Finding a good, reliable babysitter that you can trust to look after your child or children can be a very difficult endeavor. Not everyone has the grandparents or other relatives live close by to easily drop off your children. And you certainly cannot bother friends too often by asking them to watch out for your children. In those situations you might have used teenagers from your neighborhood for babysitting, but let’s be honest – that is usually not a long-term solution and too often you hear stories about babysitting gone wrong. So, if you are looking for a reliable babysitter, you can use the following tips to make your interview and selection process a little easier.
Follow these steps to increase your chances of finding yourself a great babysitter.
Babysitter Recommendations
Recommendations from friends or family who have been in the same situation is always a great option to find a babysitter. That is actually how my wife and I found our first babysitter … who lasted for a whole 3 months before no longer returning our calls. If you are new to a town or city ask Daycare workers, school teachers, co-workers and neighbors for help finding a babysitter. They will often be able to give you a recommendation.
Match Making
As part of your selection and interview process you want to ask for a babysitting session with you being around. You want to find out how your little one(s) respond to the new babysitter and to warm them up a little bit. The big “no No” you do not want to do is to introduce the new babysitter on the evening you are going out for date night and leave the babysitter alone with your child without them both giving a chance to get to know each other first.
Safety
Ask your potential babysitters if they can perform CPR and have taken a first aid course within the last 12 months. There are also babysitting training classes they might have attended. Ask for it. Ask for references and make sure to call them up, too. You also need to provide a safe environment so that the babysitter can successfully watch out for your child. Detailed instructions of where what to find are critical. Also, walk the babysitter through your house. Show where the phones are located as an example. Show where food and drinks are located for the kid(s) and for the sitter. Explain the rules you wish the babysitter to follow (TV – yes or No, leaving the house for a walk with the baby – stuff like that).
I like to use a babysitting service that actually takes care of many things for me. Some even do a background check and they also post reviews provided by other parents in their database. This allows you to get a good impression upfront if a potential babysitter is a good match for you. Sittercity as an example has over 1 Million babysitters and nannies in their database. They offer these features when you sign up with them.
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