How Do You Find a Babysitter? - Dallas,TX

I have had lulls in finding sitters and then I have had several options.

1. Since you go to church asking someone there if there is a list of qualified babysitters. Either young school aged teens or retired grandmother types. Considering your circumstances (no spouse or family) I would hope a grandma type would offer for free or at a reduced rate.

2. Ask your friends who they use. Sure there will be comments about how moms do not share the babysitter contact info, but that is not all moms. I am always there to help a friend or babysitter find work.

3. Make more effort with your son's friends and the families. Now that he is getting old he can have a drop off play date. You are at an advantage since you only have one child. You could trade off for a night out.

4. Ask the teacher at your son's school. She may know someone or she may even babysit on the side. Also ask if you can exchange contact info with other parents at the center. More people would be willing to reach out if they only knew your situation. Sure it gets old if they feel taken advantage of or if your son is super difficult, but I have a feeling someone at the school/daycare could team up with you to watch each others kids.

Asking the 1-2 women from daycare if they have any sitter recs isn't the same as asking them to babysit... So I'd email them or next time you see them ask if they have sitters they'd be willing to let you in on. I'd also ask the daycare center. Lots of people I know use daycare teachers as sitters on the side. Same with the workers at the gym daycare. Are the sitters at the church parents night out other parents or just volunteers? If not all parents, maybe some of them could sit for you privately. Is there a local online mother's club? That's usually free to join or $10/year and you can post there that you're looking for a babysitter.

I was a PTA President and for years I had a Babysitters list. I would send out for names and shared the list.

I gathered them from the Drill team, the NHS and the Band teachers from the local High School.

I had friends that were members of different churches in the area and asked them to gather names.

I asked at our daughters old daycare Center, some of those teachers also babysat. .

Sometimes the younger elementary teachers were available to babysit, some of them even were willing to stay for days and nights at a time to care for the children that the parents had to be gone for days and nights at a time.

Sometimes we traded with the neighbors.

I have always suggested that gathering Babysitter lists in the High Schools is a great way to help the students make a bit of money or a great way for them to fund raise.

I would never ever ever ever ever allow my kids to be watched by someone I didn't know personally. Seriously.

I find teens at church, friends kids, my friends babysitters, etc...finding someone through an agency is okay I guess if you don't know a single person other than those who live in the home with you...

I use adult's who are on SSDI and can use a bit of cash, I ask my neighbors, my co-workers, and more.

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I would never ever ever ever ever allow my kids to be watched by someone I didn't know personally. Seriously.

I find teens at church, friends kids, my friends babysitters, etc...finding someone through an agency is okay I guess if you don't know a single person other than those who live in the home with you...

I use adult's who are on SSDI and can use a bit of cash, I ask my neighbors, my co-workers, and more.

Are you on Nextdoor.com for your neighborhood? If not, I'd sign up. It's free and you can connect with people in your neighborhood. Might get recommendations that way.

Also, ask around at work and church: "I'm in need of an occasional babysitter. Do you know anyone who does babysitting during the day?" Spread the word that you're looking and you may get some referrals. It seems everyone knows someone who babysits. It's just a matter of asking people.

Once you've received a referral, meet the person and then follow up with reference calls. There really is no 100% guarantee, but if you get a recommendation and then follow it up with more recommendations, chances are you've found a winner.

I wouldn't trust a stranger or anyone off Craigslist unless I had the time and money to run a background check and to let them watch kiddo with me home for quite awhile before trusting them. You say you don't have anyone that you feel close enough to ask to sit, but do you know them well enough to ask for recommendations? Other moms are a great resource to find sitters, ask around the couple of people that you have met!

When we were looking, we started by word of mouth references in our neighborhood and by meeting people in our neighborhood.

Our neighborhood also has a website and a FB page where sitters are on each page with their respective references.

What about your job? Anyone there who has a teen who might be interested.

You need to network, talk to people and get to know neighbors and co-workers. Take walks in your neighborhood on pretty days, meet ppl at the playground/pool, note if any potential sitters get off the school bus.

Be prepared to pay the going rate to keep a good sitter ( our area is minim $10/ hour) unless you negotiate something else.

Best wishes to you!!!

I have used care.com with a lot of success. You can specify what you need, times and tasks, number of kids ect., and what pay range you are willing to pay. Then interview potential sitters. I have a wonderful young lady now who I met through that site. She's been working for me for over a year. But like all sites I'm sure be sure to cancel before your commitment or you'll find yourself "automatically renewed." Yuck! Besides that I'll use the site again when she eventually moves on (she's in nursing school). You don't have to pay to post your add, but you do if you see someone your interested in and want their contact info to reply. Good luck. Child care no matter how much is still an expense and dips from your family budget. It's just what you can find to do without in order to find a safe supportive and dependable person for your family.