Best babysitter search

May 6, 2012 9:28 AM

Hi, what's the best luck you've had for finding a babysitter online? I don't know any good sites.
posted by KHinds10 to Grab Bag (13 answers total)

Where are you located? I think word of mouth is usually best, but if you have a local parenting Yahoo group or site, that's a good place to start asking.
posted by Ideefixe at 9:30 AM on May 6, 2012

We had good luck at sittercity.com. If you join them, I recommend scoping out the number and types of listings in your neighborhood before you fork over the money for joining. What I liked about them was that we posted our job and babysitters applied to us.
posted by girl scientist at 9:38 AM on May 6, 2012

We have had great luck with craigslist. Requesting a resume really whittles down the applicants, as does using titles like ' childcare assistant.' Most recently, we posted the ad in the education jobs section and only received resumes from recent teaching grads who were looking for some extra cash.
posted by wg at 9:45 AM on May 6, 2012

I actually just saw a commercial for Care.com the other day. I don't know much about it, but you could have a look into that.
posted by jwmollman at 10:39 AM on May 6, 2012

Another vote for sittercity.com. I've also had luck placing an ad with the local colleges' employment offices and by using a local parenting board.
posted by goggie at 10:42 AM on May 6, 2012

For my area at least, care.com is better that sittercity.com and sittercity is better than Craigslist. I don't live in an urban area though, if you do then neighborhood yahoo parenting groups are probably the best place to start.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 10:53 AM on May 6, 2012

Another vote for local parenting discussions. I use our local yahoo groups - and also seconding the career office of the local college.
posted by cestmoi15 at 11:18 AM on May 6, 2012

We've had good luck with sittercity, though I feel like people on sittercity might charge more than if we went through craigslist or a local group. We're in a pretty high price area, though.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 1:52 PM on May 6, 2012

My first choice would be facebook, asking my friends if they have teens that are responsible and experienced with babysitting. Also asking my friends who they would recommend.

If you are really in a bind and don't know anyone in your area, call the local pre-schools and ask if they could introduce you to a few of their teacher assistants. Choose one of them, chances are they have already passed a background check.
posted by myselfasme at 3:39 PM on May 6, 2012 [1 favorite]

I found two great sitters through sittercity.com, as well as a few so-so ones.

Before that I had tried craigslist. I accidentally hired a prostitute to look after my kids.
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:04 PM on May 6, 2012 [3 favorites]

We've used Sittercity, but had better luck calling a local daycare and asking if anyone freelance babysat.

Background check and ECE education, worked out great.
posted by mazienh at 8:20 PM on May 6, 2012

We've posted to the jobs website of our local university, which has an education department and many early childhood development specialists. That has gotten us many good applicants.
posted by Capri at 6:59 AM on May 7, 2012

Response by poster: Thanks everyone :)
posted by KHinds10 at 5:44 PM on May 8, 2012