Checklist helps evaluate baby-sitter readiness

Samantha Critchell, Associated Press

Published September 4, 2006 at midnight

Text size  

• 0 Comments
• Email
• Print

Mom and Dad are going out for dinner, eager to have two hours to themselves. Does the baby sitter have the cell numbers? Check. The BlackBerry address? Check. The restaurant number? Check.

So, they're ready to go, right? Not so fast, says Meri-K Appy, president of the Home Safety Council. There are other questions to ask, ones that probably matter much more in an emergency.

Will the baby sitter be cooking? Bathing the children? Neither are great ideas, Appy says. And what do you know about the baby sitter, anyway?

"The question to ask yourself isn't, 'Is this person responsible under normal circumstances?' The question is, 'If something horrible happened in an instant, can I trust this person to handle it when life and death can hang in the balance?' " Appy says.

Appy's baby-sitter checklist:

• Know the sitters. You might know their parents or other children they've cared for - and references should be checked - but take the time to know the sitters themselves.

• Make sure you're hiring someone with maturity, even if it's your own older child. There's no magic age for a good baby sitter, though Appy thinks older is better - "16 and up is preferable," she says.

Also, someone who has taken the time to be trained in CPR and the like by the Red Cross or local health or fire departments likely is someone with initiative and skill, she says.

It's OK in the job interview to ask what-if questions, so parents will know the potential sitter's way of thinking. And let your own kids be in on the interview, at least part of the time, so you can see how the sitter and the children react to each other.

• Go through Plan B. Tell baby sitters if they smell smoke, don't spend time verifying a fire, just get everyone out of the house. Do fire drills with baby sitters.

Appy suggests if there's a baby in the scenario, keep a baby carrier that goes around the neck nearby so the sitter's hands will be free to open the door or hold the hand of a toddler.

Since cooking introduces a fire risk, why not skip it and serve sandwiches instead? Also, why risk grapes, hot dogs or popcorn - all candidates to cause airway obstruction - when parents aren't home?

Baths also might be skipped. There are two risks in the tub: drowning, the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children, and burns from scalding water. (Water temperature should never be more than 120 degrees, Appy says.) All medicines and poisons, including cleaning supplies, should already be out of children's reach, but parents should make sure the number for poison control is by the phone. A national number is 800-222-1222.

Even less likely to happen is a natural or national disaster, but it's a possibility. Appy says baby sitters should be left with a list of emergency contacts, including someone from out of state, and supplies, such as water and infant formula, for three days.

• Set rules. To avoid any confusion or differences in judgment or opinion, parents and their sitters should go over written house rules.

While you want sitters to play and interact with the children, they also should establish themselves as authority figures - and that should be backed up by parents, Appy says.

• And, lastly, baby sitters who do a good job filling the gap when parents are gone should be rewarded with good pay, Appy says.

Featured

• Sam Adams' Open Mic

  

  No. 44 means a lot to Floyd Little

• A Dozen on Denver

  

  Sandra Dallas wrote 'Lennie's tavern' for our ongoing fiction series. Check it out!

• Rocky Multimedia

  

  The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on today's events.

• Broncos Game Action

  

  Click for more game action photos from Invesco field.

• 2008 Race for the Cure

  

  The 16th Annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

• A dream fulfilled

  

  A Rocky Mountain News and MediaStorm production

• Presidential Elections

  

  See how Colorado counties have voted through the years.

• County election profiles

  

  A look at how residents in each Colorado county may vote.

• Peak Picks

  

  Submit your fall foliage photos to our contest and vote on other submissions.