1. Is your babysitter
CPR and First Aid certified?
If the answer is no, don’t hire
them until they become certified. The babysitter is the first person that can
save your child’s life in an emergency when you are not there. Make sure the
babysitter is not only certified but can answer CPR and First Aid related
questions such as “What would you do if my baby started choking? What would you
do if my child got stung by a bee? What situations are appropriate to call 911?
Etc…”
2. How does your
babysitter respond to the question “What will you do if my kids aren’t getting
along (or worse, fighting)?”
If the answer is “give them a
spanking”, don’t hire them. Even if you personally believe in spanking you
don’t want to leave that type of discipline up to your babysitter.
You want the babysitter to say something like:
They would divert the children’s
attention to something new
They would place the toy in time
out until the children can get along
They would have the children take
turns playing with the toy
Or in very extreme cases, they
would place the children in time out 1 minute for each year of age (i.e. a 3
year old would have 3 minutes of timeout)
while explaining exactly why they
are in time out and what they need to do to get out of time out such as
apologizing to the other child
*Note:
In all my 15+ years of babysitting I have never actually needed to use this
method of timeout.
3. How does your
babysitter respond to the question “Why do you want a job babysitting/
nannying?
If the answer is anything other
than I love working with children, I want a job in childcare etc. be very
cautious hiring them.
In my years of hiring babysitters I’ve found that the best
ones love working with children and that is their main focus. The ones that
answer, “I need a job, I’m doing it for money etc.” don’t stay around very long
and are less engaged with the children when they are working.
4. The answer to the
question “Are your immunizations current and do you have any health
restrictions that could affect your ability to babysit” can be crucial.
You need someone that is up to date with their
vaccines to ensure your child won’t become ill, in addition you need someone
that can physically lift your child onto a changing table and into their cribs
and beds. It is a job requirement and it is important to make sure the
babysitter is up to the physical demands it takes to care for your child.
5. It is critical you
ask your potential babysitter these questions with the intent to have a
background check performed
-“Have you ever been convicted of a felony?
-Is there anything that will pop up on a background check that you want
to explain ahead of time?
-It is unacceptable to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol while
on the job as it can impair your ability to care for my children, do you
consent that you will not be under the influence before or during a job?
The answer
to the felony question can be a way to determine whether or not the babysitter
is truthful or not (as you can perform a background check to confirm). If the
answer is “Yes” it can be a huge red flag depending on the circumstance. If the
felony has anything to do with harming or neglecting children DO NOT HIRE THE
BABYSITTER!
If the babysitter will not consent to being free of drugs or
alcohol while on the job do not hire the babysitter. In addition, I personally inform
my babysitters that I reserve the right to perform random drug screens as
necessary with a signed confirmation.
**NOTE: These are in no way the only questions you should
ask your babysitter. Use your best judgment, along with multiple references and
background checks, and ample trial periods to determine what sitter is right
for you.**
For more information on babysitting visit my websites:
www.smartsittersco.com
www.smartsittersco.com
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