baby sitters - How do you find them????

grapfruit wrote: Ok, Cyndi (momtoMegan&Alyxandria) were sitting here discussing going to the movies to see Transformers. Tim doesn't want to go to the drive in, and Cyndi is like, "well crap, we can't go to a regular movie b/c of Alyx (14 months)".

Here's the question. How do you find a reliable, good baby sitter that will baby sit on nights like tonight??? We're thinking High School girl, needs/wants money. That sort of thing. There's also times when we want to go out on the boat and she can't (there's no seats yet, so no kids) so it's her husband, Tim and I. And she stays home. It's not really fair I know, but what do we do???

Man, why can't there be a Baby Sitters Club like in the book??

Calimama replied: Honestly I don't trust strangers with Bella. I met a girl through DH's work. The guys work together and carpool and she has a daughter the same age as Bella, so we swap back and forth when someone needs a babysitter. I guess you could go to a college student center, where kids post jobs wanted/offered. Beyond that I have no idea. Good luck!

luvbug00 replied: call your local red cross and see if any sitters who took the CPR course left #'s tp be reached or call your local Y and ask the same or ask arround with neighbors and stuff but be picky. there is no way somone without cpr training is watching my kid

grapfruit replied: Oh she's picky that's for sure. We just don't know anybody w/that age of kids.

Those are good ideas, I'll let her know!

holley79 replied: This is why DH and I can't jsut take off spur of the moment we don't have a sitter other then family. There is a girl next door that I could call but her an dher family are always gone.

Hope you find a sitter.

gr33n3y3z replied:
we have something like that here but we only used family

Farm Mom replied: I'm lucky enough to have two older kids, so I always know some of their friends to call when I need a sitter for the younger two.

Try your church. There are usually teens there who need a few $$, and it's nice to have a kid whose family you already know.

You can also ask your friends and neighbors who they use.

I do the swap thing, too.

jem0622 replied: Honestly...I went to Freecycle for my area. There is a cafe area. I asked people for reliable references for sitters that they have used. It was the best choice that I made, because not only did I have good references for these people, but I also interviewed them and had them meet my kids. I rarely use sitters, but it is critical that I know who is good or not before we ever go out!

GL!

Mommy2BAK replied: I have no clue. We just have lots of family around

grapfruit replied:
I think we'll try that. Obviously we want good people. But all of our friends have little kids, and don't ever go out! Or the ones w/older kids that would love to watch them, live too far away. : P

Anthony275 replied: any good neighbors you have?

moped replied: I don't have a babysitter because I am afreak and only have a certain few that I want to look after him...........

Brias3 replied: Honestly, we didn't use sitters hardly at all when they were little. Besides family, we've had two sitters EVER and those were two girls I found through the kids' school. Their campus schooled all the way through high school age and was able to put contact information out regarding students in Child Development classes and those who helped in the nursery school who were also interested in sitting. Even still, it was very limited when I used them, and for short periods of time. I'm kind of a freak about those sorts of things but now that mine are getting older, I'm considering some local high school girls around here, if I can get some good recommendations.

MoonMama replied: I wont ever leave Braedin with someone I don't know. Thankfully we have tons of family around, sorry I'm no help. Good luck.

ihave4kids replied: er,we just don't. we have 4,so i doubt anyone would want to watch 4 all at once

My3LilMonkeys replied: We've always just used family (It helps to have mom, MIL, and 3 sisters between us all within a 10 min drive). When Brooke was really little on 2 occasions we left her with my DH's best friend's girlfriend, but we obviously knew her well and trusted her and she had experience with young children.

Our Lil' Family replied: I've only used a paid sitter twice and it was a girl from church that works at a daycare.

C&K*s Mommie replied: I'd check into Craigslist.com.
Meetup.com you might meet up with other parents who are in the same predicament as you and you can swap childcare. I've met a few women in a group that I am with on meetup.com in my area who are willing to watch other moms children. We all know one another superficially, and they get together for playdates and such.
Another is callforsitters.com

Hillbilly Housewife replied: I found mine on both Craigslist.org and kijiji.com. I had several do phone interviews, then I picked the ones I wanted to meet and went from there.

MyBrownEyedBoy replied: Church. Our pastor's daughter loves to watch Logan. Also, Aaron's partners in the firm have much older children, so we borrow one of their older ones from time to time.

Kentuckychick replied: I'll speak on the "babysitter" side of the issue I guess since I'm not a parent yet

I started out babysitting when I was around 13/14 for neighbors (my parents were always right next door or down the street and we knew the families well. From there I started babysitting for family friends and such farther away but still people we knew. After that those individuals refered me to friends and family members and the list of people I've babysat somehow has grown tremendously.

I would say that the most important things to look for when you're looking for sitters are the reference lists. If a sitter comes with a good number of references then there's a good bet they are well experienced. CALL those references, at least the 3-4 most recent. Never just trust that they are real.

If you're just looking for someone to watch your kids for an evening every now and then the neighborhood is a great place to look. If you have younger highschool kids around (15-16 year olds) go ahead and ask if they are interested or if they no anyone who is. Have them over for an hour or two before the scheduled babysitting time to get to know your child.

That said, I know that when I finally do have kids, I'll be a freak when it comes to babysitters. I already know that I'll have a hard time leaving them with just anyone and that I'll probably be overly critical. I also know that I wouldn't leave an infant with anyone under the age 18 (speaking from experience, infants can be frustrating and I know I was much better prepared to deal with a screaming infant in my later teens than my earlier years).

I actually just quit my most recent nanny/sitting job and it was the hardest thing I've ever done. I'd known this family since before they had children and their oldest is 9. Last summer I was with them (then 8, 6, and 5 months) for 60-70 hours/week and the baby was very attached to me. A couple weeks ago when the new sitter came to visit and get to know the baby (who's now 17 months) I felt really overprotective. I think it gave me a little glimpse into what being a mother will feel like and I don't envy what any of you are going through with having to choose someone to leave your kids with.

Good Luck!

Boo&BugsMom replied: My mom usually watches the boys for us. My aunt is our second call if she can't. On occassion we have gotten one of the teens from our church. In any case, we always know the person babysitting. I don't feel comfortable someone taking our kids who I do not know personally.