When it comes to the welfare and safety of your children, there is no such thing as being too careful. This is why, if you are going to hire a baby sitter, you need to do a thorough interview that will allow you to get to know the person who will be taking care of your precious little ones. To give you an idea on what questions to ask a potential baby sitter, here are some of the things that you would want to know about.

Question # 1 – How long have you been baby sitting?

Like in other employment application, experience is one of the first things that you would want to know about. You want to leave your child to a baby sitter who has extensive experience in baby sitter services. While there is nothing wrong with hiring a newbie, an experienced one will be better in dealing with children and taking care of them. You would not want to settle for anything less than that. Have the baby sitter describe her experience in this field and ask about the children that she has taken care of before.

Question # 2 – Have you undergone any specialized training for childcare?

First aid, CPR, and safety measures are just few of the many things that a baby sitter should be well aware of. These bits and pieces of knowledge and skills can only be acquired if the sitter has undergone specialized training for childcare. You would not want to leave your kids with a person who would not know what to do in case of an emergency.

Question # 3 – Why do you enjoy baby sitting?

It does not make sense to ask a baby sitter applicant if she enjoys baby sitting because of course she will say yes to impress you. But by asking her the reasons why she likes this job, you will have better understanding of her personality, philosophy, and mindset. If she answers outrightly that she does not enjoy this job and she just needs the money, you should skip this applicant and look for someone else who would be more dedicated in taking care of your children.

Question # 4 – How do you handle problems with kids?

In this question, give theoretical examples of situations that are possible to happen at home while the sitter is taking care of the children and ask the applicant how she will handle these. For example, your child goes on a crying spree for hours because she wants to eat something that she is not permitted to eat. Or your little boy stuck his finger somewhere or had a little bruise from accidentally tripping on the floor. The applicant’s answers to these questions will give you a good idea on the kind of personality, childcare service, and dedication that she has.

Aside from these top four questions, you also need to find more about the applicant’s educational background, health status, employment history, and so on. On top of that, you should not only be concerned about the answers that the applicant gives to the questions you ask but also how she answers them. Observe the applicant’s nonverbal behavior as this will tell you a lot about a certain person.

You are not really comfortable with the idea of leaving your kids to a person you barely know. However, you have this important event that you really have to attend. You decide that it is probably time that you get over with your paranoia and entrust your kids to a person you deem would be trustworthy and reliable enough to care for your little ones. The only problem is, you do not know how to do that. To help you with this matter, here are some tips on how to find a trustworthy baby sitter.

Where to Find

Knowing where to look is the first step in finding a reliable sitter for your kids. Here are the best places where you can start your search.

• Recommendations from family and friends – One of the best ways to give yourself some peace of mind is to hire a babysitter that has been tried and tested by your family or friends. Make some calls and ask around. Surely, you will get a referral or two from people close to you.

• In the community – If nobody in your family or friends can give you a recommendation, the next best place you can look is in the church, local schools, and your workplace. You can get referrals from trusted neighbors, church mates, parents of your children’s classmates, and workmates. You may also find a baby sitting services in your community.

• Online – If you are running out of time, you may want to get potential baby sitter applicants from childcare agencies online. Just be very careful when going for this route and be sure to do a thorough background search and interview which will be discussed in more detail later on in this article.

What to Check

Doing an interview and a background check is necessary when hiring a baby sitter. After all, it is your precious children at stake here. First, you need to check the sitter’s qualifications in terms of first aid training, maturity, good judgment, personality, responsibility, health, hygiene, and organization. You can search online for information about this person’s educational background, employment history, criminal record, character references, and many more.

What to Look for

Aside from the qualifications, you should also look for someone who has rapport with children. You cannot have a baby sitter that is short tempered and impatient. Look for someone who can get along with your kids. To ensure this, it would be smart if you can observe your baby sitter’s interaction with your kids when you are there and when she thinks you are not there. You do not necessarily have to spy but you can observe from a distance how the sitter deals with your kids. If you suspect anything wrong, then you should know better than to leave your children with someone you are not comfortable with.

When it comes to finding a reliable baby sitter, take other parents’ advice and exhaust all means possible to ensure that you are leaving your children in safe hands.