Trusting somebody else with your baby is tough enough. Finding the a babysitter that you can rely on and trust? Almost impossible! But it can be done.
The following are ways on how to find the perfect and most reliable babysitter to attend to the needs and welfare of your baby.
Ask some questions
The ideal place to start looking for a babysitting is simply within the community. This is also the most obvious first place to look.
You can find willing babysitters from your church, workplace or even the neighborhood. It could be particularly beneficial to have sitter that lives nearby, so ask the next door neighbors.
Don’t forget to ask for references, no matter who they are from. Get as many references as possible and pay particular attention to the quality of the references and any issues people have ran into.
Check their qualifications
Qualifications for babysitting are not always essential, however, they can be one of best ways to find the perfect babysitter.
At a minimum, the sitter should have some basic knowledge of child care and qualifications in both first aid and CPR.
At a maximum, a qualification in childcare or babysitting is advantageous, but it’s not so essential that it is worth getting caught up in. This is because a qualification doesn’t necessarily lead to quality babysitter.
You can often gauge how good a sitter is simply by trusting how you feel based on interactions. How do they present? Do you feel comfortable and could you hire them?
Ask for recommendations
If you’re still struggling to find a sitter… ask around! Friends and relatives have surely had a sitter before, so ask if they have anyone they can recommend.
Don’t feel you need to accept a recommendation just because someone gives you one. Sometimes certain sitters wont work for you, and that’s okay. It may take more time to find a sitter this way, but you will already have quality references which can offer you some level of comfort.
Have a trial
You’re going to be trusting this person to care and basically raise your child, even if it is for a short amount of time, so it’s important to see how they interact with your child. This will help you decide whether the babysitter is truly right for you.
Both the sitter and the child should be comfortable in each others presence and you shouldn’t feel afraid of asking your child if they feel comfortable afterwards.
See how the sitter responds to your child and when your child plays up – ideally, you want their parenting method to align with yours.
At the end of the day, the most important thing is your child. It’s important that they are not only safe and secure in the sitters presence, but comfortable and happy to thrive as well.
By simply following the advice above, you’ll be able to find a suitable babysitter and ensure your child ends up in the right hands.
No babysitter just yet? I share here with you some ideas on Keeping the Kids Occupied while you try to start (or finish!) some house chores.
