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BABY SITTERS
Parents either need to report to work or look after other issues that took a back seat during the delivery and the initial months of childbirth. This is when baby sitters are needed the most to take care of babies. Not just parents, babies too enjoy this change of hands and more importantly this gives parents time to catch up with friends, spend some quality together or just unwind a little after all the pressure and fatigue they have been through.
Selecting the Right Baby Sitter
Before choosing a suitable baby sitter for your child, you have to understand that they can not in any case replace you, i.e.; they can not be a mom or a dad for your baby. They are just a short-term arrangement for the purpose of taking care of the baby and having too many expectations from them is only asking for too much.
You should look out for:
- How caring are they towards young children.
- Their maturity and competency levels.
- Attitude towards homes, visitors and strangers.
- Patience levels in coping with babies when they get cranky.
- How they deal with emergency situations.
- Their health and hygiene and responsibility towards their job.
- Take down the contact details of the sitter / do some background checks if necessary and take the past employers opinion about his/her performance.
- Make the payment amount clear before appointing your sitter.
What You Need To Do:
- Before anything else, the first thing you need to do is prepare your child for his baby sitting session. Inform him before hand that mom and dad will be away for a short while and that he needs to be with the baby sitter.
- Give your telephone numbers and also the numbers of your close friends or relatives to the baby sitter incase there is an emergency.
- A feeler about your child’s habits, likes and dislikes and how to deal with him if he gets edgy.
- Any medication that need to be given if the child is prone to any allergies or under any treatment.
- What television programs the child is allowed to watch.
- Inform about when you will be getting home and incase you run late, baby sitters need to be updated.
- Setting food aside for the baby so that the baby sitter could do the feeding.
- Inform about the time your child needs to get to bed.
- Stay home for the first 15 – 20 minutes the sitter arrives, acquaint him/ her to essential surroundings of your house and introduce you baby when meeting for the first time.
- Though your baby has a tendency to shed some tears while you leave , don’t panic , explain to him and promise to get him his favorite toy or box of chocolates.
- Let your baby sitter know where the tool box and the band aid kit are, incase of an emergency.
- Be informed before hand if your baby sitter intends to get along a friend.
- Most importantly, your child’s safety needs to be given the highest priority.