Who’s Your Nanny?

Ok, so maybe you don’t need a nanny – just the occasional sitter – or maybe you’re looking for someone specifically for New Year’s Eve.  I wrote an article for the local paper about finding a sitter for New Years, and I thought I would share my research with you.  After all, if your resolutions include doing anything for yourself (and they should) then you might need someone to entertain the kids so they don’t realize that it isn’t all about them.

If you don’t have a sitter lined up for New Year’s yet, you’re not alone.  Sittercity, a website dedicated to matching parents with caregivers, receives more requests for New Years Eve babysitters today, December 29^th , than on any other day of the year.  It helps to start the search earlier, but there’s still hope.

Babysitting Resources
Sittercity
$9.99 per month with 12 month commitment or
$39.99 joining fee and $9.99 monthly with no commitment

The largest babysitting search site is Sittercity.com, which boasts over a million caregivers across the country.  Members can peruse a list of available sitters, searching by zip code and then refining their search with over 40 different filters such as age, languages spoken, certifications, and special needs experience. Parents can contact sitters they like directly to discuss availability and fees,   or they can post a job request and pick from the sitters who respond.

Care.com
Free for basic membership
Premium membership costs unavailable

Care4Hire.com
$79.99 annually or
$25.00 joining fee and $9.99 monthly

SeekingSitters
$39.99 Joining Fee
$9.99 monthly or $10 per request
Go here to see if there is a SeekingSitters franchise in your area.

SeekingSitters is a babysitting service franchise.  Little Rock Metro franchise owner Shea Lee points out the benefits of using a local service. “All of our sitters are interviewed and hired face to face.  We do a background check on every sitter, and CPR and 1^st Aid certifications are required.”  The 24 babysitters who work for SeekingSitters also bring age appropriate activities for the kids to every job. Background checks are now easier than ever, the internet really has sped things up for us. To those of you who didn’t know, sites like https://www.checkpeople.com/public-records has all the information you need to get started. Always do background checks on your babysitters and child care services.

Members post a job request through the company’s website. Families can request a specific sitter, but otherwise the service selects and schedules the sitter. Fees are set, and are based on the number of children.  The holiday fee schedule runs about four dollars more per hour than the regular fees. Lee says she is nearly booked up for New Year’s Eve.  “If a new family calls and wants to join specifically to make a request for New Year’s, I will advise them on our availability before signing them up.”

Since I originally wrote this article, I’ve also become aware of a second local service here in Little Rock:  Nanny Solutions. You’ll have to research them on your own, though.

Sitters You Already Know
In an informal survey, several moms said that they have found last minute babysitters by tapping adults who already work with their children.  Preschool teachers, gymnastics coaches, church nursery workers, and even the childcare provider at the fitness center have proven to be great babysitters.

Using a familiar adult to watch the kids can have great benefits for everyone involved.  Kids have less anxiety when parents leave them with someone they know. It helps if the sitter is familiar with the family as well.  Leah Smith, a lead instructor at The Little Gym, occasionally babysits for families who bring their kids to her classes. “It makes me much more comfortable to go to someone’s house to babysit when I already know the family.  I also enjoy getting to know the kids better.  Then, when they see me in the gym, we have that extra connection that helps us work better together on what they are learning in class.”

Gang up on the Problem
Both Mary Schwartz from Sittercity and Shea Lee from Seeking Sitters recommend joining forces with other families to share a sitter.  Both companies welcome the opportunity to work with group events to coordinate childcare for multiple children from multiple families, utilizing more than one sitter when the numbers call for it.

Other families work together by forming a babysitting co-op.  A co-op is a barter-type system in which families trade babysitting (and possibly other services).  I just realized that I have not done a post about my babysitting co-op! (ack!) Stay tuned for more information on this…

BabysitterExchange (to set up a co-op)
Free with limited functionality
$165 annually for full functionality

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