Temporary Babysitters

• Childcare When Traveling
• Ensuring Temporary Child Care Goes Smoothly
• Finding Weekend Childcare
• Hiring Short Term Childcare
• Overnight Childcare
• Part-time Childcare
• Temporary Babysitting Checklist
• Using Hotel Babysitters
• Where to Find Last Minute Childcare

Childcare when traveling can be a challenge. However, there are several resources for ensuring you have someone to watch your child even when you’re out of town. Here are some suggestions for finding childcare when traveling.

• Some hotels and resorts have their own childcare in place. Find out which ones do and consider staying at a place where you can drop the kids off.
• Cruise ships often have daycare centers, activities for children, and individual babysitting available. Keep that in mind if you’re planning a family vacation.
• Contact the concierge of a local hotel. They can often give you a list of recommended babysitters.
• Ask a friend or family member who lives in the town you’re visiting for a childcare recommendation.
• Go online and check for a babysitter in the area you’re visiting using Babysitters4hire.com. You can often search by zip code, ensuring a number of candidates that you can choose from.
• Consider using a nanny placement agency to find the right sitter.

Temporary childcare can take on several forms. You might send your child to a summer day camp. You might have the help of a summer au pair. Or you might hire a babysitter for the short-term. Because temporary child care requires a shorter adjustment period, you’ll need to find ways to help your child adjust. Here are some suggestions.

• Provide your temporary child care provider with as much information as possible about your child’s routine including naps and eating habits.
• Give your child something familiar to play with such as a blanket, stuffed animal, or toy.
• If your child is old enough, explain to him/her what she might expect with his/her new temporary child care provider.
• If your child will be attending an outside child care center, take him/her to visit prior to leaving him/her on his/her own.

Finding weekend childcare can be more challenging than finding childcare during daytime, weekday hours. Unfortunately, options like daycare centers operate mainly during working hours. However, there are solutions for families that need weekend childcare. The best option for your family would likely be for a childcare provider to come to your home to care for your child during the weekends. Here are a few options.

• Go to a babysitting site, such as Babysitters4hire.com, and hire a babysitter who can provide weekend hours
• Enlist the help of friends or relatives for weekend childcare
• Find a local teenager with babysitting experience to help with weekend childcare
• Contact a babysitting agency to have a babysitter come to your home

Even if you’re looking for short term childcare, you should always make sure you’re thorough with the babysitters that you hire. After all, whether you’re looking for short term childcare or long term childcare, you’re still entrusting someone to look after your child. Here are some things to think about.

• You can find short term childcare from the same sources you’d find long term childcare. Look on online babysitting sites, such as Babysitters4hire.com, ask people you know for referrals, or place an ad in your local paper.
• Even if you need childcare in a hurry, you should be as thorough as possible in checking up on a babysitter. Ask for references, place a call, and do a background check whenever possible.
• Interview a short term childcare provider by phone first and then conduct an in-person interview.
• One way to get a feel for how a short term childcare provider is working out is by having her come in to care for your child while you’re around during the first day or the initial period.

Overnight childcare can be a challenge for parents who need someone to watch their children. Parents may need to get away for a work conference out of town or may simply appreciate a few nights away from home without the children. Overnight childcare can come in the form of a babysitter who comes to your home and stays overnight to watch your children. Or the problem of overnight childcare can be resolved by sending your children to stay a night or two at a trusted relative or friend’s home. As with any other type of childcare, it’s always important to leave the caregiver a checklist that includes health and safety information, your child’s routine, and contact information in case of emergencies.

For some families, part-time childcare is the solution. Part-time childcare is ideal for the stay-at-home mom who needs a little additional help. Part-time childcare can be ideal for the parent who works part time. It can be a solution for parents who have help through the assistance of family members, but need someone to cover additional hours. It can also be ideal for the parent who works from home and only needs childcare assistance for a certain number of hours a week. Unfortunately, it can sometimes be more difficult to line up part-time childcare because many childcare providers are looking for full-time employment. However, there are options for making part time childcare work.

• You can hire a babysitter who has availability during the hours that you need
• If you can’t find one babysitter who can cover the part-time hours you need, you can hire more than one caregiver instead
• You can share one full-time babysitter with another family, splitting the hours between the two households.

It’s always important to create a temporary babysitting checklist that your childcare provider can refer to. The checklist should cover all the pertinent information she/he needs to know to take care of your child safely and carefully. This temporary babysitting checklist covers all the items you should think about.

Contact information – The checklist should have a direct phone number to reach you in case of emergency.

Emergency numbers – Have a list of emergency numbers, including your child’s doctor, the nearest hospital, and insurance information for your temporary babysitter.

Medical information – Include any medications and allergies your child has that your temporary babysitter should know about.

Likes and dislikes – Give your temporary babysitter an idea of what games and activities to engage in with your child.

House rules – Your temporary babysitter should know what your child is and isn’t allowed to do in the home. She/he should also know whether she/he is allowed to have use of the home phone, computer, and television. Your temporary babysitter should also be aware of bedtime routines.

If you’re traveling, one option for childcare away from home is the use of hotel babysitters. Some resorts and hotels may come with babysitters on staff. In other cases, you may find that the concierge has a list of recommended babysitters they can refer you to. Once you’ve booked a hotel and you know you need childcare, reserve the time you need with the hotel babysitters. For peace of mind you can do the following:

• Contact the hotel ahead of time and reserve a block of time with the babysitter.
• If the hotel has a childcare program, talk to the director about the level of experience of their hotel babysitters, their certifications, and the ratio of children to caregivers.
• Don’t be shy about asking to speak to the babysitter before your arrival.
• Before you arrive, make sure you contact the hotel to confirm that you have childcare in place.

There can come a time when you will need to find last minute childcare. After all, emergencies arise, children get sick, and even the best-laid plans get changed. So what do you do if you’re stuck and need last minute childcare? Here are seven solutions to finding a babysitter in a pinch.

• Ask a fellow parent to watch your child and offer to return the favor
• Call in the help of friend, grandparents, or a neighbor
• Look for a babysitter from an agency
• Go online and post an ad for a last-minute childcare need on Babysitters4hire.com
• Post an ad at your local college or university
• Post a message on a parent’s board for last minute childcare
• Ask friends, family, and neighbors for the recommendations of an available babysitter