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A leap of faith?
Finding someone you trust with your baby / children is a tall order. After all, this person must safeguard, entertain, and care for your children in your absence. You worry that your children will miss you when you're gone. You worry that the house will catch on fire or that your child will be accidentally injured and the babysitter won't know what to do. You worry that the sweet-faced teenager waving bye-bye with Baby in her arms will turn into a neglectful or even abusive fiend the minute you pull out of the driveway.
Still, you know that you can't hover over your child every moment like some sort of guardian angel, and that it's healthy for both parents and children to have a little downtime from each other occasionally. So how do you find a baby sitter who is kind, competent, and compassionate?
Family members and friends can be the ideal candidates to look after your children, but not everyone has family on their doorstep. So your wider options include: -
· Staff from your child's nursery or preschool facility may be happy to baby sit during evening hours.
· Ask a friend or a local parent with children for a recommendation
· Look in the Yellow Pages or searching the web for babysitting agencies.
· Registered childminders may undertake baby sitting and come with the benefit of being pre checked. You can visit http://schoolsfinder.direct.gov.uk/ to search for registered child minders in your area.
· Babysitting agency, it is important that you are clear as to how they vet their sitters, for example, do they interview and take up references and do they complete a CRB check (Criminal Records Bureau)?
If you do decide to choose someone that is not pre vetted, we have included some questions below to assist with ensuring you have peace of mind!
- How long have you been babysitting?
- Do you have any experience babysitting children my child's age?
- What do you like to do with them to keep them amused?
- How do you soothe a crying infant (or an angry toddler)?
- What's the best way to put a baby down to sleep? (Make sure that the sitter knows to place an infant on her back to sleep, never on her stomach or side.)
- Have you taken any babysitting or first aid courses?
- What do you expect to be paid? (Do a little research ahead of time so you know what the going rate in your area is.)
- Can you provide me with a couple of references from former or current babysitting clients? Both the NSPCC and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) recommend that babysitters should be over 16 years of age and that parents ask for at least two references and contact the referees themselves.
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