Five Tips for Finding and Screening a Babysitter for Back-to-School

It’s an exciting time for kids, but back-to-school can be stressful for working moms and dads who have to search for a new babysitter with flexible hours, life-saving skills and experience. Then, there’s safety issues. Who can they trust? How do they know they can trust them? Who should they let in their home? SeekingSitters has screening and safety tips from owner, licensed private investigator and mother of three, Adrienne Kallweit.

TIPS:   

1.       Get solid references:  Ask for several recent job references, then take the time to thoroughly check them out. That means call the other parents, talk to them about how the sitter handled difficult situations, an emergency or discipline. Also find out how the sitter interacted with the children. Did the children like the sitter and want them to babysit again?

2.       Do a background check. Note: All background checks are not created equal. This is no time to cut corners. You can hire a company like SeekingSitters with in-house private investigators to conduct one-one-one interviews and carefully review a babysitter’s criminal and work history no matter where they’ve lived across the country. SeekingSitters also verifies the sitter’s CPR and First Aid certification. Many other sitting services don’t conduct the same kind of background checks.  It only takes a quick news search on the web to find horror stories.

3.       Do your own in-depth interview:  Notice if they show up on time for the interview, dress appropriately and ask good questions about your children, such as if they have allergies, and what they like and dislike. Do they act professional? What kind of childcare experience do they have? What kind of activities or educational games do they like to play?  Listen as much for what they say as for what they don’t say. Have they left out time periods when they weren’t babysitting? Learn how long they’ve been CPR and First Aid certified and ask for proof.

4.       Have the sitter watch your kids for an hour while you’re at home.  This is a great way for you to watch how they interact with your kids and a great way for your kids to test out their sitter. Does the sitter check her phone all the time or have the kids watch TV?  If things go well during the one-hour together, you’ll feel better about leaving them alone together later.

5.       Listen to your gut:  Is this a person you want to leave home alone with your children? What does your gut tell you about the person? If you have any nagging doubts, don’t hire that person.

Media Contact:  Diane White – 918-770-3905, Diane@seekingsitters.com