{Photo Credit: The Art of Making a Baby}
You want to feel confident and comfortable as you finally embark on a child-free night, so finding the right babysitter to suit your family’s needs is imperative. Whether you are having your High School aged neighbor watch your child for the evening, or you are actively on the hunt for the perfect sitter, below is a well rounded list of questions and discussions that you may want to keep in the back of your mind (or proudly printed off on a clipboard) while interviewing potential babysitters.
Interviewing a babysitter is a great way to gauge their readiness for the job and learn about their personality, ensuring that you are satisfied with your decision to leave your child with them for the evening. Having a babysitter is a great way for your child to interact with non-family members. Your child may learn to love their newest friend and look forward to playing with them!
Tips:
Having questions prepared to ask in an interview setting is ideal. Being upfront and open with the potential candidate will make them feel at ease, and will allow for a positive interview experience for both of you. If they are nervous and are giving short answers, try to engage them in conversation throughout the questioning period, which allows them to begin to feel more comfortable.
Experience:
- How much experience do you have babysitting?
- What are the age groups of children that you have cared for in the past?
- How many families are you currently working for?
- Do you have any prior commitments on any particular days?
- Can you provide me with the names and phone numbers of three different employers?
Compensation:
- What is your hourly rate that you charge for your service?
- Does your rate change depending on the children left in your care? (You may find that “splitting a sitter” with your friends may be a cheaper option.)
Play Time:
- What are your favorite activities to do while babysitting to occupy time?
- How would you involve the children, while actively preparing things such as dinner, or snack?
- How do you handle conflicts with children (either them not following the rules, or an act such as sibling rivalry?)
- How do you react if a child attempts to bend, or break a house rule?
- How do you respond when a child follows the rules?
{Photo Credit: The Art of Making a Baby}
Emergency Training:
- Are you currently trained or certified in child and infant CPR? (If not, check out this post on Training for Parenthood: Infant and Child CPR, for different training and class options.)
- Do you have any experience in handling an emergency of any kind?
- What is the first thing you would do in case of a house fire?
- How would you handle a power outage?
- How do you deal with a choking child?
- Do you know when and why you would call Poison Control?
- Do you have your own cell phone in case of emergencies?
Baby Specific Questions:
- Are you comfortable changing a diaper?
- If trained, would you feel comfortable changing a cloth diaper?
- How do you deal with a baby who will not stop crying?
- What do you do if you feel yourself becoming frustrated?
- Are you comfortable giving a baby or a toddler a bath, and doing a bedtime routine?
We would love to know how old your child was when you first left them alone with a non-family member babysitter. Please share with us in the comment section!
These are great babysitter interview questions. In addition to the above list, we suggest “Do you have children?” This question is important to know if a babysitter or nanny plans on watching their children in addition to your children.