Good Parenting

How do you know if you have picked a bad babysitter for your kids? While the warning signs may not be real obvious, here are some things to watch out for.

1. He or She Arrives Looking Exhausted. A sitter who arrives looking worn out, exhausted or without energy is not going to do a great job of watching your kids much less entertaining them. Parents in this situation will need to worry about lack of supervision. How do you know that the babysitter is not going to simply throw in a video and take a nap?

2. She Shows Little Interest in Your Care Instructions.If you are telling your sitter about dinner plans, bedtimes, baths or any other instructions and he or she seems to not care, it will probably just not get done and neither will quality care for your child.

3. He Invites People over to Your House Without Permission. The chance that your children will receive little or no attention and interaction if your sitter has invited a friend or date over is pretty good. Bottom line with this one, however, is that it is your home, if they didnÂ’t ask, it is not ok. A babysitter like this does not respect your needs or wishes.

4. You Notice the ChildÂ’s Behavior Change If after your child is watched by a certain sitter, you notice your childÂ’s behavior changing, this should alert you to a problem. If the child starts having accidents, cries whenever you leave his site or has night terrors, then a parent should quickly determine whether further investigation is needed. This is nothing to ignore.

5. He or She Will Not Look You in the Eyes or Engage in Small Talk. This may sound silly, but it if the sitter does not engage in conversation (and seem friendly and ask about the kids,) you should wonder why. If he or she is not comfortable with you, you should be more than uncomfortable leaving them with your kids.

It is priceless to find a babysitter that you can trust. There are so many good babysitters out there. Why settle for less?

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 at 5:06 am and is filed under Good Parenting.