Bella1066

Our Son’s Happiness Says It All

Yvette was truly the best find we made. I usually only write reviews once a service is complete, but Yvette is my exception — I cannot recommend her enough.

Before our son started childcare, we visited a number of childminders. While most were lovely, Yvette stood out to my husband and me. I can’t quite describe it, but it felt like a sixth sense telling us our child would be safe and happy with her.

As a first-time parent, leaving my only child in someone else’s care while returning to work after maternity leave, my nerves were sky-high. But from the very first meeting, her calm demeanour, warmth, patience, and the way our son settled around her put us completely at ease.

At the time we met her, Yvette had just returned to childminding after a short break. Caring for children is hard work, and the fact that she had stepped back, recharged, and come back refreshed spoke volumes to us. It showed her self-awareness and her commitment to giving children her very best.

Our son absolutely adores her. At drop-off, he’s eager to run off and get on with his day. This might sound strange, but for a parent there is no greater joy than seeing your child so happy that they literally push you out and close the door behind you — and my son does this every single day!

Yvette keeps him super active, engaged, and constantly learning. I often joke that I’m jealous of his life — every day is an adventure. Rain or shine, he’s out exploring, reading, exercising, visiting playgrounds, meeting up with other children, or even going on trips. There’s never a dull moment.

She also shares regular and thoughtful updates with photos and videos, often explaining the developmental milestone behind an activity — for example, how a simple game builds dexterity or problem-solving skills. His vocabulary has also grown so much since being with her, which is lovely to see. She notices things about our son long before we do (sometimes embarrassingly so!).

Yvette truly feels like part of our family. I love our chats during drop-offs and pick-ups, and she is always so accommodating with our schedules. She genuinely cares about our little boy’s wellbeing — she misses him when he’s away on holiday and makes him feel so cherished, whether it’s thoughtful Christmas presents (last year it was a beautiful book) or the little surprises he brings home each day, like something he planted or a piece of artwork he proudly made.

Choosing a childminder is one of the hardest and most important decisions you’ll ever make. If you’re considering Yvette, I’d be more than happy to talk to you personally and share more about our experience — but I can already tell you, she is an absolute gem.

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by Fatush on 18/09/2025

Warm, adventurous and part of the family!

Yvette looks after my daughter, Annabelle, age 3. We have been working together this time around for for 18 months - since Annabelle was 20 months old and we are extremely happy with the care provided. Like many, Annabelle was a lockdown baby and as such found the transition into childcare quite daunting. Yvette was there for us every step of the way tailoring a settling in plan specific to our needs. This child focussed, nurturing approach continues and she’s supported us through other changes such as potty training and transition to pre-school. She’s also worked wonders with my fussy little eater!

Yvette provides a lovely home from home setting but is also very adventurous taking the children all around the local area and even into central London. My favourite trip was their visit to Chinatown to look at the lanterns and sample the food in celebration of Chinese NY! She also does lots of creative activities and they produce fabulous artwork!

The eagle eyed may notice that this is my 3rd review of Yvette - the first of which was 2017 when she was looking after my older son (now 10) so you can see that Yvette has really become part of the family. Indeed she was top of Annabelle’s invitation list for her recent 3rd birthday party.

I thoroughly recommend Yvette and v happy to give an even more detailed personal reference!

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by RebeccaG on 15/02/2023

Experienced, warm, active and fun!

Leo, aged two now, has been with Yvette for just over a year now and he has such a great time! We're so lucky to have found her, she's warm, sensible and brilliant with the children. They are always out and about exploring new things, both locally in parks, libraries, etc. and with some trips to central London to see sights like Tower Bridge, Natural History Museum, etc. which is fantastic. She has a wealth of experience which is very reassuring and has great knowledge of child development. Yvette's house is really well equipped with a range of age-appropriate toys and we're often gifted with their creations! Yvette has a network of other childminders she spends time with so there is socialising with different children too. Any family is really lucky to get to know and work with Yvette.

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by Ccon5 on 10/10/2022

Experienced, warm and active.

Yvette has been Theo's childminder since he was 6 months old (he is now almost 3). I was dreading going back to work and very worried about leaving my baby and thank goodness we found Yvette! Most importantly Theo adores her and is always happy to go to Yvette's house. No wonder as they are always up to something fun. Yvette is very active and likes to explore with the boys. They go off to forest school, try different parks, museums, libraries and many other places. There is a group of childminders that Yvette is friends with in the area and so there are often other children to play with too.

At home Yvette provides structured, fun and age appropriate activities, has lot of toys for play and encourages healthy eating. Theo loves drawing, painting and baking with her. She is warm, caring and we have become friends over the years. I can't recommend her enough, any family would be lucky to have her!

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by Rebecca on 15/07/2021

Wonderful, experienced & reliable

Yvette has regularly looked after my 2 year old daughter over the last year and a half. She is kind, reassuring and Maggie loves spending time at her house. The kids are taken on wonderful trips around the local area including parks and nature reserves. She is friends with lovely local childminders which means the children have a greater chance to socialise. We have enjoyed meeting the other kids and their parents and now feel part of a community. Yvette has respect and a lovely manner with all of the children. She has an obvious interest in the children's development and focuses on educational games. She is kind, calm and knowledgeable which is very reassuring for a parent.

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by Dani on 28/06/2021

Still Great - 2 years on!!

I first left a review for Yvette in April 2017. We have continued to work with Yvette - primarily for wrap around care but also for full days during the holidays and ad hoc nannying in our own home. We are still delighted with the care provided by Yvette and my son loves her. Yvette has become part of the family for us. She’s really flexible and provides a very relaxed home setting where my son can relax. During holiday care, Yvette thinks of a range of activities and has taken my son to the top London museums and even a River Thames tour. I thoroughly recommend Yvette and very happy to give full references on request.

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by RebeccaG on 29/01/2019

Warm, friendly and experienced

I met with Yvette to discuss caring for my 6 month old son. She was very friendly and clearly has a lot of experience as well as knowledge about child development. I was very impressed with her set up and what she had to offer. In the end, we went with another childminder much closer to our home but I would have had absolutely no qualms leaving my child with Yvette knowing that he would have been superbly cared for.

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by Parent on 10/05/2018

Friendly and very experienced

I met with Yvette to discuss childming options for my 7 month old son. Yvette instantly bonded with my son and I was very impressed with her knowledge around child development and wide range of activities for her children. We ultimately went for a live in option for our children as my working commitments changed, but otherwise we would have chosen Yvette.

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by Cathws on 03/12/2017

My son loves Yvette!!

Yvette has been providing care for my 3 year old son since Christmas and we are all extremely pleased with how it is working. My son loves her. She's really brought him out of his shell and pays a lot of attention to his development. It's been my first experience of a childminder and Yvette has really opened my eyes to all the benefits. I would thoroughly recommend and am happy to give references.

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by RebeccaG on 20/04/2017