What questions do you ask a potential sitter?

[SamiPolizzi]

My DS has only ever been babysat by family up until now. I'm looking to hire a sitter, but I have no idea what to ask.

[dawningmama]

We have really only used extended family, but if I were going to hire someone I did not know, I would want to know:

1. job history--How long babysitting? What ages? How often?
2. references!! Call and ask about reliability, responsibility, how the kids feel about the person
3. training? I took a babysitting course through a local hospital when I was a kid. I learned basic first aid, basic childcare skills and emergency preparedness. I would ask if the person knew infant or child CPR, if they ever were faced with an emergency situation in another babysitting job and what they did, etc.


Are you just looking for the occasional sitter or something more regular? There's a sticky in Working and Student Parents about finding a good day care provider and you may find some of the info there useful. Good luck!!

[ollyoxenfree]

If you don't know the person at all, it's good to find out about their background and personality:

- Education (first aid courses, babysitting courses, if it's a full-time care provider - early childhood development courses)

- Experience and references

- In the interview, ask lots of open-ended questions about what they would plan to do with the children and how they would handle problems - from minor ones like a disagreement about watching television or taking a nap or eating vegetables to major ones like a bad fall and head wound that won't stop bleeding.

Most importantly though, observe how the person interacts with your children. On paper and in the interview, they may appear to be the best person for the job. If they don't connect with your children, then they're not the best at all.

[phathui5]

Ask them to describe the worst child they've babysat. The reaction will tell you a lot.

Check references! Ask the references if they have any reservations about using the sitter, if they still use them (if not, ask why not).

[Comtessa]

Ask if they would be willing to come over and babysit the child for a couple of hours while you are at home. I know that when I started babysitting, some families asked me to do this. You can leave them alone for a while, but pop in occasionally to see how things are going, etc. I think it helps identify what kind of additional information you might need to get from / give to a sitter before leaving her/him alone with your child. It's also a little less "forced" than just sitting there and watching her/him interact with your child in the living room during an interview!

Ask about their best babysitting gig ever. What does she/he mention first? Doing fun activities? The money? Going somewhere interesting? The parents being "really cool"? Kids being very compliant? This can sometimes help you figure out why they want to work with your child.

As a childcare provider, I was always nervous with parents who didn't ask me very many questions... I never felt like I had enough information about them and the kind of care they would like for their child. Lots of questions are good.

Be clear about your "deal breakers" ahead of time, and be sure they come out in the interview or are clear before you hire the person to babysit. Things like CIO at naptime/bedtime would NOT be ok with me, for example. Neither is TV while baby's awake, or propping a bottle, or feeding baby candy/pop, or inviting other people over without asking permission, or smoking around baby, etc.

You might want to ask questions that reveal their perspective on age-appropriate behavior and expectations. For example, you could ask, "how would you discipline my LO if he were to climb on something and break it?" and if she/he responded "your LO is a toddler, I wouldn't discipline, I'd say 'no' and redirect" then you could trust that they have a sense of age-appropriate behavior. You don't want someone who's going to scream at a baby for acting like a baby, or something like that.

Finally, if you have certain AP parenting principles you want your sitter to observe, check in about that too. If your baby loves to ride in a sling but the sitter thinks that's weird, s/he may not be the right fit. If your LO needs to be held a lot but the sitter thinks it's important to "foster independence," again, maybe not a good fit.