Similar to chipmunkj, we solved the issue "in house".
We lived in a small 3 bedroomed terraced house when our second baby arrived, not in the UK and couldn't afford a British Nanny. We could afford Au Pairs, so we moved the 2 kids into the smallest room and advertised for an Au Pair from my husband's country (for the kids' language development).
Once she arrived, life became immensely better.
We had Au Pairs (male and female) until the kids were 10 and 12 years old, and only ever had 2 bad apples we had to send back home to Ireland and the USA.
Kids now 19 and 17 and still talk fondly of the luxury of having a Nanny/driver/swing pusher/story reader all to themselves, the way they loved never having to go to childcare, the fact that they (kids) speak 3 languages fluently and the fact that the Au Pairs were young enough to have great god fun with.
With the caveat that nobody loves the kids like parents or grandparents, these Au pairs certainly made life liveable for us, and allowed both of us to go to work feeling fairly confident that the kids were happy and cared for.