best nanny you could ever wish for your child and your family – children love her. She is completely trustworthy, patient, honest, kind, hardworking, thorough and reliable. I would whole heartedly recommend her and know that any family would be extremely lucky to have her – their child will love and trust Charlotte’.

‘Charlotte helped me to look after my triplet babies when she was a trainee nanny. They were just 4 months old. Charlotte has an extremely warm and friendly personality. She is particularly well suited to work with babies and children. I have always admired and very much welcomed Charlotte’s ability to relate individuality to each of my children. Upon completing her qualification, Charlotte continued helping me look after the children – both on her own and at times with me.

Some of Charlotte’s particular strengths include having the ability to work on own initiative, ensure a safe environment, work within a routine, nutritional needs and communication skills. The above list is by no means exhaustive but one additional strength that springs to mind and which should, probably, be mentioned first is Charlotte’s ability to have fun with the children which they naturally love. In fact, all three of my children have grown to absolutely adore Charlotte’.

‘We met Charlie when our eldest daughter was 3 and our youngest daughter was just 10 days old. From the outset we were impressed by her maturity and she seems to have an innate understanding of young children. Charlie helped with mealtimes, feeding, bathing, sterilising, making up formula milk, cleaning away the day’s activities and reading to our eldest daughter.

I was the envy of my friends who would watch Charlie feed and change my new baby as if she were her own. We trust Charlie completely with our daughters, we call her our very own Mary Poppins ‘Practically Perfect in Every Way’. Whoever should employ Charlie in the future, we would say that their children will be in the safest and competent company we know’.