The babysitter of today? That is no longer the thirteen-year-old neighbor girl with chips on the couch and the children in bed. It is an energetic student you book via the app. “She temporarily takes over the entire household,” says founder Charly van der Straten (31) of Charly Cares.

Babysitting service Charly Cares is launching in seven places in the Gooi. In Hilversum, Naarden, Bussum and Huizen, parents can book a suitable babysitter nearby via the app.

“Rates vary between 5 and 12 euros per hour,” says director Charly van der Straten. The company, founded in 2016, has 75,000 users in 50 places, such as Amsterdam, Haarlem, Leiden, Amstelveen and Utrecht. Babysitters are insured and can call a medical hotline 24/7.

Babysitting apps are growing like crazy. Charly Cares, too, active in cities such as Haarlem, Leiden, Amstelveen and Amsterdam, is spreading its wings. “Four years ago, it was said that it was only a ‘Randstad concept’. But parents often leave the city when they have a second child, so areas like the Gooi are becoming attractive to us.”

Van der Straten sees the babysitting market changing at a rapid pace. “After-school babysitting at home is on the rise. Parents have flexible working hours, grandparents live far away or are busy themselves. The need for a reliable babysitter with a strong sense of responsibility is great. A kind of au pair who does not stay the night.”

Babysitting can be booked up to three hours in advance. Handy for last-minute nights out or a meeting. Sometimes it can be even faster. “The thank-you from parents, both surgeons, who had made a booking at six in the morning and were standing in the operating room at seven for an emergency operation, was so lovely. Lives were saved!” The life of a babysitter is top-level sport. “But those girls can handle that,” says Van der Straten. “For example, she looks after three children, including a ten-month-old baby. After the bottle, the baby takes a nap. In the afternoon she picks up the other children from school by car or cargo bike. Often their friends come along. In between, one has to go to football practice and the other to ballet. Then the babysitter cooks a healthy meal. It doesn’t matter whether the parent gets home at six or seven, everything just keeps going. Sometimes she even gives the kids a bath, puts on their pyjamas and then dad and mom put them to bed.”

Charly van der Straten of babysitting service Charly Cares receives many questions from parents about the coronavirus. “Especially expats find it exciting.” The babysitters must comply with the RIVM guidelines. Wash your hands and sneeze into your elbow.