What questions do you ask a new babysitter

[sdoll]

We are going to be interviewing for a babysitter to watch our son. We currently have him in daycare but I would feel better if he stayed at our house with somebody. Also we both work retail so we have an unusual schedule and my family takes him a few days so we only end up using daycare about 1-2 days a week if that. In the last month we have used day care 1 full day and 2 half days but we have to pay the full rate.
Anyways I should get to the point....
What questions should I ask. Sounds silly but this will be our first babysitter that is not family. My son is 14 mo old. I kind of think my gut will tell me but I am worried. I know the babysitters mother so that makes it a little easier. She is a college student. But yikes this is scary....
I was planning on asking her ideas about how the day will be spent. I will obviously ask for references and I was thinking about doing a back ground check. I am a fairly laid back person so that makes me sound crazy. But as parents I know you understand. I just could not forgive myself if something happened to him.

SO what else should I ask???

 

[WDWorBUST]

I don't know what to ask either - Sammi is almost 3 and she has spent 2 1/2 days in daycare. (For me it was a very bad experience) Other than that she's been with my mom. I would want her to have had infant/child CPR and first aid though - and fairly recently. I would also make sure that if you were interested in having her do it she would be able and willing to do it a few days with you at home just doing other things. You want to be sure they mesh. Also I would just make sure they she knew your rules and what you are comfortable with. As far as a background check - I don't think that is paranoid at all. Especially her driving record if she's going to be allowed to drive your child anywhere.

 

[jodifla]

We are going to be interviewing for a babysitter to watch our son. We currently have him in daycare but I would feel better if he stayed at our house with somebody. Also we both work retail so we have an unusual schedule and my family takes him a few days so we only end up using daycare about 1-2 days a week if that. In the last month we have used day care 1 full day and 2 half days but we have to pay the full rate.
Anyways I should get to the point....
What questions should I ask. Sounds silly but this will be our first babysitter that is not family. My son is 14 mo old. I kind of think my gut will tell me but I am worried. I know the babysitters mother so that makes it a little easier. She is a college student. But yikes this is scary....
I was planning on asking her ideas about how the day will be spent. I will obviously ask for references and I was thinking about doing a back ground check. I am a fairly laid back person so that makes me sound crazy. But as parents I know you understand. I just could not forgive myself if something happened to him.

SO what else should I ask???

I use baby sitters all the time. I've never had a bad experience. Basically, I get a feel for the person, which I think is REALLY important. Then I think you should ask yourself what's most important to you, and go from there.

It seems as safety is your main concern. I'd probe your own feelings and ask yourself what safety aspects you are concerned with, and ask from there. For example, maybe you are concerned she'll leave the child alone, or have friends over, or whatever. Just be very specific, and have a clear picture in your head of how you want your child's time with the sitter to go. I do like the idea of asking the sitter about her plans for your child's day, too.

I always check references. You can tell alot from them. Try to get non-family references.

And try to use her first when you'll just be gone on errands, so you can do a trial run.

The whole scary baby sitter thing is way blown out of proportion, IMO. Most sitters do a good job, and some are just fantastic.

 

[MSSANDRA]

It is important that you feel comfortable with your child care. Here are some suggestions:

1) Ask What if questions. What would you do if one of the children woke up with a high fever...Bit the other one?? Would not stop fighting. What if the house was on fire...Someone came to the door you did not know???
Things that give you an idea of how she would handle a situation.

2) Ask how she feels about discipline..eating habits...naps etc. Ask before you tell her your family rules as to get a real feel for what she thinks.

3) Let her interact with the kids while you watch from a distance. How do they relate to each other??? What do the kids think..

Good luck.

 

[texasthree]

In our county you can be fingerprinted at the police station for $5. I dont think you can ever be too careful so I would do a background check as well. CPR/First aid. I always find my babysitters from asking around the military base daycares. The workers at military daycares have background checks, finger printed and know first aid/cpr.

 

[Nanu57v]

Babysitters scare me. If you are 100% sure you can trust her, than it should be fine, but I would only stick with licensed childcare providers (in home or center) for my DD. I agree that the best place for children under 3 is in an in home daycare, and over 3s are best in centers where they can interact more socially (I'm a center daycare director). The reason I worry is because so many parents come to me after having a babysitter and come at an odd time to get their child to find there are 14 other kids that shouldn't be there, or the child was left with an older child while the sitter ran to the store, or the parent goes into the house and the child is unsupervised for several minutes.

For the questions: I'd recommend the what if this happens questions. I'd ask about activities. Also, what to do if the child gets unruly (at todders do). Hope that helps!

 

[shelly3girls]

We have used greataupair.com as a wonderful resource. They have lists of questions to ask that are helpful. We paid for a criminal and driver's license background check. I knew in my gut immediately which person was right for us both times that we looked for a nanny. As a mother you will know. The background checks do give you that extra peace of mind. Also, I realized that often the questions the sitter asked during the interview told me as much if not more than the qustions I asked. GL!

 

[famofsix]

I would ask if she likes kids and why. That should help you get a feel for her. I know it's an obvious question but if she's stumped by that then move on

 

[mamacatnv]

CPR cert. a must

Why does she want to babysit?

What are HER expectations of you?

 

[lg3]

We have very little family, and none that can babysit, so we have always had to rely on babysitters. ITA - Go with your gut feelings too. I interviewed a sitter that came highly recommeded from a friend and got bad vibes - went ahead and used her as they just raved about her. Well, we ended up coming home earlier than we thought from the movies and found her sitting in the total dark in our kitchen doing nothing. Our daughter was already in bed, and it wasn't even her bedtime yet, and apparently didn't finish her dinner. The sitter said she wanted to go to bed. Ha! Our daughter NEVER just wants to go to bed - especially early! I never got a straight story from DD3 the next day. We just never used her again.

I would also make sure they know what you expect in your household, and don't just assume they would do the right thing. We used one sitter for over a year with no problems, then she went through some wild streak when she turned 16. Started bringing boys over to our house! I think she knew we caught on to her and she never returned our call to her. Good riddance I suppose. Now I always spell out - no boys, etc.