Anyone ever used Care.com?

[Jalapeñomel]

I plan on using it to find a sitter for us come next semester. I'd like to hear if other people had success.

[game blouses]

Loved it! We just did the one month and interviewed several girls (you'll get a few dozen who apply) at a local Starbucks. We have one main sitter and two back-ups from the site.

[kirra]

One of my friends gets about half of her new babysitting jobs from there. She has a long list of references for potential clients, and most of them end up becoming regulars.

[mssue]

I just interviewed one lady yesterday and I have two more interviews tonight. I hope it works. My friend raves about their babysitter for their son!

[nahoku]

I used it and it started off fine - I hired one girl to baby-sit and she came over a few times. Then one day she was a no-show. And she had friended me on FB, so I could see her friends tagging her while they were out and about. I never heard from her again, lol.

I found a couple of other potential babysitters on there, but it is so rare that my parents or SIL can't babysit for us that I lost touch with the couple that I really liked.

I had a really hard time finding a housecleaner through them for some reason.

[starbuck]

Yes, I have. I used a sitter who was very nice and the daughter of the police chief in town. Ultimately it didn't end up working out because of her schedule and mine conflicting.

[pinkflats]

Oct 30, 2013 13:13:15 GMT -5 game blouses said:

Loved it! We just did the one month and interviewed several girls (you'll get a few dozen who apply) at a local Starbucks. We have one main sitter and two back-ups from the site.

This, but we met at Panera This is how we found our current provider.

[roxysoxy]

Yes we have.  We found two wonderful sitters on care.com.

[Booze Raccoon]

My sister hired her nanny from care.com.  She is 27 and is a college grad.  They love her.

[savan]

We used it to find our babysitter. I placed an ad with exactly what I was looking for (dates/times, etc). I received over 50 responses and narrowed them down to a handful. We clicked with our sitter immediately and have been using her regularly for a year now. I'd definitely use it again.

[youbetcha]

I used it and found a nice girl who actually happened to live in my neighborhood. I used it again recently for backup care, but I didn't end up needing it after all. I was pleased by the number of nice-seeming people who responded. I didn't get the chance to set up meetings with any before I discovered I didn't need it.

[Jalapeñomel]

possibly a stupid question, but once you find someone you like, how do you"test" them out? Do you have them come over for a hour at first or do you have them come over and hang out with you while you are home?

[game blouses]

Oct 30, 2013 14:55:50 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

possibly a stupid question, but once you find someone you like, how do you"test" them out? Do you have them come over for a hour at first or do you have them come over and hang out with you while you are home?

I have them come over an hour early, go over the schedule and stuff (I also print out a schedule and guidelines, because I feel like I'm prepping for a sub, lol), and then let her and DS play in the other room without me. We go out for a dinner, come back just after bedtime, and if the baby's asleep and the house is clean she's ours!

ETA: We also note how they interact with DS at the interview. Some girls didn't even look at him, which ruled them out pretty quickly. I want girls who are baby friendly.

[bab]

I've used it and I am not a fan. I probably won't use it again. There might just be a lot of flakey losers in my area though. If your child goes to a daycare, or you know someone who uses a local daycare, I'd look there first for girls wanting extra hours.

[Alyssa]

My friend uses it, she has 4 sitters on speed-dial. Plus when they go on vacation, she arranges for a local sitter to watch the kids. I'm more hesitant, I have to interview the person before I welcome them over...she's a little more liberal with child-care.