interviewing a babysitter for the first time...

ramom

what would you ask?

need some help coming up with questions...?? 

mrs.jimbob squarepants

you might try asking on 3-6 mo. b/c it is probably more fresh on their minds or on the working moms board...but I mostly just asked about policies, like how many weeks vacation/sick days/etc she expects, who can pick up the baby at the end of the day, what kind of activities she does w/the kids, how many kids does she watch, what hours she's avail. ,etc. HTH!

gniddew

We just did this once and are doing it again tonight.  We had her come over while DS was awake so we could see how she interacted with him.  We had her feed him a little and then play with him for a while.

We asked basic things about her - experience with children DS's age, CPR/First Aid training (if DH and I were not certified, I would not ask this question), and hourly rate.  A couple "what would you do if" type questions.  We don't do CIO, so the main one was how she would handle DS if he was crying when she put him down.

HTH.

Melanie.Brown

We hired a nanny/babysitter when DD was 10 wks old because I had to go back to work.  Here are the types of questions we asked:

What is your experience/background watching children?

What ages of children have you cared for?

What are your plans for the near future? (We wanted to make sure we found someone long-term)

Are you comfortable following our schedule for DD? 

How do you handle stress?  What would you do if DD was crying inconsolably? (Never an issue with DD, but just in case I had to ask)

Ask questions that specifically relate to you and your situation.

During the interview we also had her hold DD to see how they reacted to each other (probably more important at this age now, than at 10 wks)

DD and Aileen (our nanny) are very close now.  Aileen has even stayed overnight with her and Josie just loves her.