Nanny recruitment is at record levels with more than 100,000 nannies estimated to be working in the UK. It is a boom in nannysharing which many see as the reason for the country's growing army of nannies. But why is nannysharing so popular?

There is no doubt that a nanny is the preferred childcare option for most parents. If you find a great nanny then you have the best of all worlds. You have someone who can give you flexibility you need and also someone who will ensure your child's development is every bit as good as formal childcare settings.

Sharing a nanny not only resolves the issue of cost, it also means the children will learn social skills from interacting with other children.It is the two arguments against hiring a nanny which can make sharing so attractive. The first is cost, which means that nannies would not be an option for many parents. The second are fears that the children will miss out on interaction with other children, hampering their social skills. Quite simply, sharing the cost and putting children from two families under the care of one nanny solves both of these problems head on.

But why the nanny share boom in the last three years? The first explanation could be there are a lot more nannies in the UK than ever before Eastern Europeans, Antipodeans and British candidates who prefer the pay and conditions of a family rather than a nursery. These are good candidates who are happy to do the extra work that a nanny share involves if it means securing that great nanny job.

Perhaps the most important single reason for the increase is that it is now so much easier to hunt out that "other family" with similar age children and ideas on bringing up children. There was a time when the only way to find the potential nanny share, which you knew must be out there somewhere, was to ask as many people as you could bump into and put an advert in the newsagent's window. You were very lucky if this provided a positive result.

That has now changed. Although you can blame the internet for many things it seems it was invented for something like nanny sharing. It is now possible to use websites that simply match up local families who have registered what they are looking for to find another family to share a nanny with. These sites act much like dating sites, making the process much easier. Parenting chat rooms have been another great way for families to connect and find a fellow sharer.

Nannysharing is here to stay and it is the internet which has given it a whole new life, making it a mainstream childcare option.

By Jo Lawson who runs specialist nannysharing website nannyshare.co.uk