Choosing A Safe Sitter
How to pick care you feel safe leaving in your home with your child.
It’s easy to hope and assume our friend’s babysitter is safe. But hope isn’t an effective strategy and, unfortunately, this most often is not a reliable way to determine if a person is safe or unsafe.
You are not only selecting someone that will be influential on your child during impressionable years but also putting your child’s safety and wellbeing in their hands. You have the right, and responsibility, to make an informed decision.
Here are a list of suggestions that greatly minimize the chances of leaving your most precious loved ones with someone who might not have your or your children’s best interest in mind.
Ask too many questions. Know your priorities and have questions ready. You are interviewing to hire for a job and have the right to make an informed decision. Put safety on the top of your list and be sure any provider you consider does, too. Find suggested questions...
Gavin de Becker & Associates
Leading experts on prediction and prevention of violence. Provide a list of suggested questions for hiring nannies found online.
https://gdba.com/child-safety/#questions-for-prospective-nannies
Pay Attention to how they answer. Ask questions in person. How a question is received and answered can be more important than the actual answer to the question. Pay attention to their response. Most important is how you feel about what they say.
Do some research. Ask for a list of references and CONTACT THEM. Make a list of questions for them, too. How old are the references? Were they ever concerned about safety? Why did the relationship end? You can ask for a drug test. Absolutely be sure to get a background check from a reputable source, like a private investigator - NOT an online database. We recommend...
Citadel Investigations
Provides thorough, detailed and verified background checks. Discounts are available for multiple background checks for hiring nannies, sitters or childcare. Ask for the Nanny package pricing!
www.citadelinvestigationsprotection.com
Trust Your Gut. You have a lifetime of experience of what has been safe; that means you know when things are not safe, too. Concern, fear, intuition, apprehension, hesitation, or any unsure or unsettled feeling is your gut telling you something is not right. When it comes to safety your gut, not logic, will keep your family safe.
Give Yourself Permission to Make Safe Choices. Safety is inconvenient, and it can look ridiculous. But if you’ve done the above, you know how you feel about your options. Know that often the safe choice isn’t always the popular choice. But we can make that decision anyway because what is worth more than our child’s safety.
Hopefully these suggestions give you the information and permission you need in order to take steps to ensure you not only feel good about the care you selected for your child but that your home, belonging and - most importantly - your child are, in fact, in good hands.
Some ADDITIONAL RESOURCES that may be helpful…
Protecting the Gift by Gavin de Becker
Beating Disaster
Provides in person and online training and coaching specifically for mothers and children on prevention, protection and self defense, including the Mama Bear PREPARED online course.
** Disclaimer: Beating Disaster is a participant in Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a way for websites to earn advertising revenues by advertising and linking to Amazon.com**