How to Find a Good Baby Sitter

Whether you need a sitter for a night out or for an extended period of time, learn to network and then pay attention to your instincts.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Yellow Pages

1. Ask friends or colleagues whom you trust to recommend a good baby sitter.

2. Find an agency. Look in the Yellow Pages under "Child Care" or "Babysitting."

3. Interview all prospective sitters over the phone. Ask about experience, fees charged and any emergency training the person has had. Ask for references.

4. Check the references.

5. Call the sitter back if he or she seems like a good fit and arrange a meeting in your home.

6. Observe how the prospective sitter interacts with your children, how your children respond to the sitter and whether you relate well to the person you are considering.

7. Have the sitter baby-sit for a short period of time while you are not far away.

8. Continue to hire the sitter if all goes well.

Tips & Warnings

• Although you can advertise for sitters at local colleges, in the newspaper and even online, those recommended by trusted friends are generally the best bet.
• Many parents with young kids swap baby-sitting with friends. This ensures that you always have a trusted sitter and helps save money on baby-sitting.
• Be sure you feel comfortable with and trust your sitter before leaving your children in his or her care.

Who Can Help:

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[sheila325]

on 7/2/2009 Thanks for sharing this article. You can also check out Nannytoyou.com to access database of thousands of free nanny jobs.

www.nannytoyou.com

www.nannytoyou.com

[sheila325]

on 7/2/2009 Thanks for sharing this article. You can also check out Nannytoyou.com to access database of thousands of free nanny jobs.

www.nannytoyou.com

[Amewzing]

on 12/14/2008 It's definitely best to hire someone you know, if only through a friend. Great advice for parents who need to find a babysitter. (I found your article because it was linked to an article of mine.) :)

[bensonlisa79]

on 10/30/2008 I found it easy to find a babysitter on 4sitters.com babysitting services. What I found is that you can search by pay rate, certifications, or distance from your home which allowed me to concentrate on narrowing my interview list.

[BarefootStudent]

on 5/5/2008 Barefoot Student, found at http://barefootstudent.com, is a great resource to find local college students who babysit. Pretty cool, and free as well!