Re: If you didn't have family readily available as babysitters...

I'm somewhat "shy" asking, but I know some of the ladies at DD's old daycare babysit. On her last day last week, one of the Assistant Directors gave me her phone number.

Right now, we do it the hard way. When we REALLY want to go out or have set in stone plans on a Saturday, we take Samantha to Queens, to my MIL and we sleep over.

We really need a local babysitter though! I've heard good things about sittercity.com, but I haven't really looked into it yet.

Message edited 12/4/2009 7:37:28 PM.

Re: If you didn't have family readily available as babysitters...

Our first sitter had worked for a friend of mine (lives about an hour away). She went to a local college so I was able to use her during the school year. She didn't have a car so I felt bad using her which led to...
For our now regular sitter, we asked friends of ours for their "backup" sitter's number. She worked at the local ice cream parlor that we all frequented. She sat for us a lot and both kids love her! The first time she sat for the baby was when he was 3 weeks old! It was DS1's birthday party and we didn't want to bring him
For our "backup" sitter when our regular sitter is not avialable, I asked DS1's class last year for a recommendation of their "backup" sitter (with the promise, of course, that I wouldn't steal her!). We love her also and the good part is that the family moved away so I don't have to worry about them being upset when we use her

Re: If you didn't have family readily available as babysitters...

I use someone who works in a local baby store who is also a part-time nanny... although I have never had her watch Sash when she was awake. We actually joke that we could be making up that we have a baby-- sicne she never sees her when she sits for us. I would probably be a lot more nervous if someone else had to put her to bed, etc., but luckily with a 6 30 bedtime, I don't have to worry about that.

I am lucky in the sense that I live in a small, urban community, where we have local message boards and other resources where moms can recco their nannies/sitters, etc. Everything is through word of mouth.

Re: If you didn't have family readily available as babysitters...

Just today I got the number of 2 girls from their daycare who babysit on the side.

Re: If you didn't have family readily available as babysitters...

I need to find one too. My parents usually watch DD, but they go to their house in Vegas for months at a time throughout the year. This thread just inspired me to ask at daycare. I'll start there.