Subscribe: Find a Trustworthy Babysitter with Sittercity
Whether you are a working mom, a work at home mom, or a stay at home mom, you deserve a break. Quality childcare can be difficult to find, but Sittercity makes it easy.
Two growing trends place increasing stress on new mommies: we move further away from our families and, even when we live nearby, our own mothers are more likely to have their own jobs, interests, and obligations.
I love spending most of my day with Baby Diva, but I still occasionally need a break. As a work at home mom, I find I am having growing difficulty balancing my family’s needs, my work requirements, and my personal desires. With the first two making demands on my time, I have less time to care for myself. Taking care of your own need for relaxation and fulfillment will make you a more attentive wife, focused mother, and productive employee, but who has the time?
The solution is to hire childcare—whether you need to get work done, have a night out (with or without dad), or just hop into the shower sans infant or pop over to the grocery store minus a cranky toddler.
I must confess that I took a while to heed my own advice. Thank goodness Sittercity came to the rescue!
After logging in to Sittercity, it is very simple to add your information, post a job, or begin your search for babysitters, or pet sitters, too! Instead of sifting through e-mails and calls from people who happened to see your fliers, you can use Sittercity to search by distance, special qualifications (CPR, first aid, tutoring, etc.), availability, and much more in the comfort of your own home. You’ll have no trouble finding a sitter who matches your requirements.
Many sitters have already paid for background checks, which are posted with their profiles. If they do not have a background check, Sittercity allows you order an inexpensive check with the click of a button. Sittercity also allows you to see references and how other users have rated the sitter.
The site has some very helpful tools that add value to your membership. The rate calculator allows you to input your zip code, the number of children, and the age and experience level of the babysitter. You can use their interactive tool to leave instructions and emergency numbers for your sitter. There are also fact sheets on interview questions and the screening process.
I used Sittercity to find a baby sitter for Baby Diva. Without leaving my desk, I was able to find an organized, responsible, and kind sitter, with years of experience and CPR certification, who was actively looking for work. I used the Sittercity interview questions and screening checklist to make sure we were a match.
Within minutes of waking up from her nap, Baby Diva had become comfortable with her new friend. Once Baby Diva had settled in to play, I began to work and got a ton done!
Posting notices on bulletin boards, screening candidates that do not match your needs, and searching the Internet for information all take time—time you could be spending actually playing with your child, working, going out with your husband, practicing yoga, or taking the time to do whatever it is that relaxes you.
When you think about how valuable your time is, you’ll find that Sittercity is more than worth the subscription fee—and now Mamanista! readers can get 10% off. Looking for a babysitter? Sign-up to find the perfect sitter today at Sittercity.com and use code MNISTA to save!
[...] This service is so helpful, I wanted to share it with you again–read our full review of Sittercity. [...]
[...] sitters and other care providers at Sittercity and use Sittercity coupon code MNISTA for 10% off. (full review) Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and [...]
I found sittercity through this site and used them to try to find help with my home and two small children while I recover from ankle surgery.
I am in a leg cast for two months and can’t walk, so I advertised very specifically for help with laundry, dishes, being my hands and feet for small things around the house, and looking after my 18 month old and my 3 year old. No heavy cleaning, just basic survival while I recover.
Sittercity provided 5 leads. 3 never replied to my emails. One replied to my initial email but not my followup. The fifth accepted the job.
Despite my having been very clear about dishes/laundry/helping around the house, the sitter I hired informed me that she didn’t do any laundry. She complained about emptying my clean dishwasher and bringing in the mail, telling me that she was “used to just playing with the kids’. Did she not read the ad?
So, I paid her for the day and let her go.
When I complained to Sittercity about the total waste of the $95 I paid them, they refused to refund my money and gave me this reply by email: “We apologize for the inconvenience but Sittercity is not an agency, therefore we can not guarantee you will find a caregiver to meet your needs. Sittercity is a online networking site for parents and caregivers.”
So, please be advised that Sittercity does not stand behind their service. You may not get a reply, and/or the caregiver does reply, they may not have read your ad very carefully.
I have since found a wonderful helper by calling my church nursery. 100% free and way more helpful. I am disappointed that Sittercity has so little concern for the quality of service they provide or the poor quality of their pool of workers.
Kim Burrow
[...] and Prescriptions: If you are traveling out of country, or plan to leave baby with a babysitting service, make sure you have a copy of up to date vaccination [...]
[...] Full Sittercity review Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
[...] can’t guilt grandma into babysitting or find a sitter through your network of friends, you can use Sittercity to find a responsible babysitter in your area. Candace has used this service to find two babysitters so far. Both sitters were experienced, [...]
[...] to do things like get a haircut or go to the dentist. If you don’t have one already, you need to find a trustworthy babysitter. Candace and I have both used Sitterycity. You can find the perfect sitter today at [...]
It can become difficult to find a good babysitter. Especially when you become first time parents; I still haven’t found one and my little girl is almost seven months old. I definitely check out Sittercity. Thanks for the post.
I’m just seeing this comment from Kim so this is a very late reply. I’m sorry you had a bad experience with Sittercity. As their customer service and this review say, they are simply a service where you can look for a sitter. They are no more responsible for the quality of the sitter you or I select than any other place where you place a job posting–church, university, or Craigslist. Anyone of age can sign-up to view job postings.
If that was not clear from my initial review, I hope I have clarified it here!
I’ve had a great experience with Sittercity and find it to be a great option when I haven’t had luck elsewhere!
I’m glad you found a good sitter eventually.
[...] years ago, I received a free Sittercity membership to review on Mamanista.com and I appreciated the convenience so much that we have since renewed several times on our own [...]
[...] been Sittercity fans for years. After receiving a trial membership for review, I’ve renewed several times and we now have a promo code for our readers for $20 [...]
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