How to Find a Sitter

How to find the RIGHT SITTER

BY JILL SLATTERY Freedom is the word that runs through all kids’ minds as summer rolls around. For most kids, summer provides opportunities for creativity and exploration along with a much needed break from the day-to-day scheduling that exists during the school year. However, this three month hiatus can be a major source of stress for parents. This new freedom often leaves parents scrambling to find a suitable summer babysitter. Finding a reliable babysitter is essential for peace of mind during the summer months.

Parents may want to ask about a child sitter’s driving record and can even pay to get them from the DMV. If the babysitter will be using her own car, compensation for gas money should also be discussed.

Where to Start

The absolute best way to begin your search is by word of mouth. When looking for someone to watch her five children, Sue Schmidtz of Brookfield says, “I always find my sitters through my friends and neighbors.” Even if your acquaintances cannot give you a name on the spot, they will be able to tell you how they found their sitters.

The next place to begin looking is in your local directories, either at your church, library, or even at your children’s school. Perhaps one of the best, and yet the most underused resource exists at local colleges, especially in the education departments.

Colleges and universities often have message boards where parents and students alike can post their requests for summeremployment. Students seeking education degrees in the state of Wisconsin are required to have 350 hours of

experience working with children, so often parents may find a significant number of potential babysitters.

If you have exhausted all your options, there are numerous websites, like babysitters.com, where you can search for babysitters in your area.

After you find a potential candidate, it is important to have an interview as soon as possible. It is also important to schedule the interview in your own home, when the whole family is present to get an authentic look at the situation, for both the parents and the babysitter.

There are many questions to consider, but first and foremost are the babysitter’s qualifications. Parents should make sure to ask about previous experience, how many families have they worked for, numbes of kids they have watched at one time and, most importantly, why do they want the job? Parents should also ask for references from former families. It is also perfectly acceptable to ask for character references from two to three adults, especially if this is their first long-term babysitting job.

On the other side, parents should be clear from the start about what the job will entail. Summer is often synonymous with “camps,” which means there may be a lot of shuttling kids back and forth for the babysitter. It is important to discuss whose car will be used and what legalities exist.

Parents may want to ask about a sitter’s driving record and can even pay to get them from the DMV. If the babysitter will be using her own car, compensation for gas money should also be discussed.

And finally, the big question, “How much should I pay?” There is no set rate; however, there are helpful websites like sittercity.com that calculate pay rates based on experience, number of children, age of the sitter and zip code.

There is no one way to find a sitter, but once you do, it is important to promote honest and open communication to ensure a fun-filled, stress-free summer for all involved! k

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