Babysitters

john5111

So now that Lo is 1 Im getting a little more anxious to go out and have some date nights.  Both of our families live over an hour away so date nights to have them babysit is just out of the question.  If we go somewhere overnight/weekend we bring him to them or they come to our house.  This past year Ive had random friends of mine that dont have kids babysit when needed(very few times).

Now that hes a little older Im getting braver about finding a babysitter to come over some Fri/Sat nights for an occasional date night.  I would prefer someone to drive over to our house.  I feel bad asking my friends that dont have kids and a lot of times they refuse for me to pay them.. they have lives too.

My questions?
How did you find your babysitter? Are comfortable having a stranger if you interview them before?
What is the going hourly rate for one 1 year old?  Has anyone used like care.com? I didnt know how much this ended up costing?

Thanks!  I did post a craiglist posting to see if Id get any hits. My neighbor did this to find someone to watch her twin boys and loves them. Im still a little weary if Id trust them. Id of course have them over first to interview.

I know in college I babysat for a family that I found on a posting and I went once before to meet them and then they hired me and I ended up babysitting for them all 4 years of college.

delino

What about using the person your neighbor uses?

TradeMama

I use a woman that works with DH as my babysitter. She actually started out dogsitting then offered to watch C when he was born.

I have a 16 year old son who could babysit in a pinch, but he's never changed a diaper and I don't think I'd leave the newborn with him. I personally wouldn't want a high schooler but it depends on your circumstances and the personality of your LO (mine is a handful).

I've never used care.com but would consider it.

bumpuser3155624

We have a friend use care.com since they had a set night they needed a sitter and wanted the same one each week(volleyball league). They were happy with it.

We use a hs girl that is a niece of a coworker. Our other sitter us a college girl from our daycare. Maybe ask at daycare if kiddo goes.

jesselayne8

I use sittercity.com. I don't really interview but I have them come "play" with my kids for 2hrs with me at home to get a feel for how they interact. I pay $12 for one kid and $15 for both kids (1yr. & 2yr).

emmy236

We will be in the same spot after my parents leave after R's first birthday. To find a sitter we will either get recommendations from friends with LOs or we may ask our neighbors. They are weird (sister wives situation) but nice and the older daughter is high school age. Considering she's been helping with babies all her life and the one mom is a PA, I'm comfortable with her watching R for a few hours. If anything happens the moms are right there too.

nolabelle10

We use someone from S's daycare.  If your little one isn't in daycare, you might be able to call a local one to see if any of the teachers are interested in babysitting.  It gave me a great deal of comfort as I knew our babysitter was already familiar with diaper changes, feeding, baths, etc.  Also, same as @TradeMama, our dogsitter is also one of our sitters.  She's great with S and our dobie!

john5111

Ok thanks! Ive been tempted to ask my daycare's daughter as well...only problem is she has two daughters and the older one seems to be a trouble maker from what she tells me but Id totally trust the younger one..just hard to say oh Id only one the one to babysit? haha  Plus they live on the other side of town so it would be a pain because the younger one does not have a drivers license yet.

bumpuser8130818

I always used sittercity and care.com when I was a babysitter and nanny. I loved using those sites and met a lot of great families. Sometimes I would take last minute jobs where they never met me before the day of, but we always corresponded several times first. They upload pictures plus do background checks, so I definitely recommend trying those sites out. I used them for at least 5 years.