May 17, 2011
Good Questions to Ask a Potential Babysitter
by SingleParents.org at SingleParents.org

If you are looking for a potential babysitter, you first need to know what good questions you should ask during the interview. In this article, you will learn about what good questions to ask a potential baby sitter. Knowing these questions will help you find a trustworthy, responsible and competent babysitter. The questions you will ask will be about their experience, availability and salary expectations, and their philosophy with regards to discipline, training, strengths and weaknesses.

Experience: Ask the potential babysitter about his or her experience with babysitting for you to know if the person really knows how to handle children. There are lots of teenagers these days that are babysitting as a part-time job after school hours. Others may have some experience from their own home because by babysitting their siblings. You need to know how much experience the babysitter has and if he or she can handle children with ages same as your kids’. If you have an infant, ask the babysitter if she has experiences babysitting babies.

Availability and Salary Expectations: One of the good questions to ask a potential babysitter beforehand is what time they are available to do babysitting as well as their expected salary. Teenage babysitters still in school are available after their class hours so expect them to work part-time during the school year and full-time during vacations. If the babysitter already has enough experience with babysitting, he or she now has an idea about the expected salary. Ask them how much salary they are expecting from you so you can then negotiate with regards to your terms. Of course, you also need to have knowledge of the usual rate per hour with other babysitters.

Philosophy with Discipline: Ask the potential babysitter about his or her philosophy with regards to discipline. Ask them what specific approach they use when disciplining children to find out if they really are competent babysitters. Think of a precise situation and ask the babysitter about how she handles them once they arise. Of course you need to find someone who can handle tight situations without violence or anger towards kids.

Training: Make sure to ask the potential babysitter about his or her training in view of babysitting. There are some babysitters that undergo training in handling children and conducting first aids. They are mostly professional nannies but you can also find younger babysitters who underwent training and have enough experience with taking care of children.

Strengths and Weaknesses: One good question to ask a potential babysitter is about his or her strengths and weaknesses. Find out what the person thinks about themselves regarding their past experiences with children. Are they fond of children? Do they easily interact with them? What are their ideas when it comes to children activities at home? Do they know how to calm a crying baby? See to it that you ask these questions in order for you to make sure if the babysitter can handle your kids well.

A person’s experience, availability and salary expectations, philosophy with discipline, training and strengths and weaknesses are good questions to ask a potential babysitter. This will help you look for babysitters to whom you can entrust your children with.

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