Hiring a babysitter

So my husband I have no family members who are willing or capable of watching our 2 year old for date night or any occasion. We could really use a few hours to go to dinner or a movie, but the idea of hiring a stranger to babysit makes me so nervous. And especially having this person in our house.

My son goes to daycare so this might sound crazy because he's essentially being watched by strangers there, but there are so many more eyes on him at daycare, plus he is with other kids and distracted from missing us.

I guess I am just looking to vent. Anyone have a similar situation or nervous about hiring a stranger to babysit?

Hiring a babysitter

My wife is nervious having someone else babysit out kids. we haven't done it yet.

Might I suggest you ask at your daycare if anyone babysits in your area? that way its a familiar face/person with some vetting already done

Re: Hiring a babysitter

Maybe ask one of the daycare people. Sometimes they will come babysit on weekends.

Re: Hiring a babysitter

Ask around. I'm sure some local friends have sitters they'd recommend or even a friend who has a responsible teenager.
Like the other's said you can ask around at the daycare.
We first started with a neighbor. We know the parents well and their son is very responsible. He met our boys first and played with them. I used him to run a local errand then when I felt comfortable he babysat at night. My youngest at the time was 1 - 2 years old so I put him to sleep first and my older DS was about 3 - 4 so he played a bit then went to bed. Now we have a bunch of local sitters we use. We are lucky to have family, but always good to have.

Hiring a babysitter

When DS was an infant, we used one of my old students. We probably used her 5 times in 2 years since she went away to college. In December, we started using one of my former coworker's daughters. She's 17 and lives about a mile away. DS is now 2.5 and they spend most of their time together watching TV and playing with Thomas the train. We have her come over at 5 and we're home by 7:30 to do bedtime. Our resolution is to go out at least once a month. So far, we're 2 for 2. I'm hoping in the next few months, she can do bedtime.

Hiring a babysitter

Ask the daycare teachers. Dd is no longer in daycare but I have 5 of them who are willing to babysit if need be.

Hiring a babysitter

Try asking around at daycare. A lot of times the girls there will babysit on the weekends. I was that same way. We have no one we can call to watch the kids for an extended period of time. Once In A while my MIL but she is busy always watching SIL's kids that we feel bad asking her to watch ours. My kids are 6 and 4 and we hired a babysitter for the first time ever a few months ago and we've used her a bunch. The kids love her and are always asking for her. We started off slow. She came who.e DH and I went out to dinner and drinks for 2 hrs. The next time she came was for much longer. We had an adult nite with friends and she was here for 6.5 hrs and put them to bed for us. We now use her regularly.

Re: Hiring a babysitter

We have 3 sitters, one was from daycare, she has since gotten a different job. One is their former swim teacher and one a camp counselor. Each asked us if we needed a sitter.

If I were you, I'd ask someone like these people who you see has a good relationship with your child. My kids love all three of their sitters and get excited when they come over. It makes the whole process easier on everyone.

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We had a great babysitter who moved.
After a bad experience, I have been very hesitant to use anyone.
So... guess I'm in the same boat!

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Most day cares have rules against babysitting a child in the center. If they get caught, they get fired. I wouldn't want to be responsible for putting someone's job at risk.

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I would ask the girls at daycare if they know anyone that babysits. My friend's sister worked at a daycare and she was always giving her number (so it was her sister, not her). Most of the kids she babysat was from her sister's daycare. her sister told her she deserved a finder's fee .