When hiring a babysitter for the first time, it is important that you schedule either an interview or a trial sitting if not both. We highly recommend that you meet all sitters before the first sitting. Although CareFinder puts a lot of work into screening the sitters, hiring a babysitters is a very personal decision. In order to get a good idea if the sitter is right for you and your family, it helps to meet face-to-face first for an interview followed by a trial sitting if you're contemplating hiring a regular babysitter.

 

 

 

An interview is your chance to both verify that the potential babysitter has the qualities you seek for in a caregiver as well as making sure that you two are on the same page regarding anything from child-caring philosophy to scheduling and rate. Prepare for the interview by reviewing their profile on CareFinder and narrowing down some questions you'd like to ask.

 

An interview can take anywhere from an hour to two hours and we recommend that you agree in advance to compensate the potential sitter with their hourly rate for taking time out of their day to meet you.

 

If you're comfortable doing so, interviews are also a great opportunity to introduce the sitter to your family. In doing so, you can see how your children and sitter interact. No matter how great a potential sitter is on paper, you don't want to hire them if they don't get along well with your children. The only way to find out is to meet face-to-face!

 

 

 

 

For families looking to hire a regular babysitter, we recommend having a trial sitting before you fully commit to a sitter long-term. Just like any first sitting, you can show the babysitter around your house, go over emergency procedures and any specifics you may have for how the sitting should go, then leave the babysitter with the child for just a few hours. After the trial sitting, you can get feedback from your child and make a more informed decision on hiring a new babysitter!

 

 

At CareFinder, we are committed to meeting all of your babysitting needs whether you are looking for just an evening babysitter, an international babysitter, a hotel babysitter, a weekend babysitter, an overnight babysitter, a great au pair or a summer babysitter. Sign up to begin your search!