baby sitter question

[twiggy]

We have never had a baby sister and i was wondering how you would go about getting one?

[HollyB]

I think word of mouth is best, just keep asking people so that you can get a personal referral. I've played around on the website care.com, and have been tempted to contact some of those people, but have not actually done that yet. I'm just sometimes really untrusting about these things! Maybe you can call the local high school and see if they have someone they can recommend?

[MarchBaby]

Twiggy, There are several ways you can find a sitter. First and most common would be as Holly said, word of mouth. Also something we've done is swap babysitting with friends. For example one night/day, a friend may keep Z. while you and/or DH go out and then you can offer to sit one night/day for some friends. That typically works well for both parties.

Other avenues you could take are to go through a Church and ask if they could recommend someone for babysitting. Some YMCA's, YWCA's or other local organizations offer a babysitting class to prepare and train girls for the responsibility of babysitting. You could call those organizations and inquire. For more established licensing daycare possibilities, our state has something called "4-C's." That will send you a list of liscenced daycare homes in the area (However a service like this is not used for your Friday night out kind of sitter).

[lablover2]

Twig, isn't Z in daycare? If so, what about one of the women there? They may know someone or some of them would be interested in the extra cash. One of MG's first sitters was also one of her first teachers at "school".

I'd also ask co-workers, friends, neighbors, church members, Z's classmates' parents, etc. as to if there's anyone they'd recommend. Good luck!

[twiggy]

thanks for the suggestions... will look into it

[Sonninit]

Any teenage neighbors Z has met before? Daughter of friends? It's good if he knows them, even if you would expect him to be asleep. Carers from daycare are a good idea, my brother even once had an older carer's teenage daughter babysit.
In any case it might be a good idea to have whoever you choose over while Z is awake to play with him a bit. This will give him the chance to be more comfortable with them in case he does wake up, and also let you know that they know how to relate to young children.

Also, it's probably worth a trial run with a babysitter - go to a nearby cafe or something - before you leave Z for a big important night out. If you're nervous you won't have such a good time, and will be checking all the time that everything is okay.

We've never done a full evening out with friends of ours babysitting (or done that for friends), but we do use that option for short trips - sometimes if DH and I have different commitments one evening and they overlap only slightly.

[Hopeful2006]

I am very lucky, my Mon-Fri sitter will watch J on occassion for us such as holiday parties and such. We went out for our anniversary dinner back in April (yeah that was the last time) and we left him with her on Friday evening, and picked him up about 3 hours later than usual. I would definitely say as around. I am hesitant to trust someone I haven't had personal experience with. Good luck in your search.