Finding a Babysitter You Can Trust

Try a babysitter from a church. One that might work at the day care.

I know you're nervous, but you're not doing your baby any favors with that! You can always use a REPUTABLE online service like Sittercity- they have extensive interviews and background checks. (notice I said REPUTABLE- not Craig's List!!!) But with a company like Sittercity there are a lot of safeguards built into the system to insure that they get reliable, honest sitters.

Another route is to ask for referrals! Talk to other moms in the area, at your church, baby play group, etc. Find out who their sitters are! For an occasional night out, you may be able to find an inexpensive, reliable older lady or a teenager who will be perfectly competent to watch your little one for a few hours.

I started babysitting at 13 and watched both babies and younger kids. If another mother recommends a reliable teenager to you, don't be afraid to try them! Ask the sitter and their mom to come by ahead of time so you can meet them, the sitter can interact with the baby while you are there, etc. Get a feeling for how capable you feel the sitter is.

With the teenagers who babysat my son, they both lived right around the corner and their mothers made a point of reassuring us that they would also be home if anything came up= we have never once had a problem.

Remember, in the age of cell phones, you can always be immediately reached or can even call home to check in, if you need to for your own peace of mind. But you and your husband need this time together on your own as well!

Your baby will be more confident and happy as he gets older too- it will make leaving for preschool, etc. so much easier if he is used to being left with a sitter once in a while.

It's a big first step, mama, but you need to take it! Good luck and don't worry- everything will be fine!

Perhaps you can post something at a local college. There are tons of girls looking for extra money. Maybe you can start with a "mommy's helper" type thing once a week so the sitter gets used to your son, and you are around to see if you are comfortable with her? Once you build up your comfort level it may be easier for you to leave him.

Hi L., I'm a daycare provider, and I know when people come to me for an interview, they are very nervous, most come to me with newborns. When children are left with someone there is really no way to tell how they will be with that child, you can ask all the right questions, and the answers will either be the truth, or what the possible sitter may think you want to here, I'm not trying to scare you, but like you said he's your only child. Make sure you ask for at least 5 references non family members. Pay the 15.00 or what ever it is now and google the person, it cost a few dollars but you can find out almost anything and anybody. As a mother of three grown children, my husband and I only did family outings where we had our son, dinners, picnic's bar b q's, things like that, when our first born turned 12 and was able to babysit our other 2 kids, we started dating again, short evenings, dinner, movie, we never to this day have any regrets to not trusting our children with other people, we have been married for 29 years and we still go on dates, so for us putting that a side for a few years while our kids were still really little was no big sacrifice for us. I know my daughter is 21 and is a great babysitter, and has a lot of training in my daycare, where are you located? J.

I understand you PERFECTLY. Infact I waited for my son to be old enough and able to speak before leaving him with a baby sitter. You never know what they do behind closed doors. Did it cost me? No doubt. I had to earn less money by working less hours (I still do but now it's because I am a single mom and I don't want anybody else to raise him in my place), I definitely had little time for myself and alone time with hubby, BUT I would never trade any of those things with the peace of mind that I had by watching my son all by myself. He now has a nice baby sitter that helps me out because I work a little longer than before and I plan to work full time again in year or so when my son will be be enough to tell right from wrong. Even though I like this girl, I am always on the watch. But you could try to interview few potential baby sitters from a well-known service or from somebody you know, put "nanny-cam" in the house and see how it goes. I know I am probably too stiff on the subject, but in the end you never know..Good luck finding a trustworthy person.

I would ask some other moms. We have family close by so thats not an issue for us but my friend needs a sitter on a regular basis so I gave her the number of one of my other friends' older daughter.

I have heard of www.care.com and their members are background checked and you can see/read the reviews of its members/babysitters.

Or, do you have any friends that can help?
Or co-workers?

How old is your baby? Is he/she breastfeeding? Does he/she take a bottle? These things has to be considered as well. If for example, your baby does not take a bottle... then you would need to be there back at home for feedings if your baby is young and nursing.

You would want to know that whoever it is is background checked.
If they have First Aide and CPR certification as well.

Ultimately, it depends on how old your baby/child is, IF you trust the person, IF they are background checked... and IF you trust them in your home with all your personal papers and account numbers on it and computer and what not.

all the best,
Susan