Would you use Craigslist for a sitter?

I have used craigslist for purchasing of items (furniture mostly) but a babysitter, I don’t know. My thought (and hopefully I don’t offend any one who advertise legitimate day care and are legitimate and legal providers) is this, I love my kids, and good, REALLY GOOD, care is extremely hard to come by so by going to a list of a bunch of people who say they are good providers is not the thing for me. I have used credited services like CC&R and Nannies.com to find people for my kids. I am one of those people who honestly think that there are a lot of bad people in the world and by just choosing someone off a list makes you (and your child/children) become more accessible to those people (wasn’t there another story a while back about a caregiver found on craigslist killing a child). If I was desperate and needed care, I might venture that direction, but I would never select someone that I hadn’t done a ton of research on and background on. Sorry call me cautious, but it is my duty as a mother to provide the most stable, safe environment for my children as possible. Craigslist to me makes it too easy to lie, cheat, steal and hurt someone.

"It's not to late to become who you've always wanted to be..."

I have found a ferret sitter on Craigslist, but as far as babysitting, I find them through church or friends. It is easy to second guess - what it comes down to is doing your homework and checking out a potential sitter no matter how or where you found him/her.

sure, fine, whatever

No. I can't imagine finding a sitter that way, or through a classified ad or even through a chat here.

I landed my best sitter from the day care my kids attended. She was good and patient there and the kids loved her. She was in college and has since moved on. Now I generally trade sitting nights with parents.

For any sitter, I do ask lots of questions about certifications for CPR and what if questions before I hire them, too.

I found my WONDERFUL sitter on Criagslist - ASU grad elementary education...just a new mom wanting to stay home with her daughter.

That said, I interviewed dozens, before picking her.

I CAN'T IMAGINE how that dad didn't pick up on this girl's drug use and history of running away! First of all, I never would have hired a 15 yr old, but that aside, if I did consider it, I would have spoken with the girl's parents!

I think like anything, you have to interview and check references. I rejected one mom, because I probed and discovered that her husband had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder...another I rejected because she asked if my 11 month old liked cartoons...another because she told me that she was studying social work, because she had been abused as a child...another because the references whom she listed characterized her as "very competitive"...another because when I asked her to tell me about a time when she may have had a personality clash with a co-worker and how did she resolve it - goodnees the things people will spill if you just ask!

Anyone that I interviewed that seemed okay, I interviewed for at least an hour, some second and third "interview" playdates. Where you get the contact name has little bearing on how well you interview and check references and their backgrounds.

"Only a life lived for others, is the life worthwhile" - Albert Einstein

I found this great list of questions to ask when I was interviewing the president of Valley-based Parent's Time-Out, Inc. The company is Better Business Bureau accredited business. Here's the link: http://www.ptofamily.com/ftp/cn022.pdf

Arizona Moms Editor Yvette Armendariz shares stories about raising her kids and tips for busy parents in her Time-starved (goddess) Mom blog. She and her husband are raising two children, ages 8 and 11.

Here's another for when you are calling references: http://www.ptofamily.com/ftp/PTO008.pdf

Arizona Moms Editor Yvette Armendariz shares stories about raising her kids and tips for busy parents in her Time-starved (goddess) Mom blog. She and her husband are raising two children, ages 8 and 11.

Thanks for putting us all in the category as someone that kidnaps children.
I believe that Craigslist is great for advertising. I have two great friends that watch children, including myself, that use Craigslist. After waiting 36 years to have my first and only child, I decided to stay home with him. Since my field is in Elementary Education, I decided to watch small children in my home. I am successful at watching 4 small children daily in my home. One of my moms has her Masters in Chemical Engineering and is the sweetest mom I've ever met. Guess what? I met her off of Craigslist.
I must say that people that consider us all as kidnappers just because one bad apple spoiled it is missing out on meeting some of the greatest moms in our area. Most of the parents on Craigslist are just searching for the same thing that my moms and I want, and thats the absolute best care for our precious children.

One Happy Mom in Arizona.

I think it is all how you do things. I don't think there is anything wrong with going to craigslist or even this web site or others. IF YOU DO YOUR RESEARCH and interview, do refferences if you want to. You need to do the work...regardless of where you go. I do day care in my home and I expect people to ask questions and ask for referrals.

