Introducing a babysitter?

sbevmc09

We've never used a babysitter before, but I'm tossing around the idea of starting to use one.  I don't even want to tell you how long it's been since MH and I have had a date night outside of the house.  It's embarrassing. 

Anyway, a friend of mine told me that she recently met a college-aged girl from her neighborhood that babysits.  She has a lot of siblings and although my friend hasn't used her she said that she seemed really nice and she's definitely going to keep her in mind.  I'm contemplating contacting her for us, but I'm kind of apprehensive about it all.  It's new to us.  

So... when you introduce/meet a new sitter, how do you go about that?  Do you let the sitter come over for a visit ahead of time so that you can see them interacting with your LO and make sure it's a good fit?  Or do you just introduce them the night you would be leaving and hope everything works out okay?

Also, my friend mentioned this girl works on a sliding scale.  What's the going hourly rate for a college-aged sitter with experience who would be sitting for us a couple of hours for a date night?

jillyjill1026sr

I did a lot of babysitting when I was younger and I always went to meet the parents and kids. I would hang out for a bit to see how they reacted to me. One mom had me come over quite a bit before leaving her son with me (she paid me during that time). If

notkateanymore

I interview the sitter either in person or on the phone. Then I have them come about 10 or 15 minutes before we need to leave and then we just go. I don't see the point in having them come over early to meet DD since so much of liking a sitter in inter

sbevmc09

Oooh, that's a good point too.  If you do a meet and greet beforehand is it normal to pay them for that time at the same rate you would if you weren't there? 

Yikes, $15/hr?!  <img src="https://community.thebump.com/cs/emoticons/em

notkateanymore

With two kids, you should expect to pay between $10-$15 I would assume. I've never heard of anybody paying under $10 for two kids and a college age sitter.

I do not pay during the interview. I usually suggest we meet at Starbucks or somewhere sim

12bailey18

We found our babysitter on sittercity.com. What we did was correspond with her through text messaging and the website first. Once I felt comfortable that I wanted to use her I set up a time for her to come out to the house and hang out and meet the kids.

12bailey18

I also don't pay for the interview. I always offer snacks and drinks, though. 

roxy_jj

I usually interview the sitter over the phone and then have them come over for a short visit to meet the kids.  In the past I have hired a sitter before they met my kids and it went well. 

I think the price depends on the COL in your a

Temp174496125006552

We haven't had to use a sitter because we have so much family around, but Jordan (my 19 year old) babysits for quite a few women in the moms group that I run. Usually, she will go over once before they want her to babysit to meet her, see how the child

WinsyWade

I read this earlier and I wanted to add this babysitting rate calculator.  It is pretty good although, sometimes the prices are inflated.  It seems like you could know $1-1.50 off the total they give and still have a fair to high rate.
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WinsyWade

amy052006:

Maybe I am lazy, but if you are going to charge $10 an hour for one kid or $12 an hour for two, just charge me $15.

notkateanymore

amy052006:

Maybe I am lazy, but if you are going to charge $10 an hour for one kid or $12 an hour for two, just charge me $15.

sbevmc09

Thanks, ladies!  This is helpful.  I feel better equipped to approach the situation now.  It won't be happening tomorrow as I'm not ready to leave DD until she's on a more regular schedule (she's pretty much on a sleep whenever, eat wheneve

jillyjill1026sr

sbevmc09:

Oooh, that's a good point too.  If you do a meet and greet beforehand is it normal to pay them for that time at