How To Find The Perfect Baby Sitter For Your Child?
Just the thought of leaving your child in the hands of an unknown person sends a tremble down your spine, doesn’t it? Rightly so! The baby sitter does more than just ‘mind’ your child. The child will also pick up traits from the baby sitter, making it vital to find the perfect baby sitter for your kid. Let’s find out what you should look for in your baby sitter.
Experience
If you did not know this earlier, let me tell you – experience is as good as gold! Look for a track record of working with kids when you scout for a baby sitter. Experience makes a big difference in the way they deal with kids and their problems. In any line of work – control, care and responsibility are factors which develop with time and experience, and baby sitters are no different. Ask them questions like where they’ve worked, for how long, how their experience has been, why have they left and why have they chosen this line of work.
Good References
After experience this is the second most important thing you want to watch out for! Anyone can put fake experience on their resumes so it becomes necessary to check and double check those references. Believe me, a letter of recommendation is not good enough.Telephone their previous employers and ask questions regarding the baby sitter’s behavior, temperament and other things that you’d watch out for. Let this be a strong warning – do not proceed if your baby sitter’s references don’t line up or sound dodgy.
Police check
Did you know that it is mandatory for workers in many babysitting agencies to have a current national police check? If you haven’t gone through an agency, do not feel ashamed to ask for a current police check. The last thing you want is a person having criminal records looking after your child. Beware of lines like “Oh, I have a police check but it’s not on me right now. Can I give it to you in a week?” or “My police check is in the pipeline. It will take some time to arrive in the mail”.
The right age
The baby sitter’s age has a massive impact on the kind of traits that your child is going to pick up. If you are a skeptic, think of how you have changed as a person from your pre-teens to teens to twenties to late twenties and so on. Remember that the actions of your baby sitter may influence the actions of your child. So before you go out there making calls, decide with your partner about the age group you want the baby sitter to fall in. And once you have decided, do not compromise.
The baby sitter’s background
Okay, this one’s a bit complicated to get through. Let me start by giving an example. My sister had a baby sitter of Spanish origins. The baby sitter was a great cook, a loving mother and took exceptionally good care of the child. My sister’s daughter is now in her late teens and is an expert in cooking Spanish foods and the language too! I’d recommend it, but it is up to you to decide whether to expose your child to different cultures within the confines of your home.