Cruz Family Day Care
~Samantha Cruz

Mommy of 2 wild boys and love every minute of it.

How you choose a sitter is totally a personal decision. There are many ways people opt to do it, including in this forum. That said, most child-care experts say parents need to do their research before they hire someone to care for their children.

Yesterday I posted some sample questions from Parent's Night-Out's Web site to ask your prospective sitter - whether found here, Craigslist, a neighborhood flyer, friend or a service - so you can get a better sense of whether the sitter will fit your needs.

Ladies, don't forget to comment about how you can tell if your prospect will make a good sitter and the signs of a bad one.

Arizona Moms Editor Yvette Armendariz shares stories about raising her kids and tips for busy parents in her Time-starved (goddess) Mom blog. She and her husband are raising two children, ages 8 and 11.

Finding a daycare provider is a very scary thing to do in this day and age. The important thing to remember is to ask questions and definitely call the persons references!!! I would never say everyone on craigslist is bad, you just have to weed thru the listings and find the right person for your child. If you have any negative feelings after interveiwing someone, go with your gut. Alot of people on the website are legit and great daycare providers. As in everything.....there are the good and the bad. Like I said go with your gut and ask questions. I'm legit and love kids and have great references!!! And I'm not insulted if someone doesn't feel the "click" when they meet me. I also need to feel the "click" with the family and child in order to have a trusting and honest relationship as a provider. I still have friendships with the familys of kids I cared for over 10 years ago. They got to be like my own kids. Don't lump all of us together.

Yes! We hired a terrific babysitter from Craigslist. But read more - we merely got her name, a list of recommendations and location. We then did the legwork. Before we entrusted precious children to her care we visited her, checked out her home, saw that she was certified in CPR and called a list of referrals. We visited several times during her daycare hours and even dropped by unannounced. Each time we were delighted with the relationships we observed. The house was always clean and presentable and our children were always happy to go. The child ratio was excellent as well. The TV was not constantly on and actual creating time was a plus. Although we only had to use our babysitter for a few months we recommended her to relatives and coworkers and they are all as pleased as we were. Using friends or acquaintances from church can be a problem at times when the relationship is more casual and the situation is not treated as a business relationship. We need to depend on each other and this relationship with our Craigslist sitter was very professional. A great relationship grew from that but we feel we did a lot to help that. We weren't looking for something for nothing and we got a great sitter!!

When I was looking for daycare I had a tough time. My child was a happy baby who could easily be stuck in a crib or walker and not fuss. When I looked at daycare centers with rows of cribs it made me think of a baby zoo. Searching newspaper and other ads, most had many children in their care - I wanted indivualized care. No one I knew had a great recommendation so I did exactly what that Dad did, I placed an ad on Craigslist. I got many responses, narrowed it down through questions via email and then interviewed the candidates - at their homes. I found a wonderful sitter, a woman with two kids of her own and a stay at home mom while going to school to become a teacher - my kids are the only ones she watches other than her own. Her husband is a teacher (which meant FBI fingerprint clearance). I checked court records and references for any red flags. After two years I still love my sitter, my children are like part of her family. If for some reason I had to do it again, I'd go straight back to Craigslist - its not the original location of finding someone, its the homework you do before you hand over your most precious babies.

I found a great sitter from craigslist!!!
The issue is how much you do your homework. She listed her qualifications and phone #. Once contacted she provided address, references, license # etc. I interviewed over 8 sitters before placing my infant in her care. Many were listed on other sites, newspaper and referrals. Its not WHERE you find the sitter its how much effort you put into screening them!!
The media seems to put too much hype in to one situation, tragic but one. There are countless stories of licensed daycares etc. that molested children or beat them. Its just the story of the week. As parents we owe it to our children to ensure their safety. Some take it serious others just do what they need to to get by. In the end only the children lose.

I found my sitter on Craigslist. We dont know what we would do without her and her whole family. If you find someone, regardless if it is Craigslist, DES certified, Daycares; ALWAYS do a background check. Get references, ask about certifcation for CPR, have them show you how they do it. I interviewed MANY people, and when I walked into my sitters house, I knew before even talking to her she was the one. We have taken in her family like a part of ours, not only us but my husbands whole family adores them. They come to family functions, we take them on vacations with us, yes the whole family goes with us. I can not tell you how lucky we are to have such great people in our lives, and to know our daughter is their daughter also. It will be 2 years in May she has taken our child in her care, she was 4 months old and a 2 month old preemie. All it takes is a background check and a gut instinct.

