In an ideal world, we would have to leave our children in the care of trusted friends and family. Unfortunately, this is only an option for the lucky few and the rest of us have to go through the daunting process of hiring a babysitter. There are a few things you can do to make this easier.

You want the best possible person to take care of your children in your absence, and I have a few tips here for you to find them. This advice has proved invaluable in the past.

Next time you pick up your kid; have a word with their teacher or day care worker to see if they have heard good things about anyone in particular. Work Colleagues and acquaintances are both often a great source of information.

This is a job at the end of the day, so treat it like one and arrange interviews with the prospective candidates. Plan your questions carefully and look for maturity and responsibility.

You will be looking to build up a good working relationship with your sitter, so mutual honesty and trust is vital. Make sure that they aren’t exaggerating their experience and follow up all references. In turn you must be precise about what the job will entail and provide them with emergency contact numbers. Also find out what level of first aid can administer and if they have been on one of the babysitting courses that are available.

There can be no misunderstanding on either side, so don’t just tell them the job description, give them it in writing. Include such information as medication, health issues, allergies, bed and meal times. The last thing you want is an emergency situation arising because you didn’t tell your sitter something important.

You may have found a highly qualified, experienced babysitter with glowing references that you love to bits, but your kid doesn’t like them! This is tricky as kids change their minds like the weather, have a trial session to see how it goes.

Trial runs are expected by experienced sitters, as they will understand the importance of choosing the right one. If any voice their displeasure at this then disregard them immediately.

By: Mark Parachas

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