May 2015 Moms
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Babysitters?

has anyone left their LO with a non family caretaker for a little while? Next month I Am going to have one Saturday where I'm gonna have to find a non family member watch my twins and I'm already stressing. How do you find someone who you can trust? Is it wrong to have a in home interview and see interaction between babies and possible caretaker? Am I being to paranoid! My babies have only been in my care my sisters care and her 19 year old daughter. I've never had to trust strangers or even semi strangers so I am so nervous!

Re: Babysitters?

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    Buckles0528Buckles0528 member
    edited August 2015
    The only time we have was he was 5 weeks old and we were about to move out of state. My boss (at the time) babysat for a date night. It wasn't like we didn't know her but she wasn't family. I was completely comfortable with it.

    Haven't used another non family member yet only because the cost is very high here and I haven't had to go anywhere worth $20/ hour. Absolutely do interviews! As many as you want. Any good care taker won't mind meeting before being left alone with your babies.

    ETA: I meant interview multiple sitters not one sitter multiple times!
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    I am very blessed to have an amazing sister who watches my twins for me when I am working and while I'm in school. She is the best. But this one Saturday I have a class I can't miss and my sister will be out of town for my nephews baseball tournament. Other than my sister I don't have family and I moved from where I had all my friends to be near my sister so she could help me with the girls! Honestly I am not even sure how to find someone I could trust. I have been asking other mommy friends and I hate to be "that" mom but I will most likely have my camera hidden to keep an eye on things just for that horrible just in case moment! I have been thinking an interview with my sister and I and then when we find some we like and interview with my twins? Is that to overprotective?
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    If you have Mommy friends do they have recommendations? Do you belong to a church where you could ask someone? Or ask for a referral? I think meeting them is good but I don't think you can monopolize someone's time to he extent of requiring multiple visits and hours of their time. I'd think you could do an interview/interact with the twins at the same time.

    If I were to ever use non-family (we've just never had to just bc we have so much family), I'd try to only use someone who came with a referral from my friends.

    Also, my Mom group trades child care with each other, but I can't imagine you'd want to add a third baby to take care of!
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    Agreed with PP. 2 interviews might be a bit much especially since this is a one time deal, not a permanent nanny situation. I would definitely get referrals from other moms if you can. And having a meet ahead of time with LO should be good. Gives you a chance to see how they interact, get to know the sitter a bit, and for your LO to meet them.

    I've only left DS with my brother and his wife. Tomorrow we are leaving him with 2 of my best friends. But he will be in bed before we leave so as long as he doesn't wake up they'll just hang out.
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    Agree with all pp. We are using care.com + an extensive background check to find sitters but I would prefer a referral from someone I know & trust. We have also posted on Nextdoor.com to find someone in our neighborhood with good references. We have cameras installed in our home but we let all potential applicants know to make sure they are comfortable with it (if not, no deal).
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    If you're going to set up a camera you should probably let the sitter know out of respect.
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    I plan on telling them but don't plan on saying where it's at. It will be for 6-8 hours and that is to long of a time to not feel comfortable with who's watching them. I have a couple recommendations that I will be calling this week. I will be interviewing twice the second will be around my child and I plan on paying them for that.

    Any suggestions on questions to ask? Like I've said I have never left them with anyone other than my very close family. This is WAY out of my comfort zone and I know I sound ridiculous.
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    As long as you are paying them for their time, including the interviews, I don't think any babysitter would object. I used to work for a company as a nanny/babysitter. The company conducted in depth interviews and also required background checks. And I still had families ask for multiple interviews.
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    I would get a recommendation from a friend or neighbor rather than finding a random person.
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