Finding a good babysitter can be quite the chore.  If you have friends who have children you can get recommendations from them, you can rely on family members to take care of your kids (but that doesn’t necessarily translate into a good babysitter), or you can find a referral network in your community to find a babysitter.  No matter how you find your babysitter though you will never know for sure if they are good until you try them out.  Of course you can interview them to weed out the ones that are obviously not cut out for the job but that only goes so far.

So how do you tell if you have a good babysitter or a bad one?  Here are a few tell tale signs.

Signs of a Good Babysitter:

• Your child is excited to see the babysitter and just seems to light up when they see them.  If your child likes to be with the babysitter it is a good sign that they are doing something right.
• Your child can’t stop talking about all the things she does with the babysitter.
• The babysitter makes an effort to stay connected by completing an activity log or through open communication with you before and after they take care of your child.
• There is evidence of activities your child has done such as art work, toys being out, etc.
• The babysitter is open to your requests and makes an effort to follow them.
• The babysitter is always on time and appears excited and happy to be there.
• Your child is clean and appears well taken care of when you get home.

Signs of a Bad Babysitter:

• Your child is not excited to see the babysitter or becomes upset or uneasy when you talk about the babysitter.
• The babysitter is often late and doesn’t appear very interested in your child.
• There is little communication from the babysitter about what they did while you were gone or she can’t answer questions about what they did that day.
• Your child appears unkempt, messy, or neglected when you get home.
• Your child has many unavoidable accidents.
• You just don’t feel comfortable with the babysitter.

Finding the right babysitter can take time.  You will often have to try the babysitter out before you will know if it is the right match for you and your child.  Sometimes a person can be perfect when your child is small but as they get older they are no longer the right match for the job.

What did you do to find your babysitter?  Did you have to interview a lot of people before you find the right one?  What things do you particularly like about your babysitter?  Have you had any really bad experiences?