Finding Baby-sitter

I've had great success with Sitter City, but I mainly chose that avenue as I do not know many families who use sitters, so I didn't have the option to ask others for recommendations.

I have had my Sitter City membership for about 2 years, and I have found it well worth it. I have interviewed about 10 sitters, and would use all but maybe 1 of them. It's very nice to have a slew of babysitters on hand so that if need be, I can call any of them for emergencies.

I found ours through our church, talked to the lady who runs the young adult program.

Care.com is another site that is similar to Sittercity. I am in a similar situation, but need someone 3 days a week. They have a huge number of applicants and you can check out who you would like more info on before paying the fee. I am gathering a list and comparing to Sittercity and will decide from there which I will pay to get the contact info from.

Try your church, local teen organizations, high schools, college, etc. Thats what we did and it worked out very well. Plus take a walk when you see a safe looking neighbor and ask them.

We actually found our sitter thru sittercity, and I thought it was worth paying the fee. I asked around & had one friend suggest her sitter, who wasn't dependable for us & could care less about our child. So..I figured at least try it & we got the best sitter! It took alot of effort though, calling references, interviewing etc. but was completely worth it. I also like the fact that alot of the applicants had background checks through sitter city.

craigslist. ask for references and u may interview a few to find a good fit but there are many stay at home moms, navy wives, etc. that watch children for some income. usually reasonbly prices.

The best way is to ask around--neighbors, other moms, etc. Our town's Recreation Department (and sometimes the Visiting Nurse Assoc.) puts on Babysitter Training classes a couple of times each year for school-age girls. The Rec Department also keeps a list of kids who are available, but you must do your own reference checking.

Sometimes the nursery school teachers or teachers at daycare centers take on extra babysitting. If the local vocation school has an early childhood/daycare program, the girls enrolled in that might be interested--same for your local college, if there are any. You could post a note in the bulletins of local churches. I've also known teen leaders at the local Y who do extra babysitting.

Instead of a teen, you might also want to market to older women. Good luck!

We found sitters in our neighborhood and especially in our church. Ask some moms in the neighborhood.

I haven't actually done this yet, but I am looking for a sitter/ mother's helper through the summer and beyond. I am going to make a flyer and take it up to our school and ask if they would distribute it to the 8th grade girls, if the school isn't comfortable doing that, then I will put the " ad" in our church bulletin. That way I can find someone local, and I know since it is our church that her family shares at least some of our same values!

You know, craigslist may be a good option also if you don't have anyone your friends and family can refer you to. You'll probably get tons of replies and have to do a lot of interviewing, but I'm sure you'll meet some amazing people and have your pick of the litter. Craigslist is nice because you can actually specify what you're looking for: i.e. Christian without boyfriend and with college education.

I have been doing home childcare for 13 years in my home and many parents find me through DCFS/YWCA Referral. To be on this list you have to be a licensed provider, background check completed, CPR and First-aid certified,most of us have schooling related and have on going education hours to keep up our licensing requirements, we have to have fire safety requirements met, helpers have to be certified also, we need to have extra insurance on our business and vehicle. Anyways... I'd be happy to help you with further questions and I have a DAYCARE LINK at WWW.ARTSTUDIO4KIDS.COM Good luck K.

DO you have a college or University nearby? You could take out an ad in their paper. Or find out they have any Child Development or Early Childhood Education majors and see if you can market to those students specifically.