Ways to evaluate a babysitter for your toddler

As much as you love your kids, sometimes you just need to get out of the house. You may want to go on a date night with your husband, or you may want to have lunch with a friend without any interruption. That is when you will have to hire a babysitter. However, when you have young children, you need to be careful who you let take care of the children.

Caring for a young child is different from caring for a baby or an older child. It requires a specific set of skills. For example, your toddler may be potty training, so it is important that you find a babysitter who is adept at changing diapers or who can help your child use the toilet. Second, young children have a lot of energy, so you should look for a younger babysitter who has the energy level to keep up with your child.

When you are evaluating a babysitter for your young child, you may want to ask the following questions. This will help you weed out babysitters who are inexperienced and those who have no interest in babysitting, but are only doing it for money. Ask your babysitter the following questions:

• What do you like about babysitting?
• Have you ever been convicted of a crime? Have you ever been arrested?
• Is it okay if a job is late? If we need more time away from home, are you willing to stay later?
• If you have to cancel, how soon can you tell us?
• How many years have you been working with young children?
• What child care roles have you played in the past? Have you ever worked as a babysitter or a teacher of young children?
• How many families have you babysat for? How old were the children?
• Do you have experience changing diapers? Do you know the basics of potty training?
• What is your experience with CPR or first aid? Can you drive in an emergency?
• Tell me about a time when you had an emergency while babysitting. How did you handle it?
• Do you enforce discipline if children misbehave? What type? If we don’t agree with the discipline method, are you willing to change it?
• Can you tell if a house is childproof?

Once you have narrowed down your list of babysitting candidates with the questions above, you should start calling the prospective babysitter’s references. Talk to the parents and ask if they liked the babysitter’s style.

Do your own research. Google the name of the potential babysitter and see if something comes up. You can’t dig too deep when it comes to your toddler’s safety.