đ To use instant bookings, your nursery must have in-app payments enabled. If youâre not set up with in-app payments yet, get in touch with support@famly.co
Parent bookings lets parents book and pay for extra sessions and products directly through the Famly app. You can choose whether bookings are confirmed instantly or need your approval first.
How Parent Bookings Works for Parents
Parents can book extra care in two different ways, depending on how youâve set things up.
Instant Bookings
Parents can:
Book available sessions
Pay immediately in the app
Receive instant confirmation, with no approval needed
đĄ A parent needs to be a bill payer to make instant bookable sessions
Request Bookings
Parents can:
Request sessions that need approval
Wait for you to approve or decline the request
Receive an invoice as usual once the booking is approved
Which option parents see depends on your settings and availability at the time of booking.
Set Up Parent Bookings
You can manage Parent bookings from:
âSettings â Finances â Pricing â Parent bookings
Choose Your Booking Method
You can decide how bookings work at your nursery:
Requests only
All bookings need your approval before theyâre confirmedInstant and requests
Available sessions can be booked instantly. If instant booking isnât available, parents can still send a request (as long as it falls within your booking window)Instant only
Parents can only book sessions that are available for instant booking
Session Availability
When instant bookings are enabled, session availability is calculated automatically based on:
Room capacity
Existing bookings
Expected attendance
Parents can only book instant sessions for their childâs assigned room, so children canât be booked into the wrong room.
đĄ If youâre using automatic room move rules, these are taken into account. When parents book future sessions, availability is checked for the room their child is expected to be in on that date
For both instant bookings and requests:
Closing days are excluded
Parents can only book when your nursery is open
Availability is updated in real time, so thereâs no need to manage it manually.
Choose Which Sessions and Products Are Available
You can select which sessions and add-on products parents are allowed to book. Only the options you choose will appear in the app.
Set Your Advance Booking Window
You can control how far ahead parents can book.
Choose:
Minimum days â how soon parents can book (for example, at least 1 day in advance)
Maximum days â how far ahead parents can book (for example, up to 30 days in advance)
đĄ Minimum and maximum days take into account working days
These settings respect your opening hours, which helps prevent bookings outside working hours. For example:
If your nursery closes at 3pm on Thursday and your minimum booking window is 1 day, a parent booking at 4pm wonât be able to book for Friday. The earliest available day would be Monday.
This helps avoid booking requests coming in after closing time that would otherwise need to be handled the next day.
Set Your Pricing
Choose the pricing band that applies to Parent bookings. This ensures parents are charged the correct amount for each session or product.
Apply Standard Discounts Automatically
You can enable automatic discounts for Parent bookings.
When enabled:
Standard discounts already set up in Famly are applied automatically
Discounts apply when a child has an active plan that includes a discount
Parents see the discounted price while booking
Discounts canât be edited manually on individual bookings
What Parents See in the App
Browsing and Booking
When parents open Parent bookings, theyâll be able to see:
Sessions and products available for their child
Clear prices for each option
Any discounts that apply
Sessions already booked (both pending and confirmed)
Whether each session is available for instant booking or requires a request
If both instant bookings and requests are enabled, parents will first see sessions available for instant booking. If a session isnât available instantly, they can still request it as long as it falls within your booking window.
To follow a parent's booking flow, take a look at the Parents đ§¸: Booking Extra Sessions & Products article.
Paying for Instant Bookings
When parents book instant sessions, theyâll go through a simple checkout process:
Review a summary of their booking and the total amount
Pay using a saved card, Apple Pay, or add a new card
See the total amount clearly shown on the Pay button (for example, âPay ÂŁ45.00â)
Complete payment instantly
Adding Payment Methods
If parents donât already have a saved card, they can add one during checkout. Accepted payment methods for instant bookings are:
Debit or credit card
Apple Pay
Google Pay
Once added, payment details are saved for future instant bookings. If card payments are enabled at your nursery, parents can also use the same card for regular invoices.
After payment:
Parents receive instant confirmation
An invoice is created immediately
Managing Bookings
Instant Bookings
Instant bookings appear in your purchase list as automatically approved.
This means:
The booking is already confirmed
Payment has already been taken
No approval is required
An invoice is generated immediately and is separate from your regular invoice runs.
If you need to cancel an instant booking, youâll need to process a manual refund.
Request Bookings
Request bookings appear in your purchase list as usual.
You can:
Approve or decline the request
Include approved bookings on the parentâs next regular invoice
Good to Know
The Already booked section shows:
Approved ad hoc purchases
Sessions from the childâs active plan
Future plan changes arenât taken into account, so parents may see more or fewer available sessions depending on upcoming changes