Babysitting Safety

• Babysitting Laws
• How to Conduct Background Checks
• Safety Guidelines for Your Babysitters
• Six Things You Should Ask During a Babysitter Interview
• The All-Important Reference Checks
• Training and Safety Courses for Your Babysitter
• What to Ask When Conducting a Reference Check
• What to Put On Your Babysitter Checklist

When it comes to babysitting laws, the regulations vary from state to state, so it’s always best to check the specific babysitting laws in the area where you live. However, although most states don’t regulate the minimum age that a child is old enough to care for other children, some municipalities have adopted guidelines. For instance, in Dakota County, Minnesota, the guidelines state that it’s acceptable for children who are 11 to 14 to babysit other children as long as the parents will be returning the same day. In Prince William Country, Virginia, children who are between the ages of 12-13 may babysit a child for up to four hours.

If you’re in the process of hiring a regular sitter for your child, consider conducting background checks. Background checks are one assurance that you’re hiring the right person to care for your child. One way to ensure thorough background checks is by hiring an outside agency to handle the research for you. When selecting an agency, look for one that has an accreditation or licensing and is in compliance with all federal and state regulations.

Background checks can show whether a candidate has a criminal record, clean driving record, and is free of any lawsuits, debts, or bankruptcy. If you do decide to conduct a background check, first make sure that you have the approval of the sitter. You are required by Federal law to have signed permission to conduct the background check.

Part of making sure your child is in good hands with the babysitter is providing her with the necessary information she needs to know. Here are some safety guidelines you should have in place whenever you have someone else care for your child.

• Always leave the babysitter with a phone number to contact you in the event of an emergency.
• Leave emergency contact information such as hospital, doctor, and insurance information for your babysitter.
• Babysitters should always be aware of any allergies or special medical needs your child has.
• Safety guidelines include always letting babysitters know when they should expect you to be home.
• Whenever you hire a new babysitter, make sure you give her a tour of the home and point out any areas that are off-limits.
• Show the babysitter where she can find items for injuries, such as first aid kits.

Asking the right questions during a babysitter interview can mean the difference between hiring the right or wrong person to look after your child. Interview questions should give you a good idea of a candidate’s strengths, weaknesses, and genuine interest in caring for children. Here are six things you should cover during a babysitter interview.

• Ask the babysitter what experience she/he has with children that are the same age as yours.
• Ask the babysitter what specific training, if any, s/he has (i.e. CPR, early childhood education classes).
• Ask the babysitter what she/he likes most and least about caring for children.
• Ask the babysitter what activities she/he feels comfortable doing with the children.
• Ask the babysitter whether she/he intends to babysit for the short-term or long-term.
• Ask the babysitter for his/her rates, availability, and references.

At the very least, if you’re hiring a new babysitter, you’ll want to check a few of his/her references prior to having her care for your child. Reference checks aren’t especially time-consuming and can mean the difference between hiring a competent, trustworthy sitter as opposed to an unreliable one. Reference checks can augment the information that you garnered from the interview if you’re deciding between a few qualified candidates. It can also give you a peace of mind that you’re hiring the right person to care for your child. When asking for references, try to see if a potential hire can give you references from previous employers and families they have babysat for as opposed to friends and family members.

Training and safety courses can give a babysitter the knowledge she needs to save your child’s life in an emergency and keep up to date on current childcare education. Perhaps you’re wondering what types of training and safety courses you should look for when examining the background of a potential babysitter. Or maybe you’d like to get your current babysitter involved in furthering her childhood education. Here are some training and safety courses that are available.

Red Cross Babysitter’s Training – The Red Cross Babysitter’s training is a comprehensive course designed for 11 to 15 year olds who are interested in babysitting. The course covers topics like first aid, age appropriate games and toys, changing diapers, and sleep issues.

Child and Babysitting Safety (CABS) - The CABS program is offered through the American Safety and Health Institute. The program covers topics such as playtime, hazards, feeding, sleep times, and CPR.

4-H Babysitting Course – This course is geared towards young people who have an interest in babysitting. Topics include first aid, child development, and nutrition.

Early Childhood Education Courses – Community colleges and universities have early childhood education courses that include studies in child development, children with special needs, nutrition, and language development in young children.

Conducting a reference check can give you the pieces of information you need to know to hire the right sitter for your child – if you ask the right questions. Always weigh the comments from a reference in relation to that person’s knowledge of the sitter’s skills. For instance, a reference from a family that a sitter worked with for a year is more reliable than a parent who only used the sitter once or twice. If you’re not sure what to ask when you’re conducting a reference check, take a look at this list.

• Find out how long the sitter worked for the other family.
• Ask what the ages of the children were at the time the sitter worked for the family.
• Find out what the sitter’s responsibilities were and whether she/he did a good job handling his/her responsibilities.
• Ask whether the sitter was dependable and punctual.
• Find out what the sitter’s strengths were as well as his/her weaknesses.

So you’ve hired the babysitter. She’s coming in half an hour and you’re getting ready to head out. But have you prepared a babysitter checklist? The babysitter checklist has all the information your sitter should need to make things go smoothly. Take a look at this list to find out what information you should have on your babysitter checklist.

• Contact information – Leave your babysitter with a cell phone number or direct way to contact you and/or your spouse while you’re out.
• Emergency contact information – This information includes your child’s doctor, a nearby hospital, a secondary contact person, and insurance information.
• Medical information – If your child has any food allergies, is currently taking any medications, or has any physical conditions your babysitter should know about, put it on the checklist.
• List of foods and drinks – Let your babysitter know what is and isn’t appropriate for your child to eat. If your child is very young, it can be especially important to leave a list of age-appropriate foods.
• Activities/Itineraries – If your child is young or an infant, you’ll want to let your sitter know about his/her routine. It’s also helpful to let your babysitter know what activities are and aren’t appropriate for your child as well as what types of things your child has an interest in.