How do you find good babysitters?

[ClarabelleCowFan]

We had 2 wonderful sitters that my girls adored but 1 moved away and 1 just started Medical School and no longer has time. I have asked around but my daughter's friends have older siblings or grandparents that watch them (the older siblings dont really babysit other kids).

I dont really feel comfortable putting an ad in the paper but I am at a loss here. I need sitters that can stay overnite since I travel on business and DH is a firefighter on 24 hour shifts.

Any suggestions?

 

[TiggerPiglet]

Have you tried your church or synagogue? They'll usually have a list of baby sitters in the area.

 

[debster812]

One of the upsides of DS being in a Day Care Center, was that some of the teachers there also did babysitting on the side.

DH and I were always comfortable with a couple of the girls from DS's last day care. Usually they were in the 20-25 year old range, fully vetted by the state, fully certified in First Aid, and infant child CPR. I would have felt fully comfortable having either of them stay overnight with DS.

If there are any larger Day Cares in your area, call, speak to the Director or Assistant Direction, explain what you are looking for, and I am sure they can point you in the right direction

Good Luck!!!! Good sitters can be so hard to find.

 

[ducklite]

I found the sitter I used for years through my town's after school program. She was one of the counselors. After she graduated she went on to work for the town running their rec program. She's still a close family friend.

Anne

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We had a girl in the neighborhood advertise her babysitter service. So we started using her (we were familiar with her...so it wasn't a complete stranger).

Other sitters are grownups we have gotten through church.

Perhaps you can place an ad in your church bulletin---

You can also look into the babysitter training classes and see if they have any graduates they can recommend.

The sleeping over is the tough part though.

 

[ktbutterfly2011]

You can usually contact your local red cross and see who's been approved for taking "the class" recently. The sitteryou picked you could call and it would have to be their desicion whether to stay over or not... We are trained on ALOT of things and we have our booklets.... so idk or else like everyone says ask your church

 

[aprincessmom]

DH and I were always comfortable with a couple of the girls from DS's last day care. Usually they were in the 20-25 year old range, fully vetted by the state, fully certified in First Aid, and infant child CPR. I would have felt fully comfortable having either of them stay overnight with DS.

That's how I got my DD's babysitters. They cost a bit more than the typical teen but the peace of mind was definitely worth it. If you require someone to sleep over, this is definitely the way to go.