@ Babysitters and stuff

[ringstrue]

Believe it or not, we are having our first *real* babysitter come over on Saturday. It's one of her daycare teachers, so she isn't truly new, but we've only had either family or close friends or her Home DCP watch her in the evenings before.

Do I really gotta write down the #s for the fire department and whatnot and put it on the fridge? Honestly, I've called 911 from our house before and they are here in minutes. The fire station is like 1/4 a mile away and the hospital is 3 blocks away.

Should I provide any other sort of written down list or even just evening routine details for her? She's bringing her son who is the same age so their schedules will probably be off anyway from playing. I'll go over stuff with her in person.

And pay - I asked her her rate and she says "I don't care I feel so bad asking that of parents just do what you want!!" which is BS cuz she's the best teacher they have imo and she gets asks all the time to babysit AND she's a single mom which is why she is bringing her kid. I was thinking $10/hr - so $50 for the evening, probably. I have no idea where that is on the scale of babysitting rates - wdyt?

[mishap]

$10/hour sounds good to me.

I agree that 911 is probably the best bet. I would write down your cellphone number and post it just in case she can't find her cell (I'm assuming you number is stored in there) and has to use your house phone.

[hopecounts]

If she knows your kid from daycare I think generally going over things with her is fine.
I made $10 an hour babysitting a decade ago in a MCOL area so depending on your area I'd do $15 but I'd ask friends with kids what the going rate is currently where you are.
I think you're ok with not leaving the numbers just leave your cell if she dowsn't have it.
I'd do it more if it was a teenager who might need it.

[MrsAxilla]

We always pay $12 an hour and/or we pay an extra hour for travel.

I want my babysitters to be happy and want to come back, even when we call them at the last minute.

[pamela]

I wrote down our cell numbers, pedi number, and number for my mom (out of state, but closest family if consent of some sort was needed) and number for an in-town friend. It just stays stuck on the fridge now. Birthdate and weight might be a good idea, especially if your kid doesn't look their age.

[heightsyankee]

On my fridge I put: cell numbers, pediatrician's call line, possibly the # of where we'll be if I have it or it makes sense

I pay $12 for 2 kids. I think $10 is a good rate, esp because she is bringing her own kiddo.

I would do a very brief outline of the nightly routine since it's the 1st time and she usually watches your kiddo during the day. For my kids, I do something like:

5:30-6 start dinner

7ish bath

8 lights out

and then tell her I am flexible and yadda yadda

[twotrue]

I pay our daycare providers $10/hr. However if she stays overnight we usually make some sort of deal so I'm not paying for the time she is sleeping. I would write down cell numbers and the pedi number. If you're staying local and can get home for any true emergency quickly than I wouldn't worry about more than that.

[luckyval]

We pay $10 and usually order a pizza or something for DS and the sitter to share.

Numbers for where we are, our cell phones and the pediatrician stay on the fridge.

The first time out, we walked the sitter through our bedtime routine to keep the continuity and that seems to have helped him to go to bed with minimal fuss.

[pixy0stix]

Our babysitter has our numbers in her phone. She knows to call 911 if anything remotely hinky happens, otherwise she calls us. She'll regularly call her mom if something happens that she doesn't know what to do (such as ZB waking up and not going back to sleep), which is fine with us because her parents are close family friends.

I honestly don't know what I'd do about a "real" babysitter who was a stranger to the family. We pay $5 an hour, which she just used to get her first piercing.