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April 2012 Moms
KatFCo
member
Why is it so hard to find someone to watch a baby?
KatFCo
member
I've been trying hard to find someone who can watch LO one day a week so I can volunteer at DD's school. I'm a SAHM right now but am looking for a professor job for next year and I need to demonstrate that I tried to do something with my year off.
A friend of mine from church offered to watch LO every Thursday, starting today. I'm not volunteering yet, but I wanted to have a day as a test run, just in case it didn't go well.
Apparently, my friend's 20-month-old is insanely jealous over LO being there and my friend says she doesn't know if she can do it. It took me forever just to find someone willing to do it and now she might have to back out! I'm so frustrated that it looks like I might end up torpedoing my career because I can't find a babysitter.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Why is it so hard to find someone to watch a baby?
Columbus, Ohio. Why?
Isn't OSU in Columbus? I'm positive you'd be able to find a college student or graduate student who is looking to augment their income. Especially a student who wants to become a teacher/counselor/social worker.
ETA: does your church have something set up for babysitters? Like a listserv?
Or try sittercity.com. It's a great resource.
mm 2/17/11 * dd born 4/20/12 * bo 1/3/14 * edd 1/21/ 1/15
OSU is in Columbus, as are a couple of other colleges. Those places are my next stop, but we can't afford a whole lot, so I'm afraid a college student may decide it's not worth their time.
Our church isn't huge and it's a lot of older families. Those with kids mostly work outside the home and those who are retired already have commitments. We made announcements for weeks looking for someone and this friend was the only one who offered.
That's what I think too, and I hope she'll at least give it one more week. I offered to bring his PNP and his rocker so her LO doesn't have to share her things.
I'm especially frustrated because this exact same thing happened in August. A friend of mine watched him one day while we were packing and she called me to come get him after a few hours because her 10 month old was getting jealous and insisting on being held (he was cranky too).
Maybe my baby is just so cute he inspires jealousy among others.
Actually, they both already have other children. The first friend, I can understand why it was a difficult day for her, because she has an almost 3 year old and an almost 1 year old. She even called me and said "I'm not the strong woman I thought I was." That day, LO was particularly needy too, so I can understand it.
The friend today has 2 older girls who are about 7 and 10, so it may have been a while since she dealt with more than one baby at a time.
Micah Leonard
Was she going to do it very very low cost?
Hmm it is tough. I guess it depends what hourly rate you offer, the more you offer the easier it will be to find someone.
The cost of babysitters is the main reason we never go anywhere (besides work) without her.
She was planning on doing it for free, but we wanted to pay her, so we were going to pay her whatever we could.
Fortunately, she's willing to try next week and she think it'll go better if I bring some of his things.
That's a bummer that it's not working out, but it was kind of both of your friends to offer. However, I do think it's unreasonable for anyone to watch someone's LO for free if it is too difficult for them. Since they are not family, if it doesn't work out, they aren't obligated.
I'd try care.com or sittercity.com and hire someone to be your LO's 1:1 caregiver. That would be more reliable. Good luck!