Interviewing a babysitter: how to find someone you can trust with your children

Finding a babysitter you can trust to look after your children when you aren’t around is possibly one of the most nerve-wracking tasks in existence. It isn’t easy to find someone reliable enough to take on the responsibility, and it is often a choice that can’t be put off.

Unscheduled overtime, something coming up, or maybe just the need to spend an evening on your own: whatever your situation, we’re here to reassure you that if you know how to choose the right babysitter your children will be in safe hands when you shut the door behind you.

So, the question is, how do you choose the perfect babysitter?

In this article we’ll give you a few tips to help you overcome any doubts you might have and help you choose with confidence someone who can look after your children when you can’t be at home with them. To do that, we interviewed Elena Bellini from Emilia Romagna, mum to a boy of six and a girl of three, who has some solid experience in interviewing babysitters.  

Before we talk about the best way to find a babysitter, it’s probably a good idea to get one thing clear: finding a babysitter is not the same as hiring a nanny or childminder. 

Nannies and childminders have specific qualifications and look after children as a profession. They may carry out tasks such as preparing food, laundering clothes and maybe even educating the children they look after. Whereas a childminder may look after children from several families, a nanny is usually a full-time employee who works for a single family.

A babysitter, on the other hand, may work part-time while pursuing their studies or in addition to another job. Usually you would hire a babysitter for shorter periods of a few hours at a time, and would expect to have fewer responsibilities than a nanny. 

Babysitters are usually available to look after your children for a few hours while you aren’t at home. Unlike for nannies and childminders, babysitters don’t need any specific childcare qualifications. 

Many people ask friends or family to look after their children. But often this isn’t possible, especially when you don’t have family members living nearby. 

In that case, having the number of a trusted babysitter in your contact list is essential. Every parent has slightly different things they look for, but it isn’t an easy choice to make for anyone. 

If this is your first time, it might help to hear from someone who already has plenty of experience in choosing a babysitter. We spoke to Elena, who is 36 years old and lives in Santarcangelo di Romagna with her husband Paolo and their children Leonardo (6 years) and Anna Vittoria (3 years). They are soon to be joined by a little brother or sister!

Hi Elena! Do you remember the first time you needed to find a babysitter?  

Yes! It was when Leonardo was around 18 months old and I had decided to go back to work after taking maternity leave.

How did you feel when you started trying to find a babysitter? 

I felt quite laid-back about it: I had been lucky enough to spend a lot of time with my son in the first months of his life and I knew that he would react positively to the person I chose. He has always been a lively, sociable child.

What methods did you use to look for a babysitter?
I asked around, and also looked on local Facebook pages for my area, in particular ones for mums. I posted that I was looking for recommendations and received a few contacts. Sometimes the easiest way brings the best results!

What questions did you ask potential babysitters to help you make a choice? 

At this point I was looking for a childminder who would look after my son in their own home, together with other children. I wanted Leonardo to get used to spending time with other children before starting nursery school. So after a brief telephone call I wanted to meet the potential babysitters in person, to get a feel for how they worked and especially how they interacted with Leonardo.

I was looking for a person who was sweet, patient, smiling and positive, with some knowledge of first aid, enough creativity to enjoy playing with the children and a house which was suitable to host them. I was really hoping to find a babysitter who already had children of a similar age to mine, because I thought that way she would be more attuned to his needs at that age. 

How did it go? We’d love to hear more about your experience.

It quickly became clear that the first person I found was not suitable. The children she looked after were only allowed to play in one room of her house; this room was completely empty, cold, and unsafe (the window was wide open and low enough for a child to fall out of; the apartment was on the second floor).

But with the second person I tried we got on well straight away. She had years of experience in looking after several children at once, her house was well adapted to children, she had children of her own and she came across as sweet and likeable.

Unfortunately, after a few days I realised that she had a fundamentally different approach to me. I also realised after speaking to her that she often had to leave the children (who were aged between 3 months and 3 years) alone for a few minutes. Leonardo was happy to go to her house, but I didn’t trust her any more and I tried to find another solution quickly. 

Luckily, after this unhappy experience I met the babysitter who looked after Leonardo and Anna Vittoria after she was born, for many years. She is always accommodating, affectionate and capable and I’ve always been able to rely on her, even in difficult moments. She welcomed my children into her house and family and treated them with love. Unfortunately she no longer works as a babysitter!

What advice would you give to parents who are looking for a babysitter for the first time?

Ask loads of questions. Don’t leave any room for doubt and look carefully at how they interact with your child. Talk to your children to find out what they think. You are leaving your most precious possession with this person and you need to be convinced that you have found the right person. 

As Elena said, the ideal strategy for the interview is to watch the babysitter at work and to ask questions. While the chemistry between your child and the babysitter is something only you can judge, the questions below could help you to get to know the babysitter better. 

You can use this list as a starting point when getting to know the person you are considering trusting your child with. For the rest, listen to your instinct and follow what it tells you. If there’s something about the person you’re interviewing that doesn’t convince you, consider asking more questions or moving on to another candidate.

Have a nice job!