The regulator stressed that people who baby-sit for one another's children for more than two hours at a time or for more than 14 days per year should be registered.
This applies where parents receive a "reward" for the childcare - which can include money or simply free baby-sitting in return.
According to the Mail on Sunday, Detective Constable Leanne Shepherd from Milton Keynes was warned by Ofsted to end a reciprocal arrangement with her friend DC Lucy Jarrett.
She told the newspaper: "When the Ofsted inspector turned up, the first thing she said was 'I have had a report that you're running an illegal childminding business'.
A petition to scrap the rules governing reciprocal child care on the Number 10 website has already gathered more than 2,000 signatures.
Is it right that you should register as a childminder if you babysit for a friend? Is this a sensible precaution to help protect children or is it a case of bureaucracy being pushed to extremes?