My babysitter is licensed, FBI background check, wonderful, and from time to time advertises on craigslist when she has an opening. It is up to the parent to do their research, references, background checks. The father involved in last weeks Amber Alert did no research whatsoever on the girl, did not even get ID from the girl. He was naive and foolish there and is VERY lucky is son was found unharmed.

DD 3 years old brand new baby Luke David born 6/9/08 9lb 1oz 21 1/2 inches long

You can usually tell somebody's character by what kind of trouble they have been in, you can do checks to see if anybody has been to court at this website:

http://www.supreme.state.az.us/publicaccess/notification/default.asp?id=

This allows public access to court information, all public records.

I really hope that these few freak cases will not stop normal people from using craigslist for things like this. I am a 25-year-old married mother with 1 daughter, and I was a nanny for the same family for 3 years. They loved me, and it was the perfect job for me because I could take my daughter along. The commute was a little too far, so I used craigslist to find another nanny job. I found another wonderful family that is much closer to my home and I could not be happier with the situation.
The family took proper precautions, which I completely understood. They called on my references and interviewed me. Then they had me come for a parent-supervised play-date before actually having me start. Then, for the first couple weeks, they had me watch their children in or near their home, while the parents were home. Now they trust me enough to let me drive their children to nearby parks, etc.
I took precautions too, and notified family members of where and when I was going for the interview. I even took my husband with me to the interview, and the family was fine with it.
People just need to use common sense and do their homework. I still believe that there are more good, "normal" people out there than there are bad ones.

I don't think that craigslist is any different than a church or grocery store bulletin board. It doesn't matter where you find your sitter; what matters are the questions you ask and the references you call and more importantly, your initial reaction to the person as well as how your child interacts when they meet the person.

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My blog: www.whyrustalkingme.com (contains some profanity)

I found Craigslist to be very time consuming but used it as a reference for the 3 LONG months it took me to find a sitter. There were a lot of repeat ads and you had to just sift through them. I don't know if the large quantity helps or hurts because sometimes I just didn't have time to go through them all if I hadn't been on for a few days. Although I didn't find my sitter now off craiglist, I did go on about 7 interviews off it, they just weren't perfect fits for our family.

www.arizonamama.typepad.com

I totally agree with most of the moms on here ...
I have foster children and Its very difficult to find someone anywhere but my babysitter from craigslist is awesome it's also hard to find someone who will take care of 4 young children ... I am so happy with my sitter craigslist.com is really good and I agree ask the right questions and you will be fine . As for me my babysitter has many years in the child care field has a backround clearence card trained in many areas and I fully trust her with any of my children .. If anyone is interested in her number please let me know she is located in the Goodyear / Avondale area .
Not everyone on craigslist.com is bad no question is to personal when is comes to taking care of children so they should have no problem answering the questions you ask

I realize how hard it can be to find and choose someone to care for precious little ones. I saw this website and thought it was a great way for moms to link up and help eachother. I am a stay at home mom with a 20 month old and a 6 month old (both little boys) and I am a daycare provider. I live in Gilbert, near Cooper and Guadalupe, in a very clean single story home, no pool, no pets and i have 2 spots for childcare open. One full time and one part time. I will only be watching a total of 4 kids (2 being my own) so that they all get pleanty of love and attention without it becoming chaotic and over crowded as many daycares are. I am CPR and 1st aid certified, fingerprinted and have about 6 years daycare experience, aside from motherhood:) Please e-mail me if you are interested so we can chat and start the interview process. My name is Courtney. cagreene24@yahoo.com

We were looking for an in home daycare. At the time I didn't know what else to do. We found someone and met with her. She was very nice and had two young children around my child's age. Well one of the kids was asleep when we visited. We later found out that the child was a holy terror and teaching our child really bad things. We of course pulled our child out. I have learned a great lesson! Kindercare or other places are the place for our child. The grass isn't always greener on the other side!!!

I haven't hired anyone from craigslist yet to care for my child. I have considered looking at that site for a babysitter. Before I decide to hire anyone to care my little one, I will do a background check and a reference check to protect him.