Finding the right babysitter for your child

Finding the right babysitter or caregiver for your child is a hugely important task and not always the easiest one. It is also a challenge that most parents will have to face at some point or another.

It is crucial for the wellbeing of your child that you find the right person, with the correct experience, qualifications, and personality to fit your family’s needs.

Here are some tips of things to take into account and ways to help you find the perfect babysitter for your situation!

Finding the right babysitter for your child

1. Ask around

One of the best resources for finding a caregiver for your child is just asking around!

Relatives and friends can be a great source for potential babysitters and additionally may know of or have connections who could potentially take care of your baby.
 

2. Use the internet

Unfortunately, not everyone has access to family or friends and not all family and friends have contacts for potential babysitters in the right area.

In this case, it can be extremely helpful to use a babysitting website or app to find childcare. This can increase your pool of potential babysitter options and let you know about babysitters or childcare providers in your area who you don’t know that may be searching for work!
 

3. Interview

Once you have one or a pool of potential babysitters, you should meet with and interview them.

During this, you can ask important questions and find out if they have the correct qualifications and experience that your family needs.

Some examples of these could be:
 

• What are your previous experiences in babysitting/childcare and how have they prepared you for this job?

 

• How do you deal with emergency situations and pressure? (To go above and beyond, you can even come up with an example situation!)

 

• What are your expectations from this babysitting job?

 

• Another important question is to ask what questions they have for you. This gives them time to ask questions that may be relevant that you may have forgotten and will give you more of an idea of how serious they are. It can also help them get a better idea of the job expectations and will make sure that both you and the potential babysitter are on the same page.

 

• Some of the most important questions are those about their previous experience and motivation, as well as questions about how they would deal with different problems while babysitting.

However, what questions you need to ask specifically will depend on your own family situation, the age or ages of your children, and other factors.

The interview can also give you a better indication of if they are responsible enough for your needs and whether their personality fits with your family.
 

4. Reference check

It is always a good idea to contact references of potential babysitters should they have them, especially if you don’t know the babysitter.

It may take a little bit of extra time, however, it can give you a much clearer idea of the type of person that they are and if they did a good job in previous work experiences.

It can also give you peace of mind and more security knowing if a potential babysitter is really as reliable as they say they are.
 

5. Introduce them

Another great tip that you can use is introducing your child to the babysitter early.

You can even do a test run of the babysitting while you observe in order to see how the sitter interacts with your child and having a better idea of whether they would do a good job!

This can also help your child become more comfortable with the babysitter beforehand.
 

6. Trust your gut feeling

Parting with your child and leaving them in the care of someone else can always be quite a difficult thing to do, however, if your gut feeling is not positive and if you don’t feel comfortable with leaving your child with a specific babysitter, then it may not be the best fit.

Finding a babysitter can be quite a task, but hopefully by following these steps and tips you can find the perfect caregiver for your child!

Source: This article was kindly written for us by Babysits - making it easy to find great sitters and nannies in your neighbourhood.