Babysitter Advice

MsAmeera25 · October 2013

Hey Ladies so DH and I are looking for a baby sitter. We currently have a nanny however she attends church on Friday and Saturday evenings and is not able to babysit for us. We typically have a date night on Wed and she will babysit for us but we would like to start going to happy hours or movies etc on Friday or Saturdays so i'm looking for a sitter. My question is would you have someone come to your house or take LO to theirs? I'm worried about them going through our house for some reason but I also don't want LO in someone else's home. Our nanny went through a background check etc would you do that for a babysitter? I found this lady through my cities babysitting Facebook group so I don't know her through anyone...Also how did you ladies find a sitter who is not a family member? TIA

JSS1002 · October 2013

If I didn't trust somebody to be alone in my house, I woudln't trust them with my child.

I've heard great things about Care.com -- I have not yet found a non-family sitter, but it is on the to-do list. I've got names from friends, also, but I hate to "steal" somebody's regular sitter!

BellaBean76 · October 2013

We used care.com and found someone that is great...you can have a background check and get references as well. Also maybe ask your current nanny?

MsAmeera25 · October 2013

I technically have no reason not to trust her..I just thought it in my head. Care.com gave me a lot of crazies when I was looking for a nanny. Good idea to ask my current nanny thanks!

danuli8 · October 2013

I think it's a lot easier to have LO at your house with all his familiar toys, crib, etc. And I agree, if you trust the person with your baby, hopefully you can trust them not to steal your stuff.

superToots · October 2013

Care.com, craigslist, ask on Facebook, if you attend church look into kids in the youth group. College kids going to school for teaching are also great.

Trust your gut. And do a trial run. Have them watch LO while you're home prepping dinner/doing laundry/etc. If you feel comfortable after that then go out for dinner or something for an hour it two...like grocery shopping.

And if you have a dog they will totally let you know if there is a problem!

JSS1002 · October 2013

Also, is your LO in daycare? I have heard that the best thing to do is ask the daycare workers if any of them are interested in babysitting! I haven't done that yet, but I plan to!

skidderdo · October 2013

We used care.com are are batting 3 for 3 with awesome sitters. We hired our full time nanny using that site and our babysitters. I would also not bring my kid to someone else's house... if you don't trust them to take care of your house, how can you trust them with a child? GL it's stressful trying to find someone you like and trust but I'm sure you will have luck!

skidderdo · October 2013

oh, and yes, there are TONS of crazies on care.com, I was just patient and only interviewed after we had exchanged emails a few times so I felt like it would be a possible fit.

Sol1790 · October 2013

I'm a nanny/babysitter and a member of sittercity.com all the above info is correct. Have a trial day see how she is with baby alone. And in my experience younger teens are not a good idea to watch a baby. Also when I do babysit for babies the parents usually put the baby down and I just come to their home to a sleeping baby. And they usually do not wake up. I just check up on them a few times at night. I would not use craigslist crazy people on there. Good luck!

kgs0505 · October 2013

I would never have someone babysit my kids in their home if it wasn't a daycare setting. My kids need to sleep in their own beds, have their own toys etc. Leaving them with a stranger for the first time in an unfamiliar environment? No way! I don't have family close by enough to baby sit for us, so I first used a recommendation from the neighbors. She was good. Too bad she slept with my husband. But by then she wasn't really babysitting for us anymore anyway. She was working for DH as an admin. Anyway, enough about my drama. The hunt for a new sitter became really important. I found our current one on care.com. I posted a job and got like 31 responses. I picked two or three to call. I only ended up calling one. She sounded normal on the phone, so I had her come by to meet me and the kids. She had a good interaction with my 2 yo and seemed comfortable with the babies. So, we tried her out one friday evening. It went well, my son loves playing with Miss L! I took her to a party with me a couple days later since DH couldn't go and I can't chase my 2yo and juggle twin infants at the same time in a park. She did great! I've used her again, and I'm still having great experiences with her, so we're going to keep calling her.

[Deleted User] · October 2013

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JSS1002 · October 2013

kgs0505 said:

I don't have family close by enough to baby sit for us, so I first used a recommendation from the neighbors. She was good. Too bad she slept with my husband. But by then she wasn't really babysitting for us anymore anyway. She was working for DH as an admin.

Please tell me that either you ditched the husband, or he found a new admin!?

kgs0505 · October 2013

JSS1002 said:

kgs0505 said:

I don't have family close by enough to baby sit for us, so I first used a recommendation from the neighbors. She was good. Too bad she slept with my husband. But by then she wasn't really babysitting for us anymore anyway. She was working for DH as an admin.
Please tell me that either you ditched the husband, or he found a new admin!?

No, I didn't ditch the husband. We are working on it. It has truly been the worst thing I have ever experienced. She is no longer in any of our lives.

bumpuser5078523 · October 2013

I would ask friends or your nanny for a recommendation. Word of mouth goes farther than a background check with me.

sapphire021 · October 2013

Another vote for having the sitter come to your home. We used Care.com to get our in-home sitter for during the work day. The first person came to our house during the day, but now we take LO to a sitter who also watches her cousin. I know a lot of friends who are nannies/sitters that use Care.com to find their jobs, you just have to weed through the responses to find someone who fits.

lyankowi · October 2013

If you live in an addition see if your newsletter carries a babysitting section. We I lived with my parents I hot my first job through there, it then passed on to my sister. She also got a few good jobs through the newsletter too. The sitter will probably be a liitle younger, high school age, but then you wouldn't have go drive them home. I don't know that might work.

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