Babysitters

[mightybee]

How many babysitters do you have? 1 and a back-up? Rotate through several?

I've met/talked to 3 potential sitters through care.com. Loved 1, liked 1, and didn't really care for the third.

I'll only be using a sitter for date nights and occasionally during the week for a few hours (maybe 1-2 times a month). Since its so part-time, I worry I'll lose some if they pick up a full-time nannying gig, but it seems overkill to have too many.

Thanks for the insight! First time babysitter hiring going on over here.

[roo1582]

We technically have 2. We have one we mainly use. We have another one, but she is kind of annoying (both were Kayleigh's daycare teacher/assistant at some point). So honestly, if we can't get our main one, we tend to reschedule to fit when she can come. We've really only used them for date nights so it is rare we have anything that we can't work around.

[britbratjf]

We live close to family so really only grandparents and occasionally my younger cousin or sister babysit. But I think 2 is probably good. A favorite & one to call if the favorite isn't available.

[bliz1712]

We have 2 main, both sets of parents, and then we have H's sister. I typically start with them first and have been lucky to only need an outside babysitter a handful of times.

I would definitely keep 1-2. That way you have a backup should something come up last minute, like a work function you both want to go to and need someone for the kids. Having 2 maybe even 3 options would be better odds that you could get someone.

[cookiesandwine]

Ours are family - my parents and his parents mostly. I have three aunts that have babysat for us in a pinch (one does inhome daycare were Sadie went/Luke will go) but we mostly use our parents. We only really go out for special occasions like birthdays and weddings.

[xanthepants]

We have 5-6. HA! Well let me explain. We have MIL - that is our go to I guess. We had cousin (I'm not going to use anymore after finding out the loose guns in the house), but I could use in a pinch if necessary. We have a good friend that I exchange nights with - I'll watch her kid for a night while they go out, then she'll watch mine a week later while we go out. We have 2 daycare teachers we pay for an occasional night out (rarely used) but definitely an option for when we have family functions or longer events. We have neighbors across the street who offer but we've only taken them up on it once. Sooooo I guess I have more than I thought.

[starfishy]

We usually use my mom, but have a few teenagers to call just in case.
My sister has like 10 and my niece and nephew have had 3 new ones in the last week. This is on top of using my parents every single day to do p/u and d/o. She cray.

[cbear]

Yeah we just have my parents my MIL and every so often my moms friend. Hi my name is Cody and I'm a paranoid control freak who is scared to get a real babysitter.

[xanthepants]

Honestly I'm actually really happy now to have a non-related babysitter that I can call in a pinch. There are just times when I want to go out and not have to deal with family drama, or it just seems simpler and the care is straightforward. Cosette loves these teachers so its a treat for her too in a weird way. I like having a backup for my backup.

[barefoot84]

I feel like I have none.My IL babysit on our wedding anniversary, and we have to make it home by 8 to put the kids to bed. My MIL is also babysitting tonight, since we have a funeral. Twice in a year, win! My parents live 12 hours away but love to babysit when they're here. Maybe I need to go on care.com...

[mightybee]

If we had family nearby, I'd be using them! In 3+ years, we've only been one 1 date when H's parents were in town during our anniversary. We both feel it's time! We each do our own thing without kids, but it will be nice to start doing things as a couple.

I'll ask if any of D's preschool teachers babysit--that would be great since we already know them.

[mightybee]

Aug 26, 2015 15:02:59 GMT -5 cbear said:

Yeah we just have my parents my MIL and every so often my moms friend. Hi my name is Cody and I'm a paranoid control freak who is scared to get a real babysitter.

But at least you go out and do stuff without kids. Hi I'm mightybee and haven't been out with my H in over a year and that's been it since 2012.

[xanthepants]

mightybee, Do you have any friends you can do an exchange with? I watch my friends kid for a few hours while they go grab dinner and the kids have dinner and then watch a movie. The parents come back we all have drinks and the kids finish up playing - works nice for us. Then they pay back the favor. Get's us all out on the semi reg without it being that big of deal.

[jodielyn10]

mightybee, we don't have family nearby either, so any date or night out is a paid babysitter.

We only have one, but need to find another because she just left for college last week. She'll still be back often for holidays and weekends here and there and over the summer so we can still use her from time to time but we really need another. I just found out last week that our neighbor across the street has a HS age daughter who babysits, so we'll be getting in touch with her soon to see if she'd be a good fit.

We only use the sitter for dates and the occasional road race we're both running in so it's never been an issue not having more than one since we can schedule our dates around when she's available.

[justbeth]

We have two. Both are past preschool teachers. I have one other girl's number but haven't yet needed to call her. We can't afford too many date nights because date plus babysitter is expensive!

[sarahandeddie]

We have my parents as our primary sitter. My sister and grandparents occasionally watch the girls too. We've never had to pay someone.