“The main problem with having kids,” next-eldest sister once said to me when Kitty was about 6 weeks old, “is childcare.”
Once upon a time I would have disagreed. I would have said “no the amount they get ill is the main problem with having kids”. But childcare came in a close second.
And by “childcare” I don’t mean anything specific. I don’t mean “staff”, I just mean childcare. Because you sure as hell are going to struggle if you don’t have any at all. Some people don’t have a choice but to look after their own kids, on their own, 24/7. Others choose to. I know some people who do it – not even half an hour of paid childcare – and it’s hard.
The one are of childcare I couldn’t compromise on has always been evening babysitting. My husband’s job means we have always had to go out for dinner at least once a week. Sure, I could not go with him but that makes him sad and likely to drink and fall to chatting to PR girls.
So to say I am a veteran of babysitting options is an understatement. I have tried family, friends and local teenagers. I liked Sitters.co.uk for a while but they had some absurd text-booking arrangement and were never available on the weekend if you suddenly needed to cancel your sitter.
And then along came Bubble, on the App Store as Bubble Babysitting and on IG as @bubblebabysittingapp – you can find them on the good ol’ internet at https://joinbubble.com. As soon as I downloaded the app that fateful day, I knew this was going to change my life – and it has.
Every local sitter has a profile, a rating (supplied by other users) and little icons showing you how far they are from you, whether they have newborn experience, have a car, have a First Aid certificate and so on.
I post a job and an alert thingy goes out to all local sitters who have said they are available at that time. They all go on to a list and you just pick the one you want and book them. You can message them through the app with any specific details and it’s all cashless, like Uber.
I have used Bubble for about a year, now, with no complaints – most notably they saved my ass one Sunday afternoon when my husband was away and I was in bed with a fever. This wonderful girl showed up, (forewarned that I was ill in bed and she just needed to keep the kids from killing each other/themselves), until teatime.
And now if Giles comes into my room at 2pm and says “I forgot to tell you we’re going to an Asian/Welsh fusion restaurant in Peckham tonight,” I no longer give him a death stare and say “Well, have fun on your own,” I just reach for my phone.
Bubble is not a budget option – most of the sitters work with children in their day jobs and are well-qualified – it tends to be £9ph minimum. But then childcare is an area where you can rarely afford to economise.
I refer to you my sister’s initial statement.
**This is a sponsored post, which frankly is the least Bubble can do, the amount of money I spend on there AND ALSO the amount of free word-of-mouth marketing I do to all my friends (all 3 of them).**
Before I download the app (I have a miniscule amount of memory left) can you tell me if they cover random Scottish villages, or is it a London thing only? Ta much
Also a request to check for Oxford, please!
I live I a random Scottish village and it works for me. It still in test mode, but 3 local sitters were registered and one has turned out to be an absolute gem. Would recommend.
I love Bubble. It’s saved my bacon, my sanity and my marriage these last few months. I’d love it if there were a local fairly responsible teenager I could get round to mind the kids but sadly, strangely, no. That’s how I earnt my spending money as a teenager in the ‘burbs. Is babysitting not a thing now got The Kids?
Anyway, Bubble. Thumbs up to quality trained sitters (my regular is a special needs teacher) + cashless+ easy booking.
I don’t have kids, but I’m excited about this purely because it sounds like a modern day Babysitter’s Club.
Bubble didn’t exist when I needed it (likewise Uber – annoyingly) but I did use Sitters a lot and the best one ever was when I booked one to meet me at my sisters wedding, take the kids back to the hotel after the service with my elderly mother in law and then look after them in the hotel room till we got back. Sitters found me a childminder in the middle of nowhere near Chichester and she was simply amazing. If I had small children still I would honestly never go to a wedding or ‘formal’ event which children are required to attend also without a babysitter.
I am very keen to know if they operate in Lincolnshire and if they mind there being a dog?! Haven’t had an evening out with my husband in over a year…..
There is a ‘we have a pet’ option to let them know. Ideal, as I once had a sitter who turned out to be terrified of the (extremely placid, not large) dog and had to make emergency extra dog-sitting arrangements. Our regular Bubble sitter loves dogs.
Do you have a referral code, Esther??
Can we talk about getting/reference checks which is the main reason I’ve been reluctant to use them? Bubble doesn’t do any vetting, I believe (I think they just can tick if they’ve got a dbs check but it’s not followed up) so how do you make sure they’re not peadophiles or nutters? Do you ring their references each time you book someone? Or does it allow you to use the same person? Obviously, there’s the reviews but those might not be that truthful.
Hi Mills, the first time I booked, I arranged for her to arrive an hour early so I could vet her quietly. She sat with me and the girls while they ate dinner and chatted so I found out where she lives/ works/ who she lives with/ her age (daughters asked- they’re obsessed with how old grown ups are!)/ whether she grew up locally etc and generally got a vibe.
It’s alarming if Bubble aren’t cross referencing DBS checks. That said, I chose a special needs teacher so she would already have enhanced dbs checks.
They don’t check DBS records – – although they’ve brought in a new background check which they say is better? I haven’t had a chance to research it properly to comment.
https://joinbubble.com/for-parents/dbs-checks_2030.html/amp
Great idea to have them round beforehand to get to know them! I think I’m probably more nervous because my son is one and therefore couldn’t verbalise if something not great had happened, even if it was just we sat on the sofa all day and I was ignored so really useful to know how other people made it work!
Guys I have asked someone from Bubble to hop on here and answer DBS and location queries xx
Hi Mills ((And Emily!), I’m the co founder of the app so just thought I’d jump in and answer your questions re the checks we do. I hope you don’t mind…
First off, every babysitter on the app must pass an online identity and online background check before their profile goes live. These checks cross-reference their personal details (name/age/address/DOB) against various public databases such as the electoral role and credit reference agencies. It also runs them through an ‘adverse media check’ which is looking for negative flags against pretty much anything ever published online. We use third-party tech companies who specialise in this, the same companies used by the major financial institutions and other marketplaces.
So there are two forms of security checks done as standard, and on top of this, parents use the app’s review system and mutual friends tools to see what other local parents think of the babysitter they’re looking at. They can even message other parents who’ve used the sitter in the app itself, for extra info and reassurance.
Re DBS checks, if a sitter has a DBS check they can state this on their profile, and we clearly state that this check has not been verified by us. Parents are of course free to ask a sitter to bring it with them if they want to see it, and we see some people do this. (As it happens, from next week we will begin verifying the DBS checks ourselves, but until now, the above has applied.) The DBS is not a pre-requisite for being on the app (it’s not with many traditional agencies either as it happens) because we know that a parent’s view on this document varies. i.e. if you see a great local sitter who is used and loved by your friends, then whether or not they have a DBS check could be less important.
Importantly though, bubble isn’t an “agency” and we would never claim to be one. We’re a marketplace, and our app is about connecting parents with local sitters around them – giving parents the choice to find (or not to find) the sitter that’s right for them. I’ve got three young kids myself, and we know how a parent’s sensibilities and needs on this issue vary greatly. Parents on the app have total control over who they want to book and can use the tools and information at their disposal to get comfortable with a sitter.
Many parents ask sitters to bring extra documentation with them, or they even ask for a pre-meet up in advance. That’s totally fine with us, and the app gives parents the ability to do what they need to do to be comfortable.
Transparency about what we are – and what we’re not – is hugely important to us. We publish the above information in various places of the app and on the website here: https://joinbubble.com/trust-on-bubble but if you have further questions and want to chat about it directly, you can email me at ari@joinbubble.com . Thanks!