Ashleigh looked after our son for 2 days a week on a six month contact (July 2019-January 2020) to help transition during my return to work. She brought her own daughter with her and looked after both of them in our home.

This was a really brilliant arrangement for us - getting out of the house for work was really easy because Ashleigh was so warm and calm with him as I left and she would dress him and give him breakfast after I had gone. She would also feed him before I got home from work. This meant that I could make the most of the time I had with him when I got home and keep to his regular bath and bedtime routine. Having Ashleigh's daughter come with her worked exceptionally well - the two children are similar ages and have become great little buddies, playing beautiful together and learning to socialise. This was really important for us, because he is an only child (so far) and we wanted our son to have the chance to build relationships with other children before pre-School and School. Having full days together really helped him develop his language, his play and his interactions.

Ashleigh is an experienced nanny - she came with excellent references from her experience before having her own daughter, and wanted to continue working in childcare after as well. She is committed and enthusiastic about caring for children - she often arranged visits or trips out, including plenty of outdoors activities. At home, she would read, play, build, sing and draw etc. with them using a very child-led approach supporting them in finding their own interests and developing their skills. Our son developed a really good bond with her very quickly and I completely trusted her to do the best for him.

I would strongly recommend her, and we plan to continue to use Ashleigh for babysitting going forward.