mybabysitter.com

Find a good sitter

15th July, 2009 - Posted by Raheema -

I was at Michael’s today and they were putting up their displays for Halloween.  It’s only July, but they are setting up for October.  What happened to July, August and September? August is a month that many parents start looking for babysitters again.  Especially for before and after school care.  So I figured I am only a few weeks away for one of our busy months… so here is some advice on ‘Finding a good sitter’.

The first thing you should do is write down what it is you are looking for in a sitter.   The second thing is write down what the sitter will be required to do.  Everyone wants their babysitters to do different things and everyone’s criteria is different. Consulting a friend on this, may give you some ideas, but really it is personal and should be customized to your family’s needs.

Here are a few points to consider.

What to look for in a sitter?

Are appearances important? How important is hygiene - does he / she wash hands frequently etc?

How many years experience do you require?  What age group has the sitter worked with before?

If the sitter is going to be babysitting a lot, you may want to consider if their religious beliefs will blend with yours.

Is their an education requirement for your sitter?  Finished high school?  ECE?  Montessori?

Does your child have allergies, is the sitter able to use and EPI pen or does he/she have CPR?

What is the sitter required to do?

Will you be home when the sitter is babysitting?

Will he/she be required to do dishes, laundry, clean etc?

If your kids are asleep when the sitters comes over at night or still take a nap in the day, what to you want the sitter to do?

Is the sitter allowed to use the telephone / Internet?

These questions are just to help you get started, there maybe many more going through you mind… go ahead and ask your sitter! It is the only way to know the answer!

These day’s there are many ways to find a good sitter.  You can post an ad in the classifieds, ask around the neighborhood or at work, you can often ask your neighborhood school / high school.  You can also put up ads on Craigslist or consult an on line sitting service.  You can ask people at church or check the grocery store bulletin.  All these methods are OK as long as you know what you are looking for.  Do your research. Interview more than one sitter, check a few of their references and perhaps even a few times, ask the sitter to come home when you are home at first, so that you can see how the kids and sitter interact with one another.  If you do all your homework, you will find a GREAT sitter!  If you watch them play together or when your children are excited that he babysitter is coming over you will know you picked the right babysitter!