Sitter Nightmares

Marcella05 · October 2014

Tried to find family members to watch DS one night with no luck. Thought nothing of it. Then, couldn't get anyone to watch him for a few hours over the weekend. Tried checking out people through Care.com and no takers. Tried Care.com again for tonight (so that we could go to our daughter's Cross Country District Dinner at the high school), but the lady didn't release her background check to me and I got too scared. Kept having horrible thoughts last night that someone would kidnap my precious boy. So we had 2 friends come over and watch him instead. I had very specific intructions in the event of a wake-up... leave the lights off and keep it quiet so that he stays calm and goes back to bed. I get home and I find DS with them on the couch watching cartoons... WTF? I need start building my whitelist of sitters - screened and rated. So that I can feel comfortable leaving for a few hours at night or on the weekend and know that he is in good hands. So it begins. Any advice?

Nikkipal82 · October 2014

I used care.com to find a part time nanny. I like her a lot, but she gave me notice so the search is back on. Overall I've been happy, I've had quite a few applications. I imagine it would vary a lot depending on where you live. Also, coupon codes are easy to find with a quick search.

spinsoffresonance · October 2014

I would be ok using care.com for a nanny I get to interview a couple times before hiring, but not for an occasional babysitter I wouldn't meet ahead of time. I feel very uncomfortable leaving LO with a complete stranger. We didn't find a babysitter for DD1 until she was over a year old, had her come over a couple times and now she moved away so we have to find a new one again.

We tried asking neighbors and friends with kids for recommendations but none of them use a sitter. I tried asking some of the nannies at the playground but none of them were interested. Finally DH's summer intern was hired by his firm. She's fresh out of college and has lots of friends looking to make extra cash. she just gave me the number of her friend who is a lacrosse coach. I hope she works out because I need a sitter on Tuesday to go to the preschool admission open house!

IBackBevo · October 2014

I have used care.com for my 4 nannies (hired 5 but first one didn't show up on her first day of work)...it has been hit or miss. 2 were/are amazing. 1 we fired because she lied about being a smoker and was smoking on the job around my preemie 3 month old son. 1 was good but then decided she needed to be paid more (3 months in) and quit without notice via email after taking a bunch of paid time off. And, of course, there was the one woman who just failed to show up on her first day of work with no call or anything. But our current nanny is great and we had another who was completely amazing who moved. So, basically, it is hit or miss. Every time we have hired, I have looked at at least 50 applications and interviewed 4-5, checked references, etc.

THD7580 · October 2014

This literally scares the crap out of me! In the last two weeks we have seen on the news one in my city and then the next city over moms who have used care.com and both nannies abusing the babies. Twins then a 22 month old. Omg I was so so mad watching the nanny cams! I'm really glad my cousin can watch DS for the time being. I'm hoping to find a sitter that's one of my sahm friends when my cousin can't watch him anymore. If I had to use one of the services best believe I would be going through background checks with a fine tooth comb after seeing that!

Marcella05 · October 2014

@zolten - LO doesn't fall asleep easily. And, of course, a happy baby is ultimately not an issue. He has been watched by various family members and close friends (and in family care during work hours), so he is familiar with being in the care of others. He's also had other people feed him in MOTN besides me. I think my friends just wanted to play with him (and who could blame them when that cute face smiles at you and legs kick with excitement).

Nevertheless, I have posted a job and taking applicants. Found one already that I LOVE! I've also received some advice from someone on TB about local opportunities for sitters. I think we are headed in the right direction now!

QOTR · October 2014

We found our nanny on care.com and have been pleased. We also interviewed another candidate that we really liked, but she decided to go back to college for another semester instead. Like someone mentioned above, either of these ladies had more experience with babies than we did, so we felt like a good background check and good personality fit were just as important as experience.

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