Tips For Screening A Babysitter Before Hiring

Posted on Jan 16 2018 - 7:51pm by Editorial Staff

It today’s economy, it almost takes two fulltime working parents in a household in order to make ends meet. With that being said, this can be extremely difficult when it comes to picking kids up from school, making sure they get to their after school activities, and ensuring they do all their homework. This is not to even to mention the fact if you have a newborn baby or a young child that cannot take care of itself. Well, a babysitter can easily help you accomplish all these tasks, but how do you really know that you are hiring the best individual for the job? With all the recent reports of mistreatment and abuse by babysitters, it is now more important than ever to make sure you are taking the appropriate steps to screen your babysitters before making a decision. Below, you will learn some tips that will help you through this process.

CPR And First Aid Is A Must

Emergency situations can arise at the drop of a hat and sometimes there might just not be enough time to wait for an emergency crew to arrive. Maybe the babysitter has to take action to save your child’s life before the emergency crew can arrive on the scene. This is why it is imperative to make sure that your ideal candidate has CPR and first aid training. Not only does this training ensure that the sitter will have the skills to save your child’s life if the need arises, but it also ensures that the sitter cares about his or her profession and has gone above the traditional requirements of the job.

Healthy Habits

Smoking, drinking, and substance abuse are all signs of weaknesses. If your sitter smokes, drinks, or uses illegal substances it is likely that he or she will do it around or in front of the children. Not only will these actions impair the sitter’s decision-making process, but also it puts a bad influence in front of the children if they are old enough to understand what is going on. Whatever the situation is, you want to avoid someone who partakes in these types of activities, because it could potentially put your child’s life in danger.

Checking The History Of The Sitter

When it comes to hiring a sitter you absolutely must perform a background check. These types of checks will allow you to see if the sitter has any previous criminal charges, been involved in any accidents, or been accused of abuse or mistreatment. It also never hurts to ask the sitter straight up if he or she has ever been involved in these types of situations. Even in the applicant says that he or she hasn’t been involved in any of these situations, you will still want to forego the extensive check. Asking the question ahead of time can help you gauge the applicant’s honesty.

Always Get Valid References

Don’t you wish you knew how the sitter performed before you hired them? Well, when you ask for previous and valid references you can discover this kind of information. Contacting these references will give you a first-hand ideal of just how the sitter acts and performs on the job. Just because a sitter gives you references this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t check them. Always make sure that you are going the extra mile and speaking with the references about the type of services that he or she rendered.

In addition to this, you also have to keep the fact in mind that the sitter probably won’t give you a reference to someone that would give him or her a bad recommendation. So, a great way around this is by checking the Internet to see if someone has posted any bad testimonials about the services that the sitter rendered.

Face-To-Face Meeting

Just because you have finally decided on a sitter that you like it doesn’t really mean that your children are going to like him or her. And, this is one of the most important things. Once you have a candidate in mind have him or her come back to meet with the entire family. During this process take special note on how the children act around the sitter. Does the sitter seem like he or she is in a natural environment when interacting with the children? Does the sitter seem firm but friendly with the children? These are all things that you need to consider and look for during this face-to-face meeting.

About the Author

Editorial Staff at I2Mag is a team of subject experts.