In a story that should (and will) chill parents who use Craigslist to find babysitters, news broke last week that a Minnesota man who answered a Craigslist ad seeking babysitters made a pornographic video of the two-year-old girl left in his care. Aaron Jay Lemon, 23, pled guilty to charges that may land him in prison for up to 30 years.

So maybe hiring a stranger from the Internet to watch your child isn’t the greatest idea. But what can families who have no close relatives find a trustworthy sitter? Some safety tips:

• Use referrals, not online ads: The people you know are your best source of sitters. Ask friends with kids if they’ll share contact information for favorite sitters. Ask people at work with older kids if these teens or tweens are interested in babysitting. Know a babysitter who’s too busy to take you on? She probably knows other good sitters, ask her for recommendations. Consider young people or adults you know through church or community organizations; ask them for recommendations. Know any teachers? They are a fertile source of young sitters.
• Consider sit-swapping with other parents. You could, say, watch a friend’s kids every alternate Friday night, if you get every other Sunday afternoon off. Kids love what’s essentially a playdate, and you get a break.
• Utilize “Parents Night Out” programs, which occur every weekend night in most cities and are like a drop-off kids’ party. Local YMCAs or YWCAs often have such nights, as do other child-oriented businesses. Ask around or Google “parents night out” and your city to find them.
• If you can’t find a sitter through recommendations, consider an online service like sittercity.com or 4sitters.com or a local agency like the Marin Child Care Council, Oakland’s BANANAS or Town & Country Resources, with several branches in the Bay Area. These services sometimes require you to join to use their network, but they do background checks on potential sitters, and offer references to parents.
• Speaking of references, always check them. When you interview a sitter, call her references as soon as she leaves. Ask about any problems parents had with this sitter, or about her style of interacting with the kids.
• Always interview prospects in person before they come over to watch your children. This is the best way to get a sense of the sitter: is she trustworthy? Fun? Kind? Is she straightforward and honest, or does she give you the creeps in any way? Trust your instincts; if something seems wrong, lose the sitter’s number no matter how desperate you are.
• Have a trial run. Have the sitter care for your baby while you are at home. You can interact with them, and gradually drift into your room to read a book, listening for any trouble.

POSTED IN: Childcare
TAGS: aaron jay lemon, agencies, babysitter, craigslist, finding babysitter