Cover Muhaini Mahmud and Nadira Yusoff, founders of Kiddocare.

When all use of the phrase, “There’s an app for that” has been exhausted, Muhaini Mahmud and Nadira Yusoff ups the challenge by setting up Kiddocare, an app designed to link parents with trained babysitters ad hoc.

Parenting is hard. Parenting in the city is harder, especially when considering the fact that modern parents have time-consuming jobs that start early and end late – often too late, resulting in less time spent with their children, and more need to consistently find reliable, efficient and safe babysitters. In this day and age, with worrying stories of babysitting accidents splashed across the news and whatnot, parents are becoming more and more wary of who they hire to watch over their precious children while they hustle at work. Hence, when we found out that one of our society darlings, Muhaini Mahmud, and her partner Nadira Yusoff have been working on developing a mobile application specifically to address parents' need for a trusted babysitter, we immediately caught up with them for a chat.

What's Kiddocare all about?

It is Malaysia’s first mobile application that conveniently links parents with trained and reliable babysitters based on their preferred time and location. Our Kiddocarers are third-party babysitters onboard the Kiddocare app-based matching platform. We perform comprehensive background checks on the babysitters, including criminal records, psychometric tests, plus they undergo a medical check-up, on top of being trained by childcare industry experts. Rest assured that they are thoroughly screened, to make sure they fit the personality profile and have the required skills, motivation and dedication needed to provide quality service. All applicants go through the entire process before being approved as a Kiddocarer. 

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Above Kiddocare, the app that links parents to babysitters on the spot. Photo: Courtesy of Kiddocare.

What inspired this?

We are mothers, and when it comes to taking care of our children, safety and security is of utmost importance. When it comes down to it, putting together the app was not our first priority, it was all about putting in the processes to make sure that the babysitters are sufficiently equipped with skills and the right aptitude for the job. 

We wanted to also make sure that all our applicants are thoroughly screened. It took us a while to formalise our partnerships with relevant authorities for background and criminal checks. There were months of preparation and improving our training modules—we would not allow our carers to take on any jobs if they had not passed all our assessments, even if they are third-party service providers.  

We need to ensure that they achieve our expected level of professionalism, because we expect the same from anyone taking care of our own children. The app was a mechanism to make bookings simpler. We know how parents these days require babysitting services beyond normal school hours, or formal day-care hours, and we made sure that we trained a pool of carers, before launching our services—so that parents are able to enjoy the service on an on-demand basis.  

 

Our Kiddocarers are third-party babysitters onboard the Kiddocare app-based matching platform

- Muhaini Mahmud -

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Above Photo: Courtesy of Muhaini Mahmud and Nadira Yusoff.

What were some of the best moments when it came to making this a success?

Whenever a customer thanks us for existing and parents trusting us with their precious ones. These are the best moments, because we have helped another parent. We know, when we were there to help them, they were able to get other things done, without worrying about their children much. This motivates us to do more, as well as reach out to more parents. 

Is Kiddocare operating throughout Malaysia?

At the moment, we are operating in the Klang Valley and are planning to go nationwide sometime this year. On a daily basis, we get calls from women from other states requesting our service. We can boldly confirm that we are the first in the region to provide a digital platform for babysitting services.

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Above Like most delivery service apps inundating the market, this one caters specifically to parents looking to book babysitters. Photo: Courtesy of kiddocare.my

What would you say would be Kiddocare’s greatest contribution to society?

We are on a journey to create  an ecosystem to support working parents—giving them the gift of freedom and time by connecting them with babysitters to care for their children. It is also Kiddocare’s aim to empower women who want to pursue childcare as a career or to generate extra income, by providing a platform for them to do so.

 

We are mothers, and when it comes to taking care of our children, safety and security is of utmost importance.

- Muhaini Mahmud -

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Above Parents, rest assured that Kiddocarers are trained by industry experts and assessed by industry standards and partners. Photo: Courtesy of kiddocare.my.

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