Attention parents! Having trouble finding a great babysitter to watch your child? Finding a babysitter is important and can be easier than you think.
Check out these tips on how to locate a babysitter that is perfect for your family and lifestyle:
1. Use who you have. There are probably tons of people around you on a daily basis who may know the perfect place to start looking for a babysitter. Start by asking friends, family members, co-workers, neighbors, doctors and parents in your pediatrician’s office for referrals. If no one around you has any tips, try the Internet. There are plenty of professional placement agencies as well as Craigslist. While Craigslist can be a little scary for some people, lay out exactly what you are looking for, hours, and hourly rate on the post. Also, don’t give out your phone number — only let people contact you through e-mail.
2. Conduct a telephone interview before an in-person interview. You can tell a lot from a person by how they sound and act on the phone. Let the phone interview be a chance for the potential candidate to explain their background, experience, etc.
3. Check their references. Once you find some potential candidates, have them provide at least three references for you to personally contact and make sure they actually have experience. Call each and every reference they provide to see if what they’ve told you thus far is true and if the person feels that they would make a great candidate for a babysitter. If their references check out and the telephone interview went well, ask them to come to your home to meet you and your children.
4. Make sure they enjoy interacting with children rather than receiving a paycheck. To ensure that they actually like spending time with children, have them watch your children while you’re home. Don’t stand over them, but be nearby so you can observe and hear how they interact with your children. It’s also important to see how they play with your children, if they’re creative and come up with interesting ways to entertain your children rather than placing them in front of the television.
5. Run a background check. This may seem invasive, but it is necessary to ensure that your child is safe with the babysitter and that you too feel comfortable leaving your children alone with them. Many online babysitting services offer background checks but if not, do one yourself.
For additional tips on finding the babysitter that’s right for your family, visit MochaManual.com.
MochaManual.com is a leading online parenting magazine for African Americans. Founded by Kimberly Seals Allers, a former senior editor at Essence and author of The Mocha Manual™ series of books, the site features regular informative and need-to-know content on everything from pregnancy to babies and toddlers to parenting big kids and managing family life.
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