Need to Hire a Sitter? Make Sure Your Children Are Safe
Parents have to go somewhere without their youngsters at some point, right? The hope is always that we can get a family member, or at least a close family friend, to keep an eye on our kids when we need to head somewhere by ourselves for a while. But there will be times where these people simply aren’t available. In which case, you’ll have to hire a sitter – usually one in their teens!
How can you ensure the safety of your child in such a scenario? Thankfully, there are plenty of steps you can take.
References
This is the best way to make sure the sitter is ready. You need someone who is responsible and mature. If they’ve had a job, or have worked with other parents in the past, see if you can get references from these parties. References from school teachers can also be obtained. You may even want to check out their social media pages to see if there’s anything untoward there. While you shouldn’t judge someone solely on their Facebook page, it might not hurt to check!
Qualifications
Not every great and trustworthy sitter has actually been trained in the art. But if they do have any relevant qualifications, then that can be a huge relief. If they have training in this like first aid, CPR, and child safety, then you may have found a winner. If you’re looking with quite a lot of time remaining until the evening you need them, you could suggest they look for courses at their local hospital.
Monitoring
No matter how careful you are with your search, it’s going to be difficult for you to trust someone alone with your children, or even in your home at all. This is perfectly understandable. But you’ve heard the term “nanny cam,” right? You can get various items hooked up to video cameras which you can then use to monitor the activity in your home. If you can get an item where the camera connects to cell phone using wifi, then monitoring becomes very easy.
Familiarity with the home
It’s best that they are as familiar as possible with your home. They should know where all the possible exits are. They should know how to use all the safety devices you have set up in your home. If you have essential supplies stocked somewhere, they should know where that stuff is. You should also introduce them to your child or children! Consider having them look after the kids for an hour or two while you run some errands to help them get used to things.
Thorough instructions
One of the best things you can do to ensure everything goes smoothly is to make sure all instructions are given loud and clear. You should type them all out and print them off – don’t worry about making them too wordy or comprehensive. Define clearly the responsibilities you want the sitter to take on. If your children have any illnesses or allergies, then you need to detail this. And if your children misbehave, you need to make clear to the sitter what they should do about it!