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DH and I haven't been out alone for almost a year now. My inlaws are caring for my terminally ill SIL. My mum has never been one to help out unless its an emergency. I'm waiting for DD to get into daycare next year as I do not have any time at all to do anything, dentist or even psych appointments :(
Does anyone use a babysitter? How did you find one and how much do you pay? At this stage we would be happy to get out once every few months.
Thanks.
I used to use 'Find a baby sitter' site when my 3 other kids were younger. I'd interviewed 10+ ladies before I settled on 2 I liked.
Now I have a bub (and 3 others alternate weeks), I just ask my friend if she can mind bub when I don't have other 3 kids.... Or DH and I don't go out ;)
I've been thinking the same thing. We use my mum for babysitting but I'd like to find others I can trust too.:
Have you considered family day care?
Where are you in Australia?
I used a great place when I had births and nights out, but its only in Melbourne.
Could you do a rotation thing with friends - they watch your kids for an evening and then you return the favour?
i'm in Melbs with very little support so would love to know who you used Kelly?:):
Its an agency called Your Time Out. I just checked their site and they now have a $50 registration fee and there are some small price increases, but I never had a problem with their nannies, all very capable. Instead of a huge placement fee, you pay a booking fee of around $20, then the hourly rate of the nanny (depends on experience, and when you want care). Most nannies I had were $18-20 per hour. Especially for once offs or casual care, its so nice and easy.
We use the kids' grandparents mostly. Backups are their godparents, my BIL and recently we branched out and tried my cousin (19yo but very "young" itms).
You could try your local church or child care centre - lots of youth at my church put up signs about looking after kids and I know that some of the carers at the child care centre we used to use did a bit of moonlighting as babysitters to get some extra cash.
Have used my mum or brothers a few times, and a friend and 1 times used a staff member from day care who was looking for some extra cash. I paid $18 an hr which I thought was very reasonable given qualified. Kids loved having her baby sit.
I'm in Sydney :(
Most of my friends have family and inlaws they ask so don't want two extra kids to look after when they already have babysitters.
How do you know if you don't ask? I have babysitters I can call in (including non-family people, such as young people from Church), but would happily look after someone else's children for a day if they needed it (and have done). I probably wouldn't be able to do a late evening, but few people ask me to babysit anyway.
Ask other parents around your local area who they use. You might find someone from a church or community group.
I used to run the crèche at my local church & gym and was asked to babysit a few times and once word got out I was inundated with requests.
A friend does the 'kid swap' thing once a month, so they take it in turns to go out. They did just an hour at a time during the day to start and built up from there. I would love to do this too, but can't find anyone who is interested...
Another friend used her daycare lady who wanted extra work, and another used her neighbour.
I agree that FDC is awesome for this if you want a break during the day. Some carers are really flexible with times and days (our ex Carer would do one day a fortnight if we wanted, and would do nights for extra $$ if we wanted, not that we ever did).
We have this dilemma too - we just don't go out!
Friends from mothers group we swap with, some have others who babysit for them but still are up for some swap nights. I sometimes like doing it for friends is just interesting to go sit in some one elses house while kids sleep instead of your own. Friends are good because have seen how are with own kids so happy could deal with mine but usually are in bed anyway. For during the day when i wasnt working I often would take an extra child for an hour so friend could do an appointment. I agree with TFB just ask just because they are sorted for babysitters doesn't mean they wouldn't do for you ( I have done for a friend about 10 times more than she has done for me but she leaves me yummy things to eat and is my friend so I don't mind and maybe one day I might need her to help me out more). I haven't paid for a babysitter yet but I know some of the childcare workers do it and would trust them and even if you don't have a place yet then might be able to get baby sitting.
thank you!: